Zidane Out to Make Amends for '96
Copyright � 2000 Nando Media
Copyright � 2000 Agence France-Presse
PARIS (June 7, 2000 11:40 p.m. EDT http://www.sportserver.com) - France could point to a below-par Zinedine Zidane as the main reason it did not win the European championship in England in 1996.
It could equally argue that its failure was due to
former coach Aime Jacquet's conviction that he did not have any
alternative than to play Zidane, who was clearly out of sorts.
Jacquet said at the time: "France even with Zidane at 60
percent is better than France without Zidane."
By the time France won the World Cup two years later,
Jacquet had worked out ways of covering tactically for Zidane's
absence, notably when the Juventus midfielder was suspended for
two matches.
Jacquet's successor, Roger Lemerre, has also been working on
options to cover for the absence of one of the world's leading
players through injury or his being marked out of a game.
He appears to be coming up with the right answers in good
time.
Girondins Bordeaux midfielder Johan Micoud has stood in well
for the 1998 World Player of the Year in friendlies against
Croatia in November and Scotland in March.
In between, Zidane bore evidence of France's frequent
dependence on his genius with a late winner to overcome Poland
at home in February.
Micoud, absent then, believes the two can play alongside
each other, and this must be Lemerre's ideal.
For France will not want to come back from this year's
finals with a similar regret if it does not win the title after
pinning its hopes on its best player alone.
Zidane, exhausted after a marathon final season for Bordeaux
in 1996, should go into this year's finals in much better shape.
He is returning to his best form for Italian league-leader
Juventus in the run-in to the Seria A championship after knee
surgery late last year.
A knock to the same knee led to a scare before the Scotland
match which Zidane, who has said he is very keen to add a
European championship winner's medal to his World Cup winner's,
missed as a precaution.
Zidane made his international debut for France in August
1994, scoring twice against the Czech Republic in a 17-minute
appearance as a substitute.
He had started his professional career with Cannes before
moving to Bordeaux and then Juventus in 1996. In many ways he
came to symbolize France's World Cup victory in 1998, with a huge image of him projected onto the Arc de Triomphe during the
celebrations following the victory.
The choice was fully vindicated, as he scored twice in the
final to propel France to its 3-0 victory over Brazil.
Just a small photo of him lifting the Henri Delauney trophy
in a few weeks' time will be acceptable now.
