France have learned from their 2002 failure

PARIS, May 30 Four years ago, France suffered one of the most dramatic failures in World Cup history when the 1998 title holders were eliminated in the first round without winning a match or scoring a goal.

The setback, huge enough to cost coach Roger Lemerre his job, had the effect of a psycohological landslide on the French squad.

It took months for Les Bleus to come to terms with the defeat and it is still far from sure that today's team has completely recovered from the trauma.

After losing the opening match 1-0 to newcomers Senegal in Seoul, the then world and European champions were held to a goalless draw by Uruguay before a 2-0 defeat to Denmark sent them packing.

The shock undoubtedly triggered long-term damage to the side many considered were en route for another triumphant campaign.

But with the benefit of hindsight, it can be seen that although the elimination was highly unexpected, it was not perhaps such a total surprise.

The players confessed afterwards that the World Cup in Asia had turned into a nightmare well before the tournament was kicked off.

Between 2000 and 2002, the French led a life which had more in common in some ways with those of movie actors or rock stars than what is usually expected from soccer players.

For two years, the squad training headquarter of Clairefontaine nested in a quiet forest in the Paris suburbs was the place to see and be seen in.

Every meeting before a match turned into an extravanganza where sponsors, photographers, TV crews and VIPs craved for pictures, autographs, interviews or the simple privilege of just seeing their heroes.

''It was just unbelievable,'' striker Thierry Henry said later.

''It was like we were caught in a whirlwind. We were not prepared properly to play in the 2002 World Cup.

''People expected too much from us and there was no way for us to give them what they wanted.''

TRENDY CLOTHES

Around 1,000 fans gathered at the Roissy Airport to hail the players on the day they took off for Asia. Dressed in fashionable clothes, wearing trendy smoked glasses and flashy wrist watches, the French were playing an act more than they were heading for the most compelling soccer competition.

To make things worse, Seoul was not the place they would have chosen to stay.

Their luxurious five-star hotel on a hill from where you could see the Han River swiftly became a kind of bunker.

About 300 hundred journalists attended training sessions and the players soon appeared aloof, giving as little time as they could at press conferences.

They stayed by themselves and started to get bored.

''There was nothing to do there,'' confessed striker Djibril Cisse. ''We hung out inside the hotel just waiting for the next day, for the next match. Going downtown was out of question.'' In such a dull atmosphere, France would have welcomed the boost and influence of a charismatic leader.

But unfortunately, former captain Didier Deschamps and influential sweeper Laurent Blanc had retired in 2000 and were badly missed.

Neither veteran libero Marcel Desailly, nor talisman playmaker Zinedine Zidane were the leading characters Les Bleus needed.

To add salt of the wound, Zidane tore a thigh muscle during a warm-up match against hosts South Korea less than a week before France started the defence of their title.

The number 10 missed the first two games and returned for the third, wearing a heavy bandage on his leg, but he was clearly out of shape and it was too late to avoid the humiliating defeat and exit.

''We have learned a lot from what happened there,'' Henry said.

''We are much more humble now. We realised that having the best players in the world is not necessarily enough to win.

''You have to act like a team, to play like a team,'' he said.

After a lacklustre qualifying campaign, France are anything but the favourites for the 2006 World Cup and this situation suits coach Raymond Domenech.

''We will have to behave like a squad in which everyone is pulling for everyone else.

''It's the only way to win the World Cup again,'' he said.

Reuters