There is something deep that connects this handful of kids who hugged each other and jumped like mad at every French goal in an ancient sports hall on the outskirts of Paris, and the billionaire superstars from France who lost with honor to Argentina in the Qatar final.
Something intimate connects these children or grandchildren of North African and African immigration, inhabitants of the poor and multicultural
banlieue
, Frenchmen who have become used to being made to feel like strangers in their land, with Kylian Mbappé and his band.
It was evident this Sunday afternoon at the Bondy Sports Palace, the municipality of 52,000 inhabitants north of Paris where Mbappé and other players who know what it is to grow up in these neighborhoods and cities grew up.
Between basketball hoops and two boxing rings, and with a projector that failed at the most decisive moments, the residents of the city followed this frantic end of resignation to hope, from hope to euphoria, from euphoria to hysteria. and from there to disappointment.
Tu peux garder la tête haute...
Tu nous auras fait vibrer.
On est fiers de toi 💙#ARGFRA |
#FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/jQWHrCT1cE
— Team of France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) December 18, 2022
"We are on the verge of a heart attack," exclaimed a man who still felt sure of victory during the extra time break.
When the Albiceleste had already sentenced, the mayor, Stephen Hervé, commented: “Our Kylian Mbappé has given everything.
He is a great credit to everyone at Bondy."
Meanwhile, more than two hours of roller coaster.
Argentina overwhelmed so clearly in the first part that many took it as a joke.
Some “Messi!
Messi!
Entering the second part, there were those who left.
The goals of the neighbor Mbappé unleashed the madness.
The boys jumped and danced, throwing chairs from their sleep.
They did not sit down again.
They shouted
allez les bleus
or 'whoever jumps is not French'.
Joy was mixed with confusion.
The screen failed.
In extra time, the broadcast was cut off on the penalty kick from Mbappé's third goal and on Argentina's last penalty kick.
For these technical reasons, the defeat went almost unnoticed, as if the film had ended and the audience just left.
France had lost and it was not a drama.
A mural with the figure of Mbappé in Bondy, the town where France's 10th Marc Bassets grew up
Because France can be considered the winner of this World Cup.
It has confirmed its category of football power.
And he has won politically, although President Emmanuel Macron, present at the final, affirms that "we must not mix football with politics".
There are suspicions that this final would not have happened without a very political, and perhaps corrupt, meeting at the Élysée Palace in November 2010. According to the French prosecutor's office, a pact could have been forged there that ended up giving Qatar the World Cup.
Although the selection is not an accurate reflection of the sociology of France, it is of a France that rarely appears in the corridors and halls of power, and gives an accurate image of places like Bondy, of its municipal soccer fields where Mbappé started , son of a Cameroonian and an Algerian.
At the Palacio de Deportes, this Sunday, there were many
mbappés
.
Like the brothers Ismail and Ibrahim, 6 and 9 years old, both dressed in the uniform of the team they play for, AS Bondy.
"My favorite is Giroud," said Ismail.
"He is strong".
"I like Mbappé," said Ibrahim.
"His speed of him, how he hits the ball."
Who knows if the future
mbappés
were there , learning that there is a millimeter from glory to disappointment.
There is a building in the center of Bondy with one of the walls covered by a mural.
A child Mbappé dreams of the adult Mbappé.
“Love your dream”, he reads himself on the mural, “and he will love you”.
Subscribe here
to our special newsletter about the World Cup in Qatar
