Overview

Remember when Zinedine Zidane steered France to their first World Cup title in 1998? Kylian Mbappe doesn't. The absurdly gifted young forward wasn't even born when the French team lifted the trophy for the first time. But it was Mbappe's pace, energy and fearlessness that helped put France back at the summit of world football in 2018, erasing years of failure, rancor and shame. Kylian Mbappe, aged just nineteen, was undoubtedly the most exciting talent to emerge from the 2018 football World Cup. Significantly, Mbappe was born in the year of his country's first World Cup triumph. From France's first World Cup victory in 1998 to their second in 2018, Les Bleus have experienced a journey that has been anything but easy. Two decades of extreme turbulence for both the national team and the country, however, has seen the birth, growth and emergence of football wunderkind Kylian Mbappe. This young, dynamic player has lifted the country's spirits; he is a precocious talent who has let his ability demonstrate a grace and certainty beyond his years, and a genius that is as lethal as it is quiet. Sports journalist and broadcaster Matthew Spiro examines the reasons behind French football's glorious highs and its impossibly depressing lows. With the uniquely compelling Mbappe as the lens through which he examines the past twenty years of French football, Sacre Bleu poses compelling questions: does this current exciting generation represent the start of an era of domination? Or will 2018 much like 1998 prove to be nothing more than a false dawn?

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9781785905544

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Reviews

Winning the World Cup in 1998 was the highlight of my career. In this brilliant book, Matt Spiro captures the significance of that event and explains how it changed football in France for ever. - Frank Leboeuf, former France international

Winning the World Cup in 1998 was the highlight of my career. In this brilliant book, Matt Spiro captures the significance of that event and explains how it changed football in France for ever. - Frank Leboeuf, former France international When I lived in France in the early 1990s I am not sure that I would have predicted the effect that the country would have not only on UK football, but on global football. Certainly, when they made such a mess of qualifying for the 1994 World Cup, winning the next one seemed a long way off. Having worked with Matt many times, it is no surprise that he has perfectly captured the essence of this beautiful country and its beautiful game. - Mark Chapman, broadcaster A detailed and sensitive account of France's turbulent journey from one World Cup triumph to another; a fascinating story of football but also of far wider issues. - Jonathan Wilson, The Guardian Glory, influence and the sheer volume of talent are clear themes of French football over the past twenty-five years. Matt Spiro goes deeper and covers the complications of culture and race, too. This is a book about modern France as well as modern French football. - Michael Walker, The Athletic During my six seasons in France I saw the way Les Bleus brought an entire nation together. When they won the World Cup in 1998, I was kissing my teammates at pre-season training, thinking I was French. This fantastic book brings back some wonderful, vivid memories and truly encapsulates the complex relationship France has with football. - Tony Cascarino, former Marseille, Nancy and Republic of Ireland striker An amazing tale... Spiro skilfully traces the emergence of world-class players from city ghettos imbued with strife through a volcanic mix of inhabitants from former French colonies. - Eric Brown, Sports Journalists' Association A brilliantly insightful and entertaining read. - Jon Spurling, FourFourTwo

Author Information

MATTHEW SPIRO is a French football expert who has covered Les Bleus at major tournaments for the past two decades. A British journalist and broadcaster, he moved to Paris in 2002, collaborating with the BBC, UEFA.com, the Irish Times, The Times, the Daily Telegraph, IMG and Canal+. Matthew has been in charge of Ligue 1's global television coverage at BeIN Sports since 2012. He is the Ligue 1 world feed's lead commentator and presents the Ligue 1 Show, which is broadcast in more than 150 countries, including by BT Sport in the UK.

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