FRANCE: THE FRENCH COACH AIME JACQUES HAS YET TO DECIDE WHO WILL PLAY IN ATTACK FOR THE FRANCE'S WORLD CUP SEMI-FINAL AGAINST CROATIA

Record ID: 646232

  • Title: FRANCE: THE FRENCH COACH AIME JACQUES HAS YET TO DECIDE WHO WILL PLAY IN ATTACK FOR THE FRANCE'S WORLD CUP SEMI-FINAL AGAINST CROATIA
  • Date: 7th July 1998
  • Summary: CLAIREFONTAINE, FRANCE (JULY 7, 1998) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE SHOT OF FRENCH TEAM TRAINING CENTRE 2. FRENCH COACH AIME JACQUET ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE 3. JACQUET SAYING: "LIKE ALL THE TEAMS THEY (THE CROATIANS) ARE VERY DEFENSIVE WITH A MIDFIELD THAT IS WELL LOADED WILL TRY WITH TALENTED PLAYERS LIKE SUCKER, SANOVIC TO COME AT US AND PUT US IN A DIFFICULT POSITION AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR MISTAKES." (FRENCH) 4. CUTAWAY 5. CAPTAIN DIDIER DESCHAMPS SAYING: "EVERYONE HAS PREPARED INDIVIDUALLY FOR THE MATCH. THERE WILL BE A FINAL REMINDER AS THERE NORMALLY IS WITH LAURENT BLANC AND OTHER FORMER PLAYERS BUT IT'S SMALL DETAILS. FOR THE BULK OF OF THE PREPARATIONS IT'S ALREADY DONE. EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT HAS TO BE DONE AND THAT WE HAVE THE POSSIBILILTY TO DO SOMETHING HISTORIC FOR FRANCE AND FRENCH SOCCER." (FRENCH) 6. CUTAWAY 7. DESCHAMPS TALKING ABOUT THE CROATIAN TEAM COACH MIROSLAV BLAZEVIC: "HE IS SOMEONE WHO IS SURE OF HIMSELF WHO TRANSFERS THAT CONFIDENCE TO HIS PLAYERS. WE ALL KNOW THE WAR AND THE DISASTERS THAT THE COUNTRY HAS BEEN THROUGH AND IT'S CLEAR THAT IT'S MORE THAN A SOCCER MATCH FOR THEM." (FRENCH) Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 22nd July 1998 13:00
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  • Location: CLAIREFONTAINE, FRANCE
  • City:
  • Country: France
  • Reuters ID: LVA5F5L8UWUYLJXREQSR0G9RFDJQ
  • Story Text: The France coach Aime Jacquet has yet to decide who will play in attack for the host nation's World Cup semi-final against Croatia France's goal drought will not stop the host nation scoring in their World Cup semifinal against Croatia, coach Aime Jacquet said on Tuesday (July 7).

    But Jacquet gave no hints of who would be in his front line for Wednesday's game at the Stade de France.

    "Yes, there is a problem which has to do with the general situation of French football," Jacquet said, suggesting there was no French equivalent of Italy's Christian Vieri or Argentine Gabriel Batistuta.

    "But we have men who can score goals.We had plenty of opportunities in our last two matches, but just missed that little something." After scoring nine goals in their three group matches, France had to wait until the 114th minute to see defender Laurent Blanc hit the golden goal which gave them a 1-0 victory over Paraguay in the second round.

    Their quarter-final clash against Italy needed a penalty shoot-out after a goalless 120 minutes.

    "We were very efficient in our first matches, which proves we are capable of scoring goals," said Jacquet, who has been criticised for struggling to find the right solution in attack.

    "Then it became more difficult but you must not forget that we've had quite a few injury worries." Under pressure to pick youngsters Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet, Jacquet decided to rely instead on Stephane Guivarc'h and Christophe Dugarry, despite the fact that neither of them had really made an impact at international level.

    Guivarc'h hurt his right knee in France's opening match against South Africa and in the next game against Saudi Arabia, Dugarry pulled a muscle on his right thigh.

    Henry, France's top scorer with three goals, then strained his left ankle in the match against Paraguay.

    All three are fit again but Jacquet refused to give any hint of who would start the match on Wednesday against Croatia.

    "Obviously, we must score but there are also mistakes we must be careful not to make," Jacquet said.

    "One would be not to be focused enough and another would be not to have enough confidence in our tactics.We must play our own game with clear heads and we must believe in ourselves." While everybody was waiting to see which strikers Jacquet would chose, attacking midfielder Youri Djorkaeff said he was the man who would end France's worrying goal drought.

    "I will score against Croatia, I know it," said Djorkaeff, the most prolific goalscorer in the French squad with 18 goals in 43 appearances.

    "Maybe I'll have four chances, maybe only one but all I can tell you is that I will hit the back of the net.You just wait and see.
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