On the sidelines of the Blues during the dramatic France-Bulgaria of November 1993 as assistant to Gérard Houllier, during the scandalous non-qualification for the 94 World Cup, Aimé Jacquet was then the “provisional coach” of the selection to start the Euro 96 qualifiers. The former Saint-Etienne player could have walked out the door in 1995, three years before leading France to their very first coronation at the 98 World Cup. A goal from Youri Djorkaeff saved the head of “Mémé” on August 16, 1995. After a rather improbable series of 0-0 against Slovakia, Romania, Poland and Israel, the Blues were trailed at the Parc des Princes by the Poles and it was Djorkaeff, who had just arrived at PSG, who equalized at the end of the match (87th).
“I saved no one’s head. But seeing the headlines in the newspapers, I liked to say to the coach: ‘If you are here, Aimé, it’s thanks to me’ (laughs). Beloved, he is my God. Afterwards, my father was the person who understood me best in this sport. I have a lot of admiration for him, and the way he was able to bring out the best in each of us.”remembers “The Snake” in an interview given to So Foot. The following month, France inflicted a 10-0 on Azerbaijan in Auxerre (with doubles from Djorkaeff and Frank Leboeuf) and advanced to qualifying for the 1996 European Nations Championship hosted in England .
Jacquet bets on Zidane and Djorkaeff
During these Euro qualifiers, Aimé Jacquet gradually turned his back on the three French stars Jean-Pierre Papin (who had a series of injuries), Eric Cantona (heavily suspended) and David Ginola (not recalled for the English Euro despite his good performance). season at Newcastle) to permanently install Zinédine Zidane and Youri Djorkaeff in the offensive sector before promoting Didier Deschamps as captain. This is the very basis of the success of the Blues at the 98 World Cup, despite the strong criticism of the sports press against the French coach.
Djorkaeff says this: “The discussion Aimé had with Zizou and me when he arrived was the biggest discussion I’ve had with a coach. He called us and explained his project, our association, what he expected of us and why he was doing without certain players like Cantona, Papin and Ginola. Something happened that day: we didn’t want to disappoint him. » If Zidane gave France victory with a double header in the World Cup final against Brazil, Djorkaeff was the offensive leader of his team during the tournament (one goal, three assists).
