EDIT: This paper was published in 2016, but it has not aged a bit as France football “celebrates” the 30th anniversary of the worst evening in its history
France-Bulgaria, 30 years later
It is again, and perhaps forever, the saddest evening in the history of French football. November 17, 1993, a Wednesday, . However, she held on to the draw which qualified her for the 94 World Cup, until the last minute and this look from Kostadinov under the bar of Lama. But what would have happened if the Bulgarian striker’s shot had gone into the clouds? 20 minutes tries out the fiction scenario before the reunion for real, Friday at the Stade de France.
In the United States, Gérard Houllier, advised in this direction by Aimé Jacquet, his deputy, decided to opt for a revolutionary 4-3-3 at a time when all the major nations played with two attackers. It started badly before a failed start against the SuperEagles. Babangida puts misery on Manu Petit who will never again start in the French team.
Fortunately, the Blues made up for it against Argentina in the next match. Assigned to mark Maradona, Marcel Desailly stifles the Argentine star, who leaves on the hour mark, vigorously insulting the Milan defender’s mother. Star of the next day’s newspapers, “the rock of Dallas” cannot enjoy his popularity for long.
Bye bye Marcel
In the process, Desailly tested positive for nandrolone and had to leave the country at dawn. All French people learn to know the NY Post, whose front page, titled “The walk of Shame”, wreaks havoc. This is the end of Marcel Desailly’s international career. Twitter doesn’t know it yet, but it has lost its reason for being invented.
The departure of the great Marcel unites the Blues even more, who reach the quarter-finals, where the German enemy awaits them. We tell ourselves that it will end as usual until Cantona’s stroke of genius, who bursts Matthaus’s nose with a discreet kung-fu before scoring on the following corner, free of any marking (where did Lothar, mystery).
The King says after the meeting:
“Das Kochemar franzosisch fur New Jersey”, cries the Bild the next day. Sevilla are avenged, but the Italian obstacle is too high in the semi-final, where Baggio scores the victorious penalty. No problem, the French team has sown great promises for the future.
In France, a single debate animates the Téléfoot set on Sunday morning. Should we or not make room for Zidane for Euro 96 which will be played in England? The Frenchman has just been transferred to AC Milan, seduced by his performance during Bordeaux’s unforgettable victory against the Italians in the UEFA Cup, but he is not used much by Fabio Capello. His competitor, David Ginola, is a hit at Real Madrid, where his complicity with Raul, a young cantera, makes all the Spanish tertulias bend. Houllier hesitates but Jacquet forces fate in favor of Ginola.
Replacing the substitute, Zidane watches from the bench the fantastic rides of “El magnifico”, which takes France to the final, with 8 goals, the moment chosen by Cantona to make a mess. The Mancunian refuses to face “the country that gave him everything”, and even President Chirac, called to the rescue to convince the star to change his mind, is sent back to his 22 with an elegant “shitbag” . Houiller has no choice but to start Zidane. Lacking rhythm and frustrated by his competition, ZZ cannot resist the provocations of Paul Ince and is sent off after a manly headbutt on the Reds player. The Blues lose and Houllier assassinates his player at a press conference.
Quite the opposite of a Ginola in full swing and rewarded with a Ballon d’Or at the end of the year, ahead of Paul Gascoigne and Karel Poborsky.
After a semi-final in 94 and a final in 96, the French team seems on the right path to winning the 98 World Cup which will take place at home.
The (too) long campaign of friendly matches before the big meeting is pure hell to watch. France is playing nothing, injuries are piling up, and Houllier refuses to rejuvenate his team which presents itself with the highest average age of the tournament (31 years). The Team gets choked up when reading the final list:
While Loko overtakes Henry on the wire for the offensive joker place. Zidane, who left to relaunch in Nice, is left behind. Only Anelka made a place in the 23 thanks to his good end to the season at PSG.
The group stage does not remove doubts, far from it. A blunder by Lama against Saudi Arabia reignites the controversy over Gérard Houllier’s preference for Parisian players, while Fabien Barthez waits his turn on the bench. It was just before the round of 16 against Paraguay that the scandal broke out. Nicolas Anelka has been harassed since the start of the rally by the Marseillais gang (Di Meco, Deschamps, Angloma, Papin).
Lorenzo Lamas from Bouches du Rhône, who had already taken care of Jacques Glassman in the darkness of an industrial zone in Valence, is responsible for the dirty work. It is he who will beat up little Nicolas when the latter goes to complain to Jacquet after the joke too many, a doll in his likeness hanging from the chandelier on the ceiling of the main living room of the castle. The episode is destructive for the Blues.
The media around the world make fun of vaudeville, but in Clairefontaine, it is above all the mole hunt that is organized. Who could have released all this information to the journalists? Not Houllier, who is trying as best he can to prepare a valid team against Paraguay. Cantona, busy delighting the Parisian public in a play by Stefan Zweig, is out of shape, and the group no longer wants Ginola, suspected of having slept with half of their wives.
Chosen by default, the Loko-Maurice doublet wastes a good ten clear chances before the inevitable. A shot on goal scored by Chilavert in front of Lama for a national disaster. Houllier immediately resigned and the French team had to be rebuilt.