Nice Premium: Are you going to watch this World Cup and how many matches do you think you can follow?
Xavier Garcia: I’m a soccer enthusiast and I’ll watch as many as I can. But some matches take place during my working hours and I’m not ready to take a half-day off for New Zealand-Slovakia or Algeria-Slovenia.
Nice Premium: What do you think of this French team and how far do you see them going?
Xavier Garcia: France remains an enigma. I think that, like in 2006, if the French get past the first round, they will have a great World Cup. First, because this team has an obvious confidence issue. It needs a spark. Then because the preparation was designed by Robert Duverne as in 2006 to go far, even if it means being less successful in the first round. It’s the Italian tradition.
But beyond the sporting aspect, I find it a pity that the French team is so closed off, in every sense. I watched the documentary on the history of Les Bleus on France 3 the other day. The contrast between today’s team and Platini’s gang was painful to see. At the time, the players and the coach said what they thought, and no one died from it. And above all, on the field, there was a real identity, a « French style » of playing with beautiful passing, a very technical midfield. There was also a real camaraderie among the players.
In a way, Aimé Jacquet is guilty of this because he instilled the idea that one could only win by disrupting the opponent’s play, with a strong defense. The truth is that we were robbed by the referee in the 1982 semifinal and not in 1998. I watch France-West Germany 82 regularly, I’ve never tried to watch France-Brazil 98 again.
Nice Premium: According to you, who will be in the final four of the competition?
Xavier Garcia: Netherlands, England, Brazil, Spain. But my dearest wish would be for France and Argentina to be in the final four. These are two teams that have yet to find a collective balance, but in football, you never know. If Maradona won the World Cup as a coach, it would be magnificent. And if Domenech went all the way, it would be quite something as well!
Nice Premium: Have you already planned gatherings with friends, outings to places showing the matches …?
Xavier Garcia: Of course, that’s the magic of the World Cup. Years later, we barely remember the course of the big matches, but we remember where and with whom we watched them. I like to go see matches at the pub Chez Wayne, in Old Nice, there’s a special atmosphere.
But if I go there and France loses a match, I’ll look for another pub for the following games. I’m very superstitious about football. I know of cursed televisions.
Nice Premium: Finally, where did you watch the last match of the French team?
Xavier Garcia: At Rosalinde Rancher kindergarten, my daughter’s school. The children prepared a Niçois meal for us on the night of France-Uruguay and the school principal, Mrs. Martinez, was kind enough to have a big screen installed. Thanks to her, I didn’t have to choose between my daughter and the nation!
