'Le Monde' newspaper article [largest newspaper in France]. Translated using Google Translate from french: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lemonde.fr%2Fsport%2Farticle%2F2010%2F06%2F23%2Fviolences-a-paris-apres-la-defaite-de-l-algerie_1377828_3242.html Today, the United States has managed to anger the Algerian immigrants living in Paris and put France in an even greater state of shame. This calls for celebration with 300,000,000 of my closest fellow Americans.
I don't understand the Algeria reaction at all...first the team seem pretty darn happy to go for the draw...then they show the female fan in the stands crying...what in the world is she crying for? Was she expecting them to hang 3 goals in the last few minutes and advance? Were they robbed somehow? Very strange. Then you have Dempsey hit in the face on purpose, the late red card for their team and the story that one of their players hit a female photographer. Real class team this Algeria, hope we never play them again.
Algerian immigrants rioting in France seems to be nothing new. The French police need to learn to crack some heads so people will think twice before trying to pull that crap.
Losing to us infidels, that's why, perhaps. In other related news, there was an earthquake in North America today.
They were going nuts because they lost to 'evil amrika'. Hate to say it but we're not that popular over there. Plus it was a close game and Algeria came close to going ahead, and going down in the last minutes in an emotional game like that is going to cause people to go nuts. Also, most of the rioters were just kids looking for an excuse to riot. Sometimes it's like that.
If anyone should be rioting in Paris, it is the French, because Les Bleus thoroughly stunk up the joint despite being favored to win the group.
Did those idiots ever expect to actually advance anyway? Their players and fans reactions make it seem like they should have won that game. They had what? One legitimate shot when the guy hit the crossbar early on in the game? What else did they do offensively? The game was in our hands the whole time, we just couldn't score, until the last second.
That region has hated us since we literally declared independence from the British. Look up the Barbary wars and the stuff that happened to crew of our merchant ships.
Still. Ending in a stalemate against the US would have been good for them the same way drawing against England felt like a victory for us. Nobody expected them to do anything and they did well against the US with the goalie making some very good saves.
Why didn't they just use the Algerian team as the French team? Hell, they got the same amount of points but with a better goal differential.
Algeria has very close ties to France. Until the 1950s, Algeria was considered part of France and they had representation in their government. Many prominent French citizens are of Algerian ancestry, including the great Zinadine Zidane. Sadly, Algerians love rioting almost as much as they love soccer.
Fxcking losers. I mentioned this in another thread, but all the Algerian fans they showed in the crowd from about the 80th minute to Donovan's goal were celebrating like they were about to win the World Cup. They knew they weren't going to advance and were perfectly happy to get the draw and knock us out.
The newly formed US Navy (1790s) went in and kicked the Barbary Pirates' asses, because the US was tired of being attacked by these pirates. Rather than pay tribute (like the British did), the Americans fought back and won. A period of American history not too often talked about.
From the halls of montezuma to the shores of Tripoli We will Our counties battles in air on land and sea first to fight for right and freedom and to keep our honor clean we are proud to claim the title of United States Marine. It's true. We have a song about kicking both Algerian AND Mexican ass.
IIRC that line refers to the Barbary coast pirate fights which I believe were fought across the region.
Keep in mind the Algerian fans in France have been getting a ton of hate from many French fans -- especially Le Pen supporters -- who did not want to see Algeria do better than France. This certainly contributed to the frustration boiling over into rioting in Paris among mostly young, disenfranchised Algerian immigrants. This has more to do with the immigration situation in France than it has to do with Algeria losing to the U.S. I've actually read a number of posts by Algerian fans congratulating the U.S. for its win. I also read the comments on l'Equipe's website and every single one (45 of them) had positive things to say about the yanks. Mostly, they love the fact that the U.S. players show such determination and teamwork, unlike Les Bleus. Landon, Jozy, et al. have many fans in France.
The day we defeated Algeria just happened to coincide with the same day Raymond Domenech returned to France the violence was literally directed at him, not us. heh.