for about 25 Euros, I had tea and the pastry above at the Hotel Bristol in Paris.
I do not normally spend this kind of money at tea time but when it includes a meeting with the World Champions and the European Champions in football, well...
I came to Paris at the end of March for the 2014 World Cup qualification between France and Spain.
These 2 teams have dominated football for the last 15 years. There was a time around 2000 when France were both World Champions and European Champions and people were talking about a dynasty and about how any team could stop them.
But then things fell apart for France until 2006 when they made the WC Final, facing Italy.
The defining moment of that Final was the reaction by Zidane to the provocation of the Italian defender Materazzi.
If you go to Paris today, you can see a sculpture of that encounter outside the Pompidou Center.
After WC 2006, Spain started to dominate football and now we are talking about the Spanish dynasty and who could stop them.
France had a great chance. Already they played Spain in Madrid and came away with a draw.
After 4 games, France led the Group with 10 points and Spain was second with 8 points. A draw in Paris would be good enough for France.
Inside Hotel Bristol, I met the Spanish team as they were leaving for the bus to bring them to the Stade de France.
When Mr del Bosque walked by me, I told him 'Suerte' and he said to me 'Gracias'
But I was only polite. That night, I was supporting France. I had just ordered this special shirt and I wore it to the stadium.
The match was a disappointment. France started defensively and was happy to sit back and waited.
That worked for almost 60 minutes until Pedro received a pass on the right. He dribbled past several French players to get to the middle and then put a high pass to the left for Monreal. Pedro continued to run past at least 6 French defenders to get into the box.
Monreal crossed a low ball and Pedro got to the ball ahead of the passive French defense. Still his soft shot could have been saved by the French goalkeeper but it was pushed into the net.
Only then did France begin to apply pressure and to attack with more urgent.
Spain held on to win 1-0 and now lead the Group with 3 games left.
After the game, the reaction from the French fans, players and media was too polite. Instead of anger at losing a great chance to beat Spain, the French accepted the defeat like it was a foregone conclusion. The attitude was 'Spain is a great team and it is ok to lose to them. We do not mind losing to Spain'
When Zidane was playing for France, they were a team that instills fear into the opponents.
Today, France is a team that is afraid to win against better teams.
France will not be the team that will end the Spanish dynasty.
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