Para quem nao viu a entrevista do frances...

Talking Point: Spare Ribery Franck Ribery has caused consternation across Portugal with a series of declarations that could be interpreted as either evidence of an IQ so low as to need decimal points to be measured or as the sort of Gallic wind-up that blends ‘irony’ with straight-faced pretence.

During a press conference at Hameln, Germany, the talented player showed a bare-faced skill with his feet that few had noticed until now: the ability to insert them both firmly into a mouth that should remain closed in the interests of both fair play and basic taste.
Portuguese daily ‘O Jogo’ slammed the player with a headline that reflected Portuguese feelings about the player’s cerebrally-challenged declarations: “French Idiot”. So what exactly did the Marseille player do to cause such upset amongst the Lusitanian population?
When questioned about Selecção Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Frenchman was quick off the mark in ignoring the heart of the question in favour of a statement that confirms him as either a mental midget or a sarcastic chump.
"He’s a great player who has played at some really great clubs” Ribery said, managing to keep as straight a face as is physically possible. In fact, as is common knowledge, Felipão only played in Brazil and had modest success as a centre-back mainly at Porto Alegre club Grêmio.
When informed that this wasn’t the case at all, Ribery feigned surprise and gave the sort of apology that drips with a total lack of remorse, "Excuse me, I confused him with another player..." he said, not going on to say who that was or why.
He then went on to shove the other foot in his mouth when questioned about Pauleta; Portugal’s top scorer with 47 goals lifting him above the mythical Eusebio. "Pedro Pauleta is one of the best French players. Excuse me, he’s one of the best strikers playing in France", he went on.
With the Portuguese expatriate community in France being stereotypically labelled as cleaners and manual workers (also suffering no small prejudice in the process), this sort of lack of knowledge – and the front to blurt it out very publicly – smacks of one of two things: deep-seated idiocy or provocation.
This may seem like small potatoes to some onlookers, but Portugal is a nation that has suffered long and hard in many ways and it’s common knowledge that the Portuguese are fiercely proud and like to see their achievements recognised.
France come to the match as favourites, not needing this sort of extra edge. The only thing that it may provoke is a sense of tension that could spill over into the terraces and / or ruin the game on the pitch; hardly a laudable outcome for what is otherwise a mouth-watering clash.
The verdict is still out on Franck; some pooh-poohing his comments as the result of a stunted intelligence, others claiming that this is proof that ugliness is more than skin-deep. If it’s the latter he should be ashamed as he represents a nation.
If it’s the former then France should ban him from interviews before his ignorance taints the entire squad – and Portuguese players should shout “other end, Franck!” to get him charging against his own goal: It would, after all, be the second he scored for France after the press conference. Sometimes being Franck is a bad thing.