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'We can't stop now'
French coach believes his side can win the World Cup
Posted: Saturday July 04, 1998 03:09 PM
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Jacquet's team only has allowed one goal in its five World Cup matches (AP) |
PARIS (Reuters) -- Just another semifinal appearance is not enough for France's coach
Aime Jacquet, who believes his men can lift the World Cup for the first
time.
"We can't stop now," Jacquet said after the host nation won Friday's
penalty shootout to move past Italy in their
quarterfinal clash.
"We still have a lot to give to the French public. I'm really
convinced that we can go all the way."
Jacquet, who has been heavily criticized by the media as France failed
to shine in the build-up to the tournament, had previously been cautious
when asked how far he thought his side could go.
France struggled against Paraguay,
needing a golden goal to win, before fighting a goal-less battle during 120
minutes against Italy.
"You need a bit of luck in an adventure like the World Cup," said
Jacquet. "I knew it would not be easy."
Three times already -- in 1958, 1982 and 1986 -- France has reached
the semifinals only to be beaten on each occasion. The last two times they
lost to Germany, who
they might face again on Wednesday if Berti Vogts' aging troops manage to
get past Croatia on
Saturday.
"Maybe it would be an extra motivation to play Germany but really, I
don't care who we play next," said defender Laurent Blanc. "Let us enjoy
the fact that we are in the last four. All the guys on the team are playing
their first World Cup. We had a mission and that was to win seven matches.
We need two more victories to fulfill our dream."
The greatest threat to France's World Cup chances remains their
inability to convert opportunities, as captain Didier Deschamps
acknowledged.
"Our lack of efficiency in front of goal is our main weakness," the
Juventus midfielder said. "That didn't show in our first three matches but
it has been obvious since."
After enjoying a relatively smooth passage to the knock-out stages
and scoring nine goals, France showed against Paraguay, then Italy that
they badly lack a natural goalscorer like Italy's Christian Vieri or
Argentine Gabriel Batistuta.
The surprise Jacquet had promised against Italy turned out to be the
inclusion of a third defensive midfielder with Christian Karembeu helping
out Deschamps and Emmanuel Petit.
Stephane Guivarc'h was left alone up front and Jacquet waited until
the 65th minute to send on 20-year-olds Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet,
who failed to make any impact.
"It's not true that we don't have good strikers," said Jacquet. "David
and Thierry are both talented players with a great future ahead of them,
even if they were not lucky this time."
A solution for Jacquet could be to rely again on Christophe Dugarry,
who scored France's first goal in the tournament against South
Africa before tearing a thigh muscle in their next match against Saudi
Arabia. The Marseille striker is fit again and was on the bench on
Friday.
Another problem for France might be the physical strain after having
played 114 minutes against Paraguay, then 120 against Italy but Deschamps
said it would not be a factor.
"We are tired but we have five days to recuperate," he said. "And
anyway, our will, our ambition are so strong that I'm sure that we can play
at 100 percent for two more matches. We want to win this thing badly and we
will give it all we have."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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