French Twist to Attacking Style

France returns to the World Cup stage after missing the last two tournaments, failures that helped Aime Jacquet ascend to his job as coach.

This will be France’s 10th appearance in the finals. However, it has finished in the top four only three times, taking third place in 1958 and 1986 and fourth in 1982. France has won only one major international championship, the 1984 European championship under the inspired leadership of midfielder Michel Platini, who scored nine of his team’s 14 goals in that tournament.

Not since the days of Platini--now co-president of the France 98 organizing committee--has the French team assembled as much individual talent as it has gathered for this tournament. Many of its top players now play outside the country, some for the most prestigious clubs in Europe. Whether that talent will mesh and produce enough goals, however, is another story.

France does have several advantages in this tournament. One was its placement in a relatively easy group, having been clustered with Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Denmark in Group C. In addition, and perhaps most crucial, France will have home-field advantage. Yet, that might become home-field disadvantage because of the expectations inevitably heaped upon the home team by its fans.

“The challenge for France in the World Cup is that [when] you’re at home, you have to take the game to your rivals, you have to take risks,” said Jacquet, whose team lost only one of its first 30 games after he succeeded Gerard Houllier in late 1993 and has lost only three times under his guidance.

“We must keep in mind that, as the host country, we are given a unique opportunity to win the world’s most prestigious sports event. All that we have done over the last three years has been done with this single goal in mind. We are here to win the World Cup, nothing less.”

Jacquet initially favored a cautious style but has gradually changed his emphasis toward attacking. At times he has deployed a three-man defensive scheme, even though that leaves his team vulnerable at the back. Nor has that strategy always accomplished its aim of boosting the offensive output. A lack of scoring punch led to France’s undoing at the 1996 European championships, which was its last major competition, and led to a three-game winless string that ended May 28 when it defeated Belgium in a warmup game at Morocco.

Jacquet’s biggest advantage is an outstanding midfield that rivals any in the 32-team field. The central figure is Zinedine Zidane, who plays for the Italian team Juventus and was chosen by Jacquet to represent France in an all-star game that preceded the World Cup draw in Marseille in 1997. Zidane, 26, has had two exceptional seasons in Italy and is considered the most gifted French player since Platini. He’s also dangerous on free kicks.

Zidane’s ability to set up Youri Djorkaeff will be the key to France’s offensive success and, perhaps, its overall fate. Djorkaeff plays forward for Inter Milan but will be deployed as an attacking midfielder for France. “After Euro 96 we were criticized for an excessively defensive attitude,” Djorkaeff said. “Today we have certainly changed. We have a sound basis and a real [team] personality.”

Also lending stablity and ability to the midfield are the industrious and steady Didier Deschamps, who is the team’s captain and a teammate of Zidane’s with Juventus, and Christian Karembeu, who plays in Spain for Real Madrid.

The defense is solid due to the experience of central defenders Marcel Desailly, who plays for AC Milan, and Laurent Blanc who plays for Olympique Marseille. Goalkeeping will be in the hands of Fabien Barthez, who plays for the French team Monaco and was in goal for nine of France’s last 15 friendlies. Bernard Lama, who had a strong season with West Ham United in England, might have earned the starting job but was suspended last year for marijuana use.

Finishing will present the biggest problem, and Jacquet is taking chances on inexperienced players simply because he has no alternatives.

With no proven, world-class player at striker, Jacquet is hoping Stephane Guivarc’h of the French team Auxerre can sustain the goal-scoring success he had in the French League, where he had 22 goals last season. Guivarc’h, 27, has made only five international appearances.

Striker Thierry Henry of the French team Monaco is another possible source of offensive power, as is 18-year-old David Trezeguet, who was born in France while his Argentine father played soccer in Rouen. Trezeguet grew up in South America but plays for the French club Monaco, for whom he scored 18 goals last season.

Jacquet plans to resign after the World Cup, and he boldly predicted he would depart with fanfare, not jeers. “I did make it clear to the president of the French football federation when I took the job that I would lead France to World Cup glory and bow out after that,” he said.

A few early goals that result in victories and increase fan support could make him look like a prophet.

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GROUP C

The Schedule

FRIDAY

S.Arabia vs. Denmark, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN2, Ch. 34)

France vs. South Africa, 3 p.m. (ESPN2, Ch. 34)

JUNE 18

S.Africa vs. Denmark, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN2, Ch. 34)

France vs. Saudi Arabia, 3 p.m. (ESPN, Ch. 34)

JUNE 24

France vs. Denmark, 10 a.m. (ESPN, Ch. 34)

S.Africa vs. S.Arabia, 10 a.m. (ESPN2, Ch. 34*)

* Highlights