The Week India - July 29, 2018

JULY 29, 2018 • THE WEEK 53

The world

is round, so

is football

Even as the migration crisis

continues unabated in Europe, the

spine of many teams at Russia 2018

was made up of players with an

immigrant background

BY ANTONY JOHN/Moscow and St Petersburg

t the Luzhniki stadium

in Moscow, Emmanuel

Macron kicked propri-

ety out of the window

on July 16 evening. Th e

French president did not

get a yellow card for jumping on to the

desk to celebrate his country’s victory in

Russia 2018. Instead, the world, used to

petty presidents and nasty rulers, looked

on admiringly. Soon after, the heavens

opened up, washing down the tears of joy

on French faces and those of dejection on

the Croatian faces.

Macron was 21 when the French last

kissed the trophy, thanks to the heroics

of Zinedine Zidane, of Algerian descent.

Zidane went on to achieve great heights for

France, before bowing out in the fi nal of

Germany 2006, after head-butting Italian

defender Marco Materazzi. Th e immi-

grant story did not begin with Zidane, nor

does it end with him. France’s great run

in the 2018 edition, which saw traditional

powerhouses falling by the wayside, was

powered by children of immigrants, mostly

of African origin. Th e youngest of them,

19-year-old Kylian Mbappe, won the FIFA

Young Player Award.

Twenty years ago, when I landed in Paris

in the summer of 1998 to cover the World

Cup, France had not won the hearts of the

football world like they have done this time

round. Th ey were waiting for the world

with a smile, and a “bienvenue” (welcome)

on their lips. Th ey were the only ones who

believed their Les Blues had a chance of

winning the Cup. Th eir star player was

midfi elder Zidane, whom they described

as the son of Algerian immigrants. A boy

who grew up in the slums of Marseille. Th e

conservative French saw him as a foreigner

till the country entered the fi nal.

But what unfolded on July 12, in Stade

de France, Saint-Denis, changed all that.

Zidane, overcome with emotion, was

crying while singing the French national

anthem before kick-off. He scored two

thumping headers to sink world champi-

ons Brazil, and as he held the Cup, tears of

joy streamed down his face. Th ese images

were etched into the memory of the French

people and fi nally made Zidane one of

them.

A SECURE

FUTURE

An image of

French forward

Kylian Mbappe

projected on Par-

is’s landmark Arc

de Triomphe as

people gathered

to celebrate the

world title