Patriotic or plain selfish?

Gary Meenaghan believes disgruntled players should keep their emotions in check.

Nicolas Anelka headed straight for Cape Town airport after being jettisoned from the squad.

JOHANNESBURG // Patriotism has a lot to answer for: long bloody wars, violent coups d'etat and Mel Gibson's questionable Scottish accent in Braveheart, the Oscar-winning film. But Nicolas Anelka, following his obscenity-riddled diatribe against Raymond Domenech, his France coach, earlier this week, has prompted an exploration into the relationship between footballers and patriotism.

"Having or expressing devotion to and vigorous support for one's country," is how the Oxford English Dictionary defines the term patriotic. Anelka, having played poorly and without much visible effort for the first 45 minutes of Les Bleus' group match with Mexico, was replaced at half-time by Domenech. Rather than rallying behind his country, however, he unleashed a vitriolic torrent of abuse at the national team manager. And the following day, he showed further disrespect to his country by refusing to apologise at the behest of the French Football Federation, resulting in him being sent home on an early flight.

Anelka would likely argue - much like Eric Cantona and Gregory Coupet, his dissident compatriots of yesteryear - it was his desire to succeed for his country that evoked such anger and compelled him to speak out. Such an excuse, however, rarely stands up. Arguably the most famous example of a national side fall-out was the bitter feud between Roy Keane, the Republic of Ireland midfielder, and Mick McCarthy, his country's coach, in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. Keane complained about the state of Ireland's training pitch and made his feelings felt towards McCarthy with an obscene outburst before revealing he was quitting the team. Two days later McCarthy sent his country's only world-class player home.

Was Keane correct to question his country's preparations for the tournament? Undoubtedly. But did he or his country benefit from his exit? Despite Ireland reaching the last 16, the answer must surely remain no. Due to his dislike for McCarthy, Keane put himself before his country. Similar cases involving Dutch players Ruud Gullit and Edgar Davids and their respective managers Dick Advocaat and Guus Hiddink, show further examples of players weakening their national teams - and their country's hopes for global success - because of an inability to work with their international coach.

In 1994, Gullit, a maverick in the Dutch midfield, refused to travel to the United States to compete in the World Cup because he did not agree with Advocaat's tactics. The men in Oranje progressed to the quarter-finals, but what might have been had they had the versatile Gullit will never be known. Two years later, the Dutch were affected again by a dreadlocked midfielder's unwillingness to turn a blind eye to his coach in order to push for national glory. Davids, the Suriname-born defensive midfielder, accused Hiddink of being manipulated by Holland's caucasian players in the run-up to the 1996 European Championships. He was immediately sent home and Holland crumbled in the quarter-finals.

Yet it is not always the coach who provides the impetus for players to hit out. Steffen Effenberg, the Germany midfielder, found himself in trouble at the 1994 World Cup after reacting angrily to boos from his compatriots in the stands following the Germans' 3-2 defeat of South Korea. Effenberg, frustrated by his side's struggle to beat the lesser-favoured Koreans, had given the fans a one-fingered salute and Berti Vogts, the coach, decided to send him home. Such decisive action will give England supporters food for thought after witnessing Wayne Rooney condemn jeering spectators on camera after Fabio Capello's side drew 0-0 with Algeria this week.

It is widely accepted that without Rooney, England's hopes of success in South Africa are minimal and so it was not surprising he did not go the way of Effenberg. The Manchester United forward was instead forced to issue an apology through the English FA - it would seem patriotism has started enough wars, without the Three Lions being ordered out against Slovenia without their most dangerous weapon. [e-mail]

Uli Stein v Franz Beckenbauer (1986) The German goalkeeper was unimpressed when his coach told him he would be second choice behind Harald Schumacher. Beckenbauer, who had recently appeared in a TV commercial for soup, was likened, by Stein, to a "clown bathing in his own soup". Eric Cantona v Michel Henri (1988) Cantona was dropped by Henri for a friendly match and the former Manchester United playmaker did not take the news well, referring to Henri in unsavoury terms. The French Football Federation did not take kindly to Cantona's comments and suspended him from international football for 10 months. Zlatko Zahovic v Srecko Katanec (2002) Perhaps inspired by Roy Keane's antics the same year, Zahovic let rip at Katanec - now in charge of the UAE - for substituting him in their opening match against Spain. He had some unpleasant things to say to his coach and was promptly handed a plane ticket home. Gregory Coupet v Raymond Domenech (2006) Before the last World Cup he irritated Coupet, the goalkeeper, when telling him he was below Fabien Barthez in the pecking order, prompting the stopper to pack his bags and threaten to leave the team's training camp. Domenech was forgiving on that occasion. "He lost his head," he said before welcoming him back. Yazid Mansouri v Rabah Saadane (2010) Anelka's histrionics were not even the first of this tournament. Mansouri, the Algeria captain, was told he was not going to start his side's opener against Slovenia - and did not take the news well. He stormed off to his room and was in the process of packing his bags when officials persuaded him to change his mind.