FRANCE
The
Team
| NAME |
POSITION
|
AGE
|
CLUB |
| |
|
|
|
| Fabien Barthez |
GK
|
24
|
AS Monaco |
| Bernard Lama |
GK
|
34
|
non-affiliated |
| Lionel Litizi |
GK
|
26
|
Metz |
| |
|
|
|
| Laurent Blanc |
D
|
32
|
Olympique Marseille |
| Marcel Desailly |
D
|
29
|
AC Milan |
| Lilian Thuram |
D
|
25
|
Parma |
| Vincent Candela |
D
|
24
|
Roma |
| Bruno N' Gotty |
D
|
26
|
Paris St. Germain |
| Bixente Lizarazu |
D
|
27
|
Bayern Munich |
| Franck Leboeuf |
D
|
29
|
Chelsea |
| |
|
|
|
| Pierre Laigie |
M
|
27
|
Sampdoria |
| Didier Deschamps |
M
|
29
|
Juventus |
| Zinidine Zidane |
M
|
25
|
Juventus |
| Emmanuel Petit |
M
|
27
|
Arsenal |
| Christian Kerembeu |
M
|
27
|
non-affiliated |
| Alain Boghossian |
M
|
27
|
Sampdoria |
| Franck Gava |
M
|
27
|
Paris St. Germain |
| Patrick Vieira |
M
|
24
|
Arsenal |
| |
|
|
|
| Youri Djorkaeff |
F
|
29
|
Inter Milan |
| Ibrahim Ba |
F
|
24
|
AC Milan |
| Stephane Guivarc'h |
F
|
27
|
AJ Auxerre |
| Christophe Dugarry |
F
|
25
|
Barcelona |
| Florian Maurice |
F
|
24
|
Paris St. Germain |
| Robert Pires |
F
|
24
|
Metz |
| Patrice Loko |
F
|
27
|
Paris St. Germain |
The
Coach
AIME JACQUET, 56, took over
as French national coach when the game was domestically in the doldrums.
France, under Gerald Houiller had just been eliminated from the 1994 World
Cup by Bulgaria, losing their last qualifying match to a last minute goal.
Bulgaria won the game 2-1 and went to the United States, and France stayed
at home. Now Jacquet's responsibility is nothing short of winning
the World Cup. Jacquet, a softly-spoken man, often criticised for
preferring the shadow of the training camps to the spotlight of media attention,
has spent the last three years building a new team without former stars
Eric Cantona, David Ginola and Jean- Pierre Papin. A tireless worker,
highly dedicated to his job, he is widely expected to leave after the World
Cup finals whatever France archieves.
How
They Qualified
AS
HOST NATION
World
Cup Record
|
1930
|
1st Round
|
|
1934
|
1st Round
|
|
1938
|
2nd Round
|
|
1954
|
1st Round
|
|
1958
|
Third Place
|
|
1966
|
1st Round
|
|
1978
|
1st Round
|
|
1982
|
Fourth Place
|
|
1986
|
Third Place
|