It’s often said that no one remembers losing finalists or semi-finalists. That may well be true. It is also said that only winners are remembered. That is not true. Hardly an international tournament goes by without one team imploding. I imagine all thoughts are now turning towards France and French teams gone past who simply haven’t fancied it; however the Dutch are also known to throw their toys out of the pram, although they won’t be at Euro 2016. Here we’ll look at those who could have a few hissy fits and internally combust. Let us know what you think and what teams you think might not be particularly harmonious.
France
Where else to start? The nation that brought you frogs legs, snails as a delicacy and major tournament team implosions. The 2014 World Cup saw Samir Nasri’s wife produce a series of tweets after her husband was left out of the squad. Nasri has not been seen in a France shirt since. The 2016 edition of the French Implosion has been underway for some time and has seen Karim Benzema left out of the squad. He didn’t do it silently though and his accusations towards Didier Deschamps have divided the French nation. Whether this divide will extend towards the hotel rooms and training camps is a different matter.
Republic of Ireland
From the outside the Irish squad looks fairly calm and composed. They participated in the 2012 edition, and I use the term “participated” lightly. They played 3 games and lost all 3 by a scoreline of 3-0. Aside from James McClean, who’s a red card waiting to happen; there don’t appear to be any disruptive influences in the squad. Enter Roy Keane! Keane has never been a shrinking violet (think Saipan in 2002) and as assistant manager to the Republic of Ireland team he’s piped up again. All good managers take the attention away from their players in their comments. Keane has commented. But his comments have unfortunately been about the players, and have been rather disparaging at that, claiming that some of them “were blessed” to be in the squad, singling out Aiden McGeady for particular criticism. Keane strikes again!
Turkey
The Turks seem to have outdone all other sides in terms of dressing room harmony, or lack of it in this case. Following a loss to Holland in 2014, Omer Toprak and Hakan Calhanoglu who’d been left out of the side were relaxing at the hotel. However Gokhan Tore (linked with West Ham) was eager to seek vengeance for a reported affair between his former girlfriend and Toprak’s friend. Tore allegedly gained access to Toprak and Calhanoglu’s hotel room and pulled a gun on Toprak. No shots were fired, but it goes without saying that there was some dressing room disharmony. Both Toprak and Tore aren’t named in the Turkish squad, whilst Calhanoglu will be in France.
