France (FRA)
On 12 July 1998,
Les Bleus
ignited France with a fire that burned on for days when they took
Brazil apart in a sensational 3-0 FIFA World Cup™ final victory on home
soil. A million euphoric Frenchmen and women sung and danced all night
long on the famous Champs Elysees in Paris. The celebrations went on
for days. The superbly talented Zinedine Zidane crowned a glittering
tournament performance with two goals against the South Americans in
the final.
France, founder members of FIFA, have competed in 11 FIFA
World Cup finals but the 1998 achievement eclipses all else. Dazzling
performances from players like Zidane, Youri Djorkaeff and Fabien
Barthez enraptured the footballing world. Under coach Aime Jacquet, the
home team were simply unbeatable.
Sixty years earlier in 1938, France had hosted another FIFA World Cup.
On that occasion the host team were less fortunate, going out in the
quarter-final to eventual champions Italy. Twenty years later, in
Sweden in 1958, Just Fontaine set a finals record with 13 goals – a
record that remains unbroken to this day.
In the years that followed, France produced many great talents. In the
1980s, players like Michel Platini, Alain Giresse and Jean Tigana
thrilled lovers of the beautiful game with their agility and flair. But
despite possessing one of the best midfields ever assembled, France
fell twice to Germany in consecutive semi-finals, first in a dramatic
thriller in Spain in 1982 and then in Mexico in 1986. In Seville,
France led 3-1 in extra time before Germany fought back to win on
penalties.
Two years after winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup, France continued their
sensational run by triumphing in the 2000 UEFA European Championships.
They defeated Italy 2-1 in the final with an extra-time golden goal by
David Trezeguet in a heart-stopping final in Rotterdam.
France duly travelled to the 2002 finals in the Far East as both world and European champions but in the ensuing debacle, Les Bleus
failed to score a single goal and finished bottom of their first-round
group. Beaten 1-0 by first-time participants Senegal in the opening
match, they drew 0-0 with Uruguay and lost 2-0 to Denmark before
returning home.
Two years later at EURO 2004, it was pretty much a case of
same problems, same punishment. Beaten in the quarter-finals by Greece,
the French were now forced to admit that their golden period was over.
Put in charge of a France team in the throes of transition,
coach Raymond Domenech embarked on the qualifying campaign for Germany
2006 in an unenviable position. The situation was further exacerbated
by the mass retirement from international duty of players such as
Bixente Lizarazu, Claude Makelele, Lilian Thuram and Zidane.
Savaged in the media after drab displays in a Group 4
generally assumed to be theirs for the taking (with Switzerland,
Israel, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus and the Faroe Islands), Domenech
steadfastly continued to lead Les Bleus down his chosen road.
In the summer of 2005, with France facing a struggle to qualify,
he received an unexpected boost when a change of heart on the part of
Zidane, Makelele and then Thuram saw the trio return to the fold to
lend their weight to France’s campaign. The added impetus was
immediately tangible and after a hard-fought success in Dublin (1-0), a
draw in Bern (1-1) and a final victory over Cyprus (4-0), the French
booked their ticket for Germany.
Nevertheless, Domenech has far from silenced his critics.
However, he summed up the ambitions of his team with a witty sideswipe
at his detractors: “Although I always kept the faith, many people were
sceptical in the extreme about us qualifying. Now, if I say that our
target in Germany is to get past the first round, some will condemn
that as a lack of ambition, so I’ll say that we’ll be going to the
World Cup to win it!” No doubt behind the humorous overtones, there
lies a strong desire to silence the doubters once and for all.
