Today's Date:

Statement by French President Jacques Chirac, on the result of the World Cup final

THE PRESIDENT: My initial feeling is one of both happiness and regret. I’m happy for the superb achievement of the French players, our French national team that behaved extraordinarily well up to the final. And I’m regretful that fate—and I really mean fate, luck—and it was truly a matter of luck—wasn’t favorable. So there’s no need for me to express my sympathy, I simply want to convey my admiration and my esteem.

THE PRESIDENT: I imagine they’ll be sad, but there’s no real reason to be. They did something extraordinary that resonated throughout France and is admirable in every regard. They have every reason to be proud of what they did and proud of themselves, apart from the problem of luck.

My thoughts go out in particular to Zinédine Zidane who, I understand, was wearing the French jersey for the last time. I don’t know what happened and why he was sanctioned, but I would like to express the great esteem I have for a man who embodied both the best values of the sport and the greatest human qualities imaginable. He brought honor to French sports and, quite simply, honor to France.