Vikash Dhorasoo

Hamelin: Some France fans may not like Vikash Dhorasoo, but at least his teammates love him.

Dhorasoo, who was booed by the Stade de France crowd after coming on as a substitute in a World Cup warm-up game against Mexico last month, thanked his colleagues for showing support. “Of course it hurt during the match, but the attitude of my teammates afterwards really moved me,” Dhorasoo told reporters on Friday.

“It’s true that sometimes in the past I have felt left alone by some but, for once, the entire group was behind me.”

The gifted but erratic Paris St Germain midfielder won his first cap in 1999 but struggled to make an impact and this World Cup is his first major tournament.

France coach Raymond Domenech was furious after not only Dhorasoo, but also goalkeeper Fabien Barthez and the coach himself were jeered by the fans against Mexico.

“I think I understood what happened,” Dhorasoo said when asked if he knew why he had been booed. (Reuters)