Dugarry balances heavy on Zidane

“Yes, I was the pistonned, the draw. But it made me stronger for the future “. Christophe Dugarry did not hide it when he retired in February 2005, at the age of 32. The attacker trained in the Girondins de Bordeaux has fully benefited from his friendship with Zinedine Zidane, the number 10 star of the French team of the time, to appear in the group of Aimé Jacquet for the 1998 World Cup. Not content with having scored the first tricolor goal against South Africa at the Vélodrome (before injuring), “Duga” has entered history with his teammates Mondial in France, after a final won 3-0 against Brazil.

The presence of Dugarry in the 22 was a huge surprise because the player came out of a nightmare season at Barça and then at OM from January, registering only a goal during this exercise (with the Marseille club). But the one who is now a consultant on RMC and M6 was not a stranger. He was the prodigy of the FCGB training center, with a certain Aimé Jacquet at the helm, shone in a thousand lights during the 1996 UEFA Cup epic (final lost against Bayern), with Bixente Lizarazu and “Zizou”, before settling in the France group and scoring a goal during the Euro 96. Deschamps and Marcel Desailly, very influential with the coach.

“Duga” was then the valiant left winger of Roger Lemerre until the coronation at Euro 2000, before playing the lining of Thierry Henry at the 2002 catastrophic World Cup in South Korea and Japan. When evoking Asian fiasco, Christophe Dugarry, on the antenna of RMC, did not hesitate to point the finger at his friend Zinédine Zidane. The 98 Golden Ball was injured before the tournament and Johan Micoud, the designated replacement for “Zizou”, did not start during the opening match lost against Senegal (1-0). It is Youri Djorkaeff who took place in the axis behind David Trezeguet. Micoud “Is not at all a boy with confusion”according to “Duga”, but that installed a misunderstanding in the group.

Dugarry: “Zizou, I saw him with his head of 'we put shots'. He was crazy! »»

“Honestly, it was a choice of the coach, Roger Lemerre. He made this choice, with his assistants. But now, there has been a lot of misunderstanding. I saw players, the day before France-Uruguay, go to Roger's room to ask him for explanations on the composition, on what was being put in place, why we trained as much, on why Roger put certain things in place that the players did not want … There was an exchange by thinking of finding an agreement, but I remember very well that this agreement, the next day, when the match, the next day, I see the head of Zizou, Djorkaeff, Desailly, and all that, they are green! »»says Dugarry, as the site transcribes it

Girondins33.com.

According to Dugarry, the frames of the Blues had asked the staff to maintain Djorkaeff in the eleven against Uruguay (0-0).

“However, they had discussed something the day before, to know how we could do to set up something, there had been a collegial discussion as it was done with Aimé Jacquet, where the players give their opinion and then leave the room thinking they have found a consensus. But there, with Roger, I remember very well that Zizou had told me that it was good, that everything was clear, the misunderstandings set on how it was better to play, how we felt … And the next day, I can guarantee you, the head of Zizou when Roger takes out the team composition sheet and that he gives us his same system; A system that the players did not accept because they did not want to play like that. They thought it was not the right for the good of the team. Zizou, I saw him with his head of 'we put shots'. He was crazy! He said to me: 'It's not possible, he doesn't care about my mouth?!' »»

Roger Lemerre thus established Johan Micoud against the Uruguayans, against the advice of the team stars, but the rapid exclusion of Thierry Henry in front of the Celeste has pushed the world champions a little more. For the 3rd match, Zinédine Zidane returned to the starting eleven, with Christophe Dugarry on the left in place of “Titi”, but the tricolor defense, notably Marcel Desailly and Frank Leboeuf, sank. The 2-0 defeat validated the catastrophic elimination of the EDF in the first round of the 2022 World Cup.