Having entered the pantheon of French football on July 12, 1998, Aimé Jacquet almost only became head of the French team. His mandate as coach, which began in 1994 after the trauma of France-Bulgaria, was very close to ending in the summer of 1995. Without Youri Djorkaeff's equalizer in the final minutes of the match against Poland in August, with a free kick from 20 meters, his departure would undoubtedly have been inevitable.
This draw at the Parc des Princes had preserved the essentials but the French team was nonetheless in an unfortunate position. This is particularly due to the Blues' difficulties in scoring, as evidenced by the eight small goals scored in nine matches. However, against Azerbaijan, on September 6, 1995, Aimé Jacquet's men signed what would for a long time constitute the biggest victory for the French team. A record only broken in November 2023 against Gibraltar.
This meeting at Abbé-Deschamps against Azerbaijan will nonetheless mark the beginning of an era, that of Youri Djorkaeff and Zinédine Zidane. For the first time, the two men are indeed associated with the kick-off. If the Girondins player had already started with the French team, it was only due to the absence of the “Snake” and the duo had until then only played for around twenty minutes, together, against Poland. “ Better coordinated, it’s a duo that will improve”Aimé Jacquet then confided.
A double for Youri Djorkaeff, a goal for Zinedine Zidane
While the French coach seems determined to turn the page on Papin-Cantona, deprived of the French team since January due to a knee injury for one and his kung fu with Manchester for the other, the two men are not letting the windfall pass them by.
Youri Djorkaeff was the first to strike, taking the corner which gave Marcel Desailly the opening goal and if the former Monegasque scored twice, Zinedine Zidane was not left out with a goal at the start of the last quarter of an hour. Enough to convince Aimé Jacquet that the future of the French team – and his own – is between their feet.
