France rebuild after nightmare year

The controversial nature of their qualification meant that France arrived at the World Cup as the most unpopular team in South Africa, and things went downhill from there.

The fall-out from Thierry Henry's handball in the play-off win over Ireland lingered long into the year, as Raymond Domenech struggled to find a winning formula for the team he had led to the final of the 2006 tournament.

Victory over Costa Rica in their first warm-up game raised hopes of a positive campaign, but an embarrassing 1-0 loss to China ensured that Les Bleus pitched up in South Africa with stormclouds already gathering.

France drew 0-0 with Uruguay in their Group A opener in Cape Town, before things began to really unravel in the second game with Mexico.

A 2-0 defeat left Domenech's side clinging to faint hopes of reaching the knockout phase, but the turning point of France's tournament occurred in the changing room at half-time.

Striker Nicolas Anelka, reacting to Domenech's criticisms of his positional play, let rip at his coach with a foul-mouthed tirade and was immediately substituted.

That would have been an end to the matter, had the outburst not been leaked to French sports daily L'Equipe, which led a subsequent edition with Anelka's words -- "Go fuck yourself, you dirty son of a whore!" -- reprinted as an explosive front-page headline.

The revelations sent the squad into meltdown.

Anelka was sent home by the French Football Federation and the squad reacted by boycotting a public training session, with captain Patrice Evra pictured on television in a fierce row with fitness coach Robert Duverne.

Evra decried the "traitor" who had undermined the sanctity of the changing room, but figures from both inside and outside the sport were quick to rain down scorn upon France's striking players.

"I told the players they had tarnished the image of France. It is a moral disaster for French football," said French sports minister Roselyne Bachelot.

France's final game, a 2-1 defeat by the hosts, seemed almost irrelevant, but it meant the 1998 champions limped out of the tournament in the group stage without a win to their name.

"The way people see France right now is a disaster and we, as players, are the first responsible for that," admitted winger Florent Malouda.

Domenech was sacked and Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc, darling of the 1998 side, installed in his place.

All 23 World Cup squad members were banned from Blanc's first game in charge, a 2-1 loss in a friendly with Norway, and even the return of some key names could not prevent a shock 1-0 loss at home to Belarus in France's opening Euro 2012 qualifier.

Gradually, though, Blanc's attacking philosophy took hold, and a 2-0 victory away to Bosnia-Herzegovina was the springboard for a run of four straight wins -- culminating in a fine 2-1 defeat of England at Wembley in November.

"We're in the rebuilding process," said Mathieu Valbuena.

"We were starting again from a really low point. We had to go back to basics. I think that he (Blanc) has instilled a sense of respect among us."

Domestically, Didier Deschamps' Marseille took advantage of defending champions Bordeaux's late-season slump to snatch both the League Cup and the league title from them.

It was Marseille's first league crown since 1992 -- and their first major silverware since the 1993 Champions League triumph -- and sparked memorable celebrations in the city's Old Port area.

Lyon beat Bordeaux to reach the Champions League semi-finals, but Claude Puel's men were promptly taken apart by Bayern Munich in the last four.

Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux all struggled in the early months of the 2010-11 season, as Rennes, Lille and a resurgent Paris Saint-Germain threatened to upset the balance of power at the top of Ligue 1.