Laying ghosts to rest

rollercoaster ride of performance that also provided more than its fair share of disappointments.
Without wanting to dampen the significant achievements of the late-90s in particular, the statistic that France have won just 17 matches inside normal time in the 13 major international tournaments since World Cup 1986 is alarming. That Germany have won 41 in that period and yet both countries have exactly the same return of one World Cup and one European Championship indicates the paucity of results from Les Bleus in between their notable successes - France have failed to either qualify or win a match in four of the last six World Cups.
The last World Cup in South Africa was the lowest ebb for French football. After qualifying controversially thanks to a late Thierry Henry handball against the Irish, Raymond Domenech's side contrived to take just one point from three group games against the hosts, Mexico and Uruguay. Midway through the competition Nicolas Anelka was sent home after a dispute with Domenech at half-time of the 2-0 defeat to Mexico, in response to which many of the senior players boycotted training, an extraordinary step in the middle of such a prestigious tournament.
Following France's elimination, president of the French football federation Jean-Pierre Escalettes resigned from his position, whilst Domenech also lost his position as manager and was replaced by Laurent Blanc. "I couldn't bear to hear everyone giving their opinion on everything," Domenech admitted in his autobiography. "I just wanted to be sick, to cry, to leave."
By early August, the federation (at the behest of Blanc) had suspended all 23 members of the World Cup squad for an upcoming friendly, whilst ringleader Anelka was banned for 18 matches, effectively ending his international career. Captain Patrice Evra (5 matches), Franck Ribery (3) and Jeremy Toulalan (3) were also given shorter bans from the national team set-up - an utterly bizarre series of events had ended in predictably messy fashion.
And yet, out of that debacle, positivity has been created. Euro 2012 was a largely uninspiring affair (France finished second to England in the group stage before being beaten 2-0 by a superior Spanish side), and caused Blanc to lose his job as coach, but his replacement Didier Deschamps has instilled a sense of belief into the French squad and, perhaps more importantly, the French public too.
It isn't difficult to point to the exact moment that France seemingly turned the corner. On November 19th, they faced Ukraine in the second leg of their World Cup play-off match in the Stade De France. After being drawn in a qualification group with Spain and finishing in an expected second position, the first leg in Kiev had resulted in a 2-0 defeat - all looked lost. White flags of surrender were being prepared in Paris as a typically critical national media once again prepared to raise swords and lay into their underperforming stars.
But this time it was different. The big screen showed looped footage of France's glory days before the game, and from the moment that Liverpool's Mamadou Sakho gave France the lead midway through the first half, the mood in the stadium had fully transformed from grim resignation to one of hope and belief. More unusually still, they were now passionately (and audibly) behind their team. Karim Benzema scored again ten minutes later, and with 20 minutes remaining Sakho scored his second to seal qualification for Brazil.
"This will stay with us for life," France winger Franck Ribery beamed after the match. "The atmosphere was amazing. As soon as we started warming up, we felt that the fans were behind us and ready to encourage us until the end."
L'Equipe, so often disparaging of the national side through its dark recent days, responded in kind. "RESPECT" ran the one-word headline, whilst the paper's website ran with "La Passion Etait La'. They showed passion.
Moving on from that night, there are now genuine reasons for optimism. France's World Cup draw was immensely favourable, with none of Switzerland, Ecuador or Honduras able to rely on similar talents to those at the disposal of Deschamps. Bosnia or Nigeria will be the likely last-16 opponents, before a potential quarter-final tie with Germany. Perhaps I'm getting a little ahead of myself.
What is for sure is that Deschamps has finally aimed in negating the slightly sluggish nature of previous French squads by opting to blend in youth whenever possible. Upon taking over the role the coach made claims that he would look to develop France's brightest young talents. "Talent has no age," was his insistence. "Experience is not acquired overnight, it must be built up over a period of matches.
"The former World Cup-winning captain has remained true to his word. Only two outfield players from the defeats of 2010 started that second leg against Ukraine, and these were the captain (Patrice Evra) and vice-captain (Franck Ribery) from South Africa. Instead, the likes of Raphael Varane, Kurt Zouma, Eliaquim Mangala, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Paul Pogba and Alexandre Lacazette have all been called up - all are aged 23 or under and could be potentially considered as mainstays of the side at least until World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
The aim is to create a squad in which the younger players are pushing and challenging those more experienced performers in order to try and take their place on the biggest stage. Of the ten players to have started the defeat to Mexico in South Africa, six were aged 29 or over, and only one was under 26 - the suspicion was that this was a group of players low on motivation.
France's aim is not to forget the debacle of 2010, far from it. Instead, it should be kept as a firm reminder of just how far performance can drop if players and coaches are not completely au fait with one another, and preparations are not faultless. "No one can erase what happened in 2010," Dechamps admits. "But this will be part of our story. We do not look behind us. The important thing is the World Cup and Euro 2016 in France that will follow."
Out of adversity comes opportunity, and France under Didier Deschamps are strong evidence of such a proverb. Despite coming close to another humiliating exit just six months ago, there are now signs of justification for enthusiasm and confidence for, and in, Les Bleus.
Deschamps will know that preparation for Brazil will be key, but after a fortunate draw there seems little reason why his fusion of promising youth and experience cannot at least reach the quarter-finals. The last two times they have reached that stage in the World Cup, a final has then awaited them.