More than twenty-five years after the feat he achieved with the French team by winning the 98 World Cup, Stéphane Guivarc’h still remains bruised by his silence in front of goal during the competition.
He was one of the obvious players in the group put together by Aimé Jacquet to participate in the 1998 World Cup. Top scorer in Ligue 1 two seasons in a row (1996/97 and 1997/98), Stéphane Guivarc’h had therefore been summoned for the competition which took place in France. A competition which, however, did not smile on him since he was injured in the first match and did not score a single goal, despite a return as a starter from the quarter-finals until the coronation against Brazil. Enough to leave him with terrible regrets.
Twenty-five years after the first world title in the history of the French team, the former AJ Auxerre scorer still has difficulty digesting what he considers to be a partially missed World Cup for him. “ It still haunts me todayhe confided Monday on RMC. You think about it constantly. It’s a World Cup, it’s in France, you score forty-seven times in the season and on those days, you have square feet. » However, the one who has since converted to the sale of swimming pools manages to retain a bit of philosophy. “ This is what makes football so charming. Lillian (Thuram), he does not score a goal in his career in the semi-final, he scores with his right foot and his left foot.“
Complicated scheme
In addition to his personal blunders in front of goal during the World Cup, Stéphane Guivarc’h also has an explanation for his lack of success. “ The diagram was also complicated. You don’t have anyone in the hallways, so it’s more complicated. It’s not the same pattern that I had in Auxerre where I had two centering machines and where it was enough to be present at the first or second post. There was less effort to be made in moving around, in defensive replacement. » Even if he did not find the net during the competition, Stéphane Guivarc’h will forever remain a member of the French team, the first to offer a star to the tricolor jersey.
