One can only feel for Kylian Mbappé. If scoring a hat-trick in a World Cup final but ending up on the losing side wasn’t enough, the Frenchman then had to endure a public display of affection from Emmanuel Macron.
Understandably, given that Mbappé and his teammates were still numb with the misery of losing the penalty shootout to Argentina, the PSG striker didn’t appear that receptive to being pawed by President Macron on the pitch at the Lusail stadium.
Macron has long seen Mbappé as the role model for presidency, a kid from the tough suburbs made good and, as he explained to the media in the wake of last night’s defeat: ‘I told him he’d made us very proud, and in the end we’ve lost a football match, we came so close. That’s how it is in sport.’
Macron praised the ‘extraordinary’ way France fought their way back into a final after being dominated by their opponents for eighty minutes. Inspired by Mbappé, France scored twice in the last ten minutes of normal time. Argentina made it 3-2 with ten minutes of extra time to go – but then Mbappé scored his second penalty. It went to penalties to decide the winner.
Macron must have been embarrassed by the first 45 minutes. France conceded two goals and didn’t manage a shot at the Argentine goal. There was no fight in the French, no aggression. It was a capitulation, of the kind that no politician likes to be associated with.
Macron has hardly been seen in France in recent weeks. Is it any wonder he wants to spend as little time as possible in his country?
Then came the comeback. And, although ultimately it wasn’t enough to deny Argentina their first World Cup title since 1986, Macron was able to spin the defeat as heroic and glorious – an art mastered by England through the decades.
‘There will undoubtedly be regrets after this match [but] you played great football,’ [4] Macron told the players, having followed them into the dressing room (along with a camera crew). ‘You had the heart, the hunger, the desire and the talent to go there.’
Macron also buttonholed Didier Deschamps and told him he should remain coach. One gets the feeling that, had his agenda allowed, he would probably have flown back to Paris with the squad so he could talk tactics and explain where they’d gone wrong. As it is, the players will have a peaceful flight home and instead Macron is on his way to the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, currently moored off the coast of Egypt, to dispense more presidential pearls of wisdom.
Macron has hardly been seen in France in recent weeks. Instead he’s been racking up the air miles, flying from Cop27 in Egypt to the APEC summit in Bangkok and then to the USA for a four-day state visit. Is it any wonder he wants to spend as little time as possible in his country? The lights are at least still on at the Élysée, although there are fears that the country will be plunged into darkness next month if the electricity runs out.
Then there are his much-anticipated pension reforms, which were initially scheduled to be unveiled last week. The announcement has been put back until 10 January; officially so that Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne can ‘continue her consultations’ – although it has also been suggested that Macron wants the French to enjoy a quiet Christmas, not one disrupted by strikes and street protests, which are likely to be the response when the reforms are announced. Macron will increase the age of legal retirement from 62 to 65, an incremental rise of four months each year between 2023 and 2031.
The French don’t approve. One survey last month revealed that 72 per cent are opposed to the increase, with those ages between 40 and 54 the most hostile, at 81 per cent. Last week, the eight main trade unions along with five youth organisations issued a joint statement reaffirming their opposition to any reform and warning that if the government does not back down, then they will ‘build a common response of cross-industry mobilisation’. The country is bracing itself for large-scale industrial action, similar to the winter of 2019 when Macron last attempted any meaningful reform.
Three years ago, the pandemic interrupted the reforms. But Macron is reportedly determined to push them through, ‘whatever the cost’. But with inflation set to increase from 6.2 per cent to 7 per cent next month – combined with rising energy bills – a perfect storm of grievances could sweep France. It may be that Macron will soon be treated to another stirring display of Gallic ‘heart, hunger and desire’. Only this time it will be in the streets, not on the pitch.
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