France favourite Thuram slams Le Pen
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France's most capped footballer Lilian Thuram has ridiculed the country's far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen for saying there were too many "coloured players" in the World Cup squad.
More than two thirds of France's 23 World Cup players are non-white and Thuram ridiculed the claims by Le Pen who was runner-up to President Jacques Chirac in the 2002 presidential election in France.
Thuram, who mixed irony and serious remarks in his reply to Le Pen, told lequipe.fr: "What can I say?
"Obviously Jean-Marie Le Pen is unaware there are black Frenchmen, like there are blond ones and brown ones.
"He has for a long time been a candidate to be French president and he does not know French history, that's the most serious and surprising thing.
"It's almost as if someone looked at the American basketball team and said: 'There are blacks in the team, what's going on?'. Unless you can prove otherwise all you need is French people on the pitch."
Referring to the French street celebrations that followed the Spain win, Thuram said: "People were celebrating the French players without asking if they were black or not. They are French."
More than two thirds of France's 23 World Cup players are non-white and Thuram ridiculed the claims by Le Pen who was runner-up to President Jacques Chirac in the 2002 presidential election in France.
Thuram, who mixed irony and serious remarks in his reply to Le Pen, told lequipe.fr: "What can I say?
"Obviously Jean-Marie Le Pen is unaware there are black Frenchmen, like there are blond ones and brown ones.
"He has for a long time been a candidate to be French president and he does not know French history, that's the most serious and surprising thing.
"It's almost as if someone looked at the American basketball team and said: 'There are blacks in the team, what's going on?'. Unless you can prove otherwise all you need is French people on the pitch."
Referring to the French street celebrations that followed the Spain win, Thuram said: "People were celebrating the French players without asking if they were black or not. They are French."
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