After a successful start as coach of the Girondins de Bordeaux, Laurent Blanc was named coach of the France team in 2010, just after the Blues' fiasco at the World Cup in South Africa. This experience only lasted two years, the CĂ©venol leaving his place to Didier Deschamps at the end of Euro 2012.
During this Euro in Ukraine, the France team was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Spain. Coming out of the groups with difficulty, the Blues notably lost against Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Sweden (2-0) during the third match. A meeting which left its mark in the French locker room.
Assistant to Laurent Blanc at the time, Alain Boghossian revealed on DAZN this Tuesday evening that the former coach of the Blues and Hatem Ben Arfa had a heated altercation after this match against Sweden. “HBA” did not appreciate being replaced, and made this known to the ex-PSG coach.
“It went very badly” between Blanc and Ben Arfa
“It went very badly, Boghossian said.
It was inside, in the locker rooms. There was an altercation with Hatem (Ben Arfa), who was not happy to have been taken out by Laurent Blanc. He said what he was thinking to Laurent at the end of the match and it created a bit of an atmosphere in the locker room because it was hot. It was during the European Championships in Ukraine after the defeat against Sweden. »
Present on the DAZN set, and especially in the locker room at the time of this heated exchange, Jérémy Ménez confirmed the former midfielder's statements. “ It was after a defeat, hothe recalled. There were already some small quarrels that existed. And in this match Hatem was not very happy and he made it known. Laurent Blanc the same. Two human beings warming up a little, that's what it's like. »
A few days later, during the quarter-final against La Roja, Hatem Ben Arfa remained on the substitutes' bench for the entire match. Laurent Blanc preferring Mathieu Debuchy on the right flank of the French attack, before bringing in Jérémy Menez in his place for the former Lille player.
