With only days to go before the 1998 World Cup, the French Manager Aime Jacquet is a man under pressure. Attacked from all sides, Jacquet has the job of rewriting French football history. But few believed he was the man for the job. Nobody believed in the French team, nobody, I'd mean it, I went through hell from critics but also even from the public. Never a quiet day, because often, I was getting it from all sides. As the World Cup approached, the national sports paper Lequipe claimed that Jacquet was ill-prepared to lead the national side. In some ways, Jacquet’s philosophy and this is why they took it to against him was hard work, defence, possession, and safety. But I think as a manager there was a lot more to him than his critics allowed.

But Lequipe's criticism became personal. And He was vilified less for his technical ability than for his social background.

They said he was somebody from ...er...middle of France, he didn’t deserve to be the leader for the national team. That, he came from the backwoods. So what, you have to come from high school to direct a football team.

Jacquet had a vision for the French team which emphasized teamwork above all else.

But his masterplan also included a leading role for the mercurial mid-fielder Zinedine Zidane.

Zidane was out of the ordinary, exceptional, but he didn’t have his influence yet. He hadn't yet got his personal aura. He played football to enjoy himself. He had exceptional skills. Though he wasn’t much of a team player. But when he came into the French squad, he joined other talents who took him onto an international level.

What he can do will be so witching, you know, some people even, can't even do it with dance, he knows, it is just magical, you know, sometimes when he plays with the ball, it seems, like he is dancing.

And the Zidane magic was evident from an early age when he could be seen playing outside his high-rise flat in his hometown of Marseilles.

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vilify: v. 诽谤， 辱骂

mercurial: adj. 活泼的，机智的

aura: n. 光环

exceptional: adj. 杰出的，非凡的