The break was well and truly complete between Yoann Gourcuff and many players from the French team at the 2010 World Cup. At least on a human level.
Retired from the field for three years and thriving in his family life, Yoann Gourcuff does not want to dwell on bad memories. Unsurprisingly, he therefore did not respond to Jérôme Rothen who wanted to question him – like Jérémy Toulalan – about his new life. But there would also obviously have been a lot of talk about the Knysna fiasco at the 2010 World Cup…
This episode highlighted the deep antagonism between the Breton and several executives of the French team, first and foremost Franck Ribéry. A break confirmed by Robert Duverne, who was on the adventure in South Africa in the role of physical trainer. “There was a split humanly but sportingly, I don’t think. It has often been put aside. There was suffering, Yohann suffered enormously from it,” he told RMC, adding: “I remember Jérémy (Toulalan) coming to see me in my room to ask me what was going on. He wanted to know to what extent this group could influence Raymond and take out Yohann. »
“There was pain knowing that but the leaders wanted to play with the best Yoann and get the best from the team and I don’t think they had any animosity towards the footballer,” nevertheless clarified the one who remained in the memory for the throwing of his stopwatch while the players refused to train.
Asked about the Gourcuff case, Patrice Evra provided another insight in January 2022. “At that time, everyone wanted his skin. There were lots of lies. It was said that he was terrorized by scum. I went to see Yo and told him that Ribéry had never spoken badly to him. I told him to speak. There was a legend about Ribéry, who supposedly hit or threatened Gourcuff. This is not true,” he assured, pointing out the role of Raymond Domenech: “The worst thing is that I went to see Raymond (Domenech) and told him: ‘We have a problem, we have to play with two attackers because Nico (Anelka) needs support.’ Raymond said to me: ‘You want to cut off the lamb’s head? Don’t worry, I’ll cut his head off, he won’t play tomorrow.’ I said: ‘I didn’t come for that. That’s not my role. I wanted to talk about Nico.’ It was Raymond who cut off his head. Gourcuff was on the bus afterwards with Gignac laughing. I tell him: ‘Yo, do you realize that tomorrow you won’t play even though you’re a phenomenon? Do you think this is normal?’ He told me that he had too much pressure, that he preferred not to play, that he felt happier like that.
