Matuidi claims French bad boys have learned lesson

The French national soccer team have learned painful lessons from their behaviour at recent major tournaments and will not tarnish their image again, midfielder Blaise Matuidi promised yesterday.

Matuidi was a member of the squad at Euro 2012 where Samir Nasri was hit with a three-match suspension for insulting a journalist and Jeremy Menez was also sanctioned for abusing a referee.

Two years earlier, France’s World Cup campaign in South Africa disintegrated when the squad went on strike and were then knocked out in the first round.