Our podcast Golazo looks back at the decline of France 98, namely the elimination of the Blues, world champions 98 and European champions 2000, at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. Without Zinédine Zidane during the first two matches against Senegal (1-0 defeat) and Uruguay (0-0), the number 10 having injured his thigh during the preparation match against the South Koreans, Roger Lemerre’s team was eliminated in the first round during a third match lost against Denmark (0-2).
Idol of an entire country since his double against Brazil in 1998, the 98 Ballon d’Or no longer has anything of the shy boy of his debut in the selection. “Zizou” was a central element of the group and, with the retirements of Didier Deschamps and Laurent Blanc, he was one of the leaders of the group. On the eve of France-Uruguay, the native of Marseille came to see the coach in the company of captain Marcel Desailly and Youri Djorjaeff to demand a tactical change.
Zidane, “I saw him with his head like We put headbutts”
As Christophe Dugarry tells RMC in 2020, the three executives obtained a tactical change from the coach, from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-1-2 with Claude Makelele inserted in the midfield behind Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit and “Duga” in 10 behind David Trezeguet and Thierry Henry. However, Roger Lemerre took his leaders on the wrong foot by maintaining his tactical plan with Johan Micoud as playmaker and Henry on the left wing. The announcement was made a few hours before the match against Celeste.
Dugarry recounts the reaction of his friend Zidane: “I can guarantee you that Zizou’s face when he (Roger Lemerre)
takes out the team composition sheet and gives us his same system; a system that players did not accept, because they did not want to play like that. They thought it wasn’t what was needed for the good of the team. Zizou, I saw him with his face ‘We throw headbutts’. He was crazy! He told me: ‘It’s not possible, he’s making fun of me?’
» A few hours later, the exclusion of “Titi” Henry in the first period resulted in a second poor performance for the French.
