Marcel Desailly is an ambassador for FIFA Fan Fest
VEN now, people stop me in the street and they are almost crying as they try and thank me.” That quote alone encapsulates exactly what winning a FIFA World Cup means to fans around the world and also why, 20 years on, Marcel Desailly remains as big a footballing legend today as he was two decades ago.
Desailly, of course, was a member of Aimé Jacquet’s side that stunned the sporting world – and brought France to an ecstatic standstill – one July 1998 evening at the Stade de France, Paris, when the host nation overcame heavy favourites Brazil to lift the official trophy.
The former AC Milan and Chelsea great was one of the finest defenders in the history of the game and looks back with great fondness on France’s win.
But as well as looking backwards, Desailly, who is now a FIFA Fan Fest ambassador, is just as keen to look forwards and celebrate what will be a thrilling 2018 FIFA World Cup™ in Russia.
“July 12 will be the 20th anniversary of our win and it has gone fast!” he says.
“When you talk about football memories, winning the World Cup changed my life a lot. When I look back, the memories and emotions sometimes seem stronger now than they did then.
“It allowed me to be a different man in the eyes of the French people. It was a tough tournament for us and I was used to playing at a high level with high commitment at AC Milan but that was nothing compared to what the atmosphere and pressure is like at a World Cup.
“Sometimes great club players don’t perform at international level but we had players who were just as comfortable in a France shirt as a club shirt so we managed to digest the pressure and translate that into some good performances. We were not paralysed, we managed to deliver and you could not see how we would lose it at home.”
Surprisingly, according to Desailly, France’s glory in the final on home soil, when a Zinedine Zidane masterclass helped Les Bleus to victory, was not as difficult as other matches in the tournament.
He adds: “My memories are not so much about the final actually. I remember the first match against South Africa and we were all shaking in the dressing room as the South African side sang a song in the tunnel. We were almost paralysed by the pressure. But we came through that well and, if anything, the final was the easiest match we played. It felt like there was no way, no way, we were going to allow it to slip now.
“We knew that it was for us. We were not the best team at the time – Argentina, Brazil and the Netherlands were better than us – but we knew that playing at home meant this final was for us. There didn’t feel like too much pressure in the final.
“It went exactly as Aimé said it would. He had told us: ‘They’re not good on free kicks guys, we will get opportunities from them, let’s concentrate, be patient and take our chances and everything will go correct.’ He was right and it was a dream – a big, beautiful dream.”
Just as France benefitted from home support two decades ago, so Desailly believes Russia can make a significant and enjoyable impact at the 2018 FIFA World Cup™, and he is hopeful that they can keep their fans excited until the latter stages of the tournament.
Although he has pinpointed Brazil as a team to watch, he believes this tournament will be too close and too difficult to call.
“Playing at home gives you an extra boost and when you talk about football, you talk about the development of football and I really think Russia will perform