FRANCE 98 – France – D. Trézéguet optimistic despite his injury

“It’s hardly six months since I was a substitute with AS Monaco (French D1), and today I’m fighting for a place on the FRANCE side.” David TREZEGUET (20), a 20 year-old as hot-blooded as he is impatient, is itching to get onto the pitch. At the press call for the FRANCE team (Group C) on Sunday afternoon at Clairefontaine, the young man facing the journalists showed all his enthusiasm and longing to prove his worth. The young striker made his first appearance with the national team on 28 January this year, the day of the inauguration of the Stade de France, an eternity ago for the youngster of French/Argentinian parentage burning with impatience. For Aimé JACQUET, David is not yet ready to make it through a 90-minute game. TREZEGUET wants to play, but he doesn’t yet have the full armoury to take part in the next match against SAUDI ARABIA on 18 June at the Stade de France. David injured his left ankle on 13 June during the substitutes’ match against Arles. To reassure us, the young Frenchman, who grew up in Argentina, declared that it wasn’t the first time this ankle had given him trouble. These constant sprains have their origins in his early football experiences. Anxious not to jeopardise his chances of playing in the next match, David insists that “in World Cup matches, your mental state and level of motivation count for far more than your physical state.

TREZEGUET has tried to play down the seriousness of his sprain by saying that it shouldn’t get in the way of his game in the sense that he can still control the ball and shoot, but all the same, he has admitted that the pain he suffers from the injury has prevented him from sleeping properly.

The young players said that he was greatly moved when the Marseille crowd chanted his name during the SOUTH AFRICA game on 12 June. TREZEGUET really wants to “show what he can do, and express himself”, and to prove to the whole world, especially the French coach, that he is put on a great performance, and is worthy of his place in the French team. When he was asked whether it wouldn’t be in his interest to cosset his ankle so as to be on better form for the DENMARK match on 24 June, and thereby be able to make more of a mark, he smiled and said frankly, “I’m impulsive by nature: I don’t want to have to wait around before I play.”