The France 98 group was not made in a day, that is obvious, but Aimé Jacquet’s second season at the head of the France team, in 1994-1995, is particularly decisive. To begin the Euro 1996 qualifiers, the Blues coach first placed his trust in the offensive players of FC Nantes, who were then flying over the French championship. Reynald Pedro, Patrice Loko and Nicolas Ouédec were associated with Corentin Martins in number 10. The French selection then recorded four 0-0s in five matches!
France won its first victory against Azerbaijan (0-2), on December 13, 1994, during a meeting relocated to Trabzon, thanks to an opening score by Jean-Pierre Papin. “JPP” found the net with a somewhat lucky recovery from a cross from Loko. The 30th achievement of the 1991 Ballon d’Or in 54 selections. The last French appearance of his career! If Eric Cantona paid for his scandalous kick on a Crystal Palace supporter, Papin disappeared from the radar in the first half of 1995.
“Papin, who had just arrived at Bayern, had not been called up since the Kirin Cup six months earlier. At 31, he is still decisive with the French team. This is his thirtieth goal in blue. We don’t know yet that it’s the last one. We are still counting on him, especially since his successors, Ouédec and Dugarry in particular, are not as effective. Loko, who scored in the second half, was perhaps his most credible successor at that time. He is the leading scorer in the championship. But he is more of a second attacker”says Richard Coudrais, historian of the French team, on his site
Blue Chronicles.
Papin’s nightmare at Bayern
A Bayern recruit after two difficult seasons at AC Milan, Papin was Giovanni Trapattoni’s starting number 9 for the start of the 1994-1995 financial year, with Oliver Kahn, Lothar Matthäus, Mehmet Scholl and a certain Emil Kostadinov in the team. He opened his account in the Bundesliga in November against Schalke, made his return to the selection the following month, but a knee operation destroyed everything. The beginning of the nightmare. “ I physically exploded. I went through the struggle with five operations in two years. It was a real black series”he admitted in 2012 to 20 Minutes.
Aimé Jacquet’s French team continued its transformation in 1995. Zinédine Zidane had scored a double for his very first with the Blues, the summer before in Bordeaux, but he was only included in the starting lineup in April 1995 for a 4-0 victory against Slovakia. Youri Djorkaeff will be associated with him the following November during the 10-0 against Azerbaijan. “JPP” played 27 matches (for 3 goals) during his second season at Bayern, winning the 96 UEFA Cup against the Girondins. At 32, he was not called up for the European Nations Championship. The train has passed.
