Aspire in the World Fellows Book - 2022

83 82 Star Chat young players who won the World Cup in 2018, they grew up watching us play. I think this is very important because now, we have victory in the French players DNA. Now you are involved with FIFA. You’re not a player, you’re not a coach, but you’re still about to experience something very special. You’re a fan. How do you feel about that? Very exciting. Like everybody, I want it to start. I want to be at the first game and let football speak because today there are so many things said about this World Cup. It’s normal because the attention of the world will be on the 32 teams. There’s a lot of expectation. What is the most important? It’s the World Cup tournament. It’s a football tournament and we should speak about football. From the first game I wish to speak only about football. That leads us nicely then to what standard of football you expect to see based on the fact that it’s a mid-season. Players are not as mentally and physically You lifted the FIFA World Cup trophy in 1998, are moments like the corner to Zidane still fresh in your memory? Before I start talking about the Grail, the World Cup, the final, you showed a very interesting goal, my goal with AS Monaco. I was running with the ball, and I heard someone saying, ‘’Pass the ball, pass the ball, give the ball.” I asked myself ‘’Who was talking to me?’’ It was my coach, Arsène Wenger, asking me to pass to a different player but he knew at the end that I would score! Sometimes he was yelling at me, but today I’m happy, working very closely with him at FIFA. What influence did Arsène have on your football at AS Monaco? He made me run! He taught me that football is a long journey, and you have to use all your quality and your effort to succeed. I remember because at this time, I was one of the best scorers in France and I was more working on the things that I have to adjust. Arsène brought me to a higher level. He made me think about football globally. For instance, what does the player have to do every day to be better? I think the quality of Arsène is to put you at your best. I started my career very young. When you have quality at 15-16 years, the coach is waiting you to score the final goal, to deliver the good pass. When I moved to AS Monaco I was 21 years old already, five years playing in second division, five years of being one of the youngest talented players. With Arsène, I had to work and do the basics. He always taught me in a good way, I think it was important for me to listen. You carried on listening and it took you to the pinnacle, the World Cup. Are those moments still fresh in your memory? Every morning, every night! Every morning you wake up as a World Cup winner and you sleep with this. It’s an amazing dream to touch the World Cup. I was born in 1968, my first images of the World Cup were in 1974. I remembered the opening ceremony, the show. Then 1978, Argentina, and this guy carrying the World Cup and all his teammates around him. When I was 12, I wrote an essay at school. I said that I would become a professional player and one day I will play at the World Cup. I will win the World Cup and after I will play in the US. When I won the World Cup, I was 30. I think it was a good age to win because you already achieved many things in your life. The week after, I received a letter frommy ex-teacher. She attached my essay, and she wrote: “I felt something in your determination to achieve what you did.” The World Cup is not just a tournament for one month; it’s a life achievement, and it’s started by your dream. I like watching these images and realizing the work that I have done. Realizing all the work, the difficult moments that you had on the field, and every detail brings you to this level. This is for me the best. I have the cup (replica) in my place, and I was not sure where to put it. I said the World Cup should have a special place because every time I’m watching the World Cup, I’m thinking about my teammates, my coach, my tough times, my good times, my worries, like will I play for the National Team? Many things that in the end is good to remember because it keeps your feet on the ground. There will be millions of 12 year olds watching the World Cup, doing exactly what you did. Yes, and this is the beauty of football. I grew up with the 1982, 1986 generation with players such as Platini, Giresse, Tigana. In France we really suffered to have this failure all the time at the semifinal. But we grew up with this anger. In 1996, we played the European Cup, and we were not ready to win. In France, we didn’t have the coaches or even organization able to prepare us to win in a major tournament. Today is different! We prepare to win. We won the World Cup in 1998 and the European cup in 2000. In the meantime, we created a new generation. All these Youri Djorkaeff