It is almost stating the obvious to say that the 1998 World Cup has completely transformed the way football is seen in France. However, what now seems self-evident was almost unthinkable only a few months ago.
Riding contentedly on the crews of the wave, or should I say the tidal-wave, created by the success of Aimé Jacquet and his players, French football is nevertheless keeping the basics strongly in mind. The success of les Bleus in eventually acquiring the World Cup crown that had eluded them ever since the invention of the competition by our fellow countrymen Jules Rimet was due in part to the high standards of technical training available in France. French training and coaching methods are admired internationally, as is amply demonstrated by the interest shown in young French players by the big foreign clubs. Coaching policy in France is under direction of the Direction Technique Nationale (DTN) of the French Football Federation, and the DTN has always made coaching its principal objective. Ever concerned to improve its activities, in the early 1990s the DTN even introduced a far-reaching scheme of Youth Development (‘pré-formation’ or ‘pre-training’) for very young players, who can learn advanced skills in seven football centres across France. The current elite of young players of the French First Division have all developed their skills in one of these centres, and the policy of Youth Development has turned out to be a total success, promising a rosy future for French football in the coming years.
Excerpted from France and the 1998 World Cup: The National Impact of a World Sporting Event by Hugh Dauncey and Geoff Hare. Introductory text written by Gérard Houllier of Liverpool FC. Published by Frank Cass Publishers, London, 1999.