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French Impressionist
One of the oddest acts on the world cup stage has been the sideline shadow play between Philippe Troussier, Japan's French manager, and Florent Dabadie, his inseparable translator. Dabadie, 27, has the soul of a mime. Instead of merely interpreting Troussier's pearls of wisdom, he mimics the boss's every move. "It's about being Philippe Troussier," says Dabadie. "The players don't look at him when he's talking, they look at me." The theatrical Frenchman admits he sometimes edits Troussier's monologues so the coach doesn't "appear as if he is uneducated. Like the other day, he started talking about the players being like Mount Fuji, a volcano about to erupt or something ... the metaphor made no sense. So I just left that part out." No harm, no foul. "If I were President Bush's interpreter and I was doing this, it would be catastrophic," Dabadie says, "but this is sports. Pfft." Now that Japan is out of the Cup, Dabadie is considering a career in showbiz. He'll make a fine body double. |
