Wall Street Journal comenta el España / Francia, sacando estas consecuencias políticas, que no sé si es imprescindible traducir: In spite of its superior talent, Spain has never beaten the French in a World Cup, nor gotten very far at any major tournament. The team, a mix of feuding Spanish nationalities, was again lesser than the sum of its parts, reflecting the tensions within Spain itself.

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Európolis. “No existe un criterio claro de lo que es una nación” y “Europa, marcha atrás”.

Mi ignorancia profunda de las cosas futbolísticas me impide entrar en el debate: A pesar del “talento superior” de España, ¿es la selección nacional un “mix” de feudos nacionalistas? ¿Es la selección nacional española víctima de la suma heteróclita de tensiones nacionalistas entre las distintas partes de España, políticas y futbolísticas, como viene a decir uno de los dos grandes matutinos financieros mundiales..?

Este es el editorial de Wall Street Journal.

France Beats Spain
June 29, 2006

The day after glory at the World Cup, Parisians had a bounce in their step rarely seen of late, in spite of a late night of street parties and car honking. «We won! we won!» a young lady enthusiastically told random shoppers at a pastry shop yesterday morning, as if they didn’t know. «Giant» roared the cover of Le Parisien, the capital’s most popular tabloid, over a picture of football great Zinedine Zidane, or Zizou as everyone calls him.

Imagine the ecstasy if Les Bleus manage to get past Brazil in Saturday’s quarterfinal match. Yes, Tuesday’s night’s surprise 3-1 win over Spain in elimination play is still a long way from the World Cup final that France won eight years ago. But national expectations, and moods, have fallen since then, and the national squad’s ailments have mirrored those of the country’s flagging economy and fractious political scene. France’s team, old and unimaginative, left in disgrace from the 2002 World Cup, having failed to even score a goal. In this year’s World Cup it played badly in its early games, and was lucky that its group was weak.

Yet Spain brought out a different France. Gone were the tired has-beens whose past triumphs no longer mattered for much against the more talented and fresher sides. Out came a creative, confident, ethnically mixed and energetic team powered by the 23-year-old fresh legs of Franck Ribery, the future of French soccer. But the real hero of the night was Zizou, just turned 34, who set up the go-ahead goal and punched one in himself at the end to seal the upset. For dynamic and young Spain — in real life and on the football pitch — the loss reopened old wounds and doubts. In spite of its superior talent, Spain has never beaten the French in a World Cup, nor gotten very far at any major tournament. The team, a mix of feuding Spanish nationalities, was again lesser than the sum of its parts, reflecting the tensions within Spain itself.

So all of France is suddenly feeling up and Spain down. Or maybe this is just a game.