Tags:
Journalism of Courage
France coach Jacques Santini hit back at criticisms from retired midfielder Emmanuel Petit and praised his goalkeeper Fabien Barthez on Thursday. Petit, 32, announced his international retirement on Monday, blaming Santini for a ‘‘lack of frankness’’, but the coach responded the day after his team secured their Euro 2004 qualification with a 2-0 win over Slovenia.
‘‘Maybe the standard is too high for him (Petit),’’ Santini said.
Petit, plagued by injuries last season, criticised Santini in an interview with a French daily. ‘‘My goal was to qualify France for the Euro finals, the statistics and the manner are there,’’ Petit had said, adding, ‘‘But the worst is that he (Santini) questions the skills of Mr Simonet (the French federation president) and of the league.’’
Santini said he did not understand Petit’s comments. ‘‘It is incomprehensible, and not very graceful. Perhaps he is disrespectful of his teammates, especially to Patrick (Vieira) and Claude (Makelele)’’, Santini said.
Petit had appealed for a place in the starting line-up, but was kept out of the team by Makelele and Vieira, and recently by Olivier Dacourt and Benoit Pedretti. The French coach also said other players had been more gracious when they decided to retire. ‘‘When he decided to quit, Italy’s Paolo Maldini acted like a gentleman. Maybe Manu did not have this kind of behaviour,’’ Santini said.
Santini, however, was full of praise for Barthez, who was outstanding against Slovenia on Wednesday. (Reuters)
