Clairefontaine (AFP)
Since the semi-finals of the World Cup Russia 2018, which was won by the “roosters” with a single goal on their way to the second world title, a “toxic” rivalry has arisen between the French and their Belgian neighbors through social media, with sarcastic jokes “from the low level”, which caused the decline of a historical friendship between a group From fans to the background.
The confrontation between France and Belgium, one of the classics in European football, has always been a football celebration between neighbors, but before the upcoming meeting between them “Thursday” in Turin in the semi-finals of the European Nations League, the atmosphere is still heavy between the two sides after what happened in the semi-finals World Cup Russia ridicule and resentment.
After the disappointment of the dream of reaching the World Cup final for the first time in their history at the hands of a French team that “wasn’t better” than the Belgians and gathered in the “forty meters that separate it from its goal,” according to the “Red Devils” goalkeeper Tibois Courtois, the Belgian team was portrayed as a bad loser. His temper on French accounts in social media.
For France coach Didier Deschamps, the rivalry has always been “healthy and sporty” on the field, but there are “external excesses on both sides”.
There were many interpretations of what was said in the heat of the moment. I can understand the reaction, the disappointment or anything else,” said Monday from the Clairefontein World Champions Exercise Center.
“There has always been competition,” he said. Because there is a border (between the two neighboring countries), the same applies to Italy and Spain (they meet on Wednesday in the second semi-final).
On both sides of the border, some media outlets blew on embers without appreciating the damage they might cause and the extent of hostility it could generate between the two parties.
At the World Cup in Russia, the Belgians had “one of the best teams in their history, they had a lot of faith in their chances,” added Borcelino, adding that chances of winning the World Cup rarely get to them and “many people who make fun of Belgians don’t understand this situation.”
.