Nicolas Anelka, the Chelsea striker at the eye of the storm that rocked the French team at the World Cup, has described the tensions between the squad and coach as a timebomb waiting to go off.
Anelka was sent home from the World Cup in disgrace for verbally abusing France coach Raymond Domenech at half-time in the 2-0 loss to Mexico in the group stages of the competition.
His expulsion provoked an angry reaction from his team-mates who refused to take part in a training session ahead of their next game against South Africa which the French eventually lost, ending their World Cup campaign.
Anelka's told a French newspaper that if it hadn't been him that brought everything to a head, it would have been someone else as the players were united.
