Dejected French fans rue Dhorasoo's absence in final

New Delhi, July 10 (UNI) Dejected with Zinedine Zidane's send off in his swansong appearance before losing the World Cup to Italy via soccer's version of Russian Roulette, French fans here feel they were also denied the consolation of seeing Vikash Dhorasoo, the French midfielder of Indian origin, in the final showdown.

France's bespectacled, tarot card reading coach Raymond Domenech drew flak for his ''questionable'' substitution of Thierry Henry and Frank Ribery despite already missing Patrick Vieira and the talismanic Zidane and fielding Alouda Diara, and not Dhorasoo.

Dhorasoo was reduced to a bench-warmer last night and was seen on television only once when Henry was taken off and the forward was shaking hands with everyone, including the Mauritius-born player of Indian origin.

''As a France fan, it could not have been worse. Zidane, the best footballer since Maradona, could do something as silly as headbutting an opponent and leave the stage in his final appearance. And then you saw some stupid substitutions to complete the horror story.

''And how could you justify bringing in Alouda Diara, instead of the more versatile Dhorasoo. Dhorasoo playing in the final could have been a consolation for us. But Domenech denied us even that,'' said a groggy Harpreet Singh, who works with a leading Public Relation firm and is still recovering from last night's ''shock''.

Echoing his view, Shuvendu Roy, who edits a magazine on northeast said, ''France faltered at the final hurdle. A poor start saw them being written off as old no-hopers but they looked better with every game but in the end, they flattered to deceive. Vieira limped out, Zidane was sent off and then Ribery replaced. This was the right time to field Dhorasoo, who showed what he is capable of in his two cameos in the preliminary stage matches.'' Now settled in the capital, sexagenarian Kalyan Goswami has seen Pele-starred Cosmos playing against Mohun Bagan in Kolkata in 1977 and he too feel Dhorasoo's presence would have made it an occasion for the Indians as well.

''Of course it would have been great with Dhorasoo there, because we always love to bask in reflected glory and any person of Indian link doing well in any corner of the world makes us feel proud. We take pride in Bobby Jindal being elected to the US Congress or Manoj N Shyamalan making it big in Hollywood.

''Similarly, if we want to see Dhorasoo in a match of this magnitude, I don't find anything wrong with that. After all I don't see India qualifying for the World Cup for another 100 years,'' said the pessimist in him.

Former India captain Prasun Banerjee leads another school of thought which believes Domenech did just what was necessary and even criticised demands to field the Paris Saint-German midfielder.

''Domenech will be a soft target now that France have lost. Let me tell you that Domenech's liking for Dhorasoo is well known and he did field him in two matches. But when the stage is a World Cup final and someone doesn't fit into your scheme of things, you can't overturn your strategy only to satisfy some people in a far-flung country. And I'm sure Domenech isn't aware of the sentiments here as well. It's just a preposterous idea,'' he told UNI over phone.

Buttressing his point, Prasun said, ''I guess this was just not the occasion for Dhorasoo. This kind of demand can be made only in a heart-over-head India where emotions run high. No wonder we are not there yet,'' said the Padma Shree player.

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