00:00And I think we can build around that spine, and I think we'll change off the spine.
00:04So it's intriguing. I can't wait for it to start.
00:07A lion-heart spirit has started to emerge over the past week,
00:10and leading the way in every way will be Alan Shearer.
00:14I never even thought about captaining my country,
00:17because it's such a huge, huge thing and a huge honour.
00:20And I've always said that it's the best and the biggest thing that's happened to me in my career,
00:26and I don't believe anything will top that, unless actually lifting the World Cup itself.
00:31Emulating the success of 1966 has to be the ultimate target.
00:35But if Alan Shearer is to be held aloft and follow in the ecstatic footsteps of Bobby Moore,
00:41England are well aware they'll have to overcome countries with impressive World Cup credentials.
00:46Brazil are the favourites, and they're the team that you would set apart
00:50because of the preparation that they've had.
00:52But even now, they've lost Romario.
00:54Mentally, that will hurt them.
00:57And they will miss Romario with his experience, with his goal power that he's already scored in World Cup before.
01:02So that's a big miss.
01:04Their chances have suddenly diminished just a touch.
01:07But I think behind Brazil, there are a group of six, seven countries that are capable of winning it.
01:14I think we're one of them.
01:16But I think Holland, people like Holland, Spain, them two groups of players,
01:21they've got quality right the way through.
01:23And obviously your Germans, the Germans and the Italians and the Argentina.
01:28I mean, the South Americans haven't got this disadvantage anymore, quite frankly,
01:33about, well, can they win anything in Europe?
01:35Because most of their players, a lot of their players, are playing in Europe now.
01:39They're adept.
01:39I've always fixed it in my mind that there's seven games.
01:43I don't think any of the coaches, if they're not going into any of the ones that realistically feel they
01:48can win the tournament,
01:49if you don't focus that far along the line, then you wouldn't be doing your job right.
01:53But whether that comes off or not, we'll wait and see.
01:57But that's the only thing that I've got in my mind.
01:59And the players will certainly feel that way.
02:01And if it pans out, it'll be fantastic.
02:05If it doesn't, all I can say is that we've given it our best.
02:3032 teams with their attendant supporters will be travelling all over the country for the 64 games to be played.
02:36Unlike previous World Cups, group games are not confined to just one area.
03:26It'll all start and finish in the brand new 267 million pounds Stade de France just outside Paris.
03:33The ticketing for the tournament has received constant criticism.
03:37Too many tickets for French fans, foreign supporters scrambling for their tiny allocation.
03:42At one stage, people from all over the world were trying to telephone a hotline that was decidedly cold.
03:48A headache for the man at the organising helm, former superstar Michel Platini.
03:53We organise the World Cup for the players and for the spectators.
03:57We want that it will be a big fest.
04:00It will be a big fest on the ground.
04:01For that, we have the FIFA, the new laws.
04:04The players, they need to make scores, to make goals, to make emotions.
04:08And after, we ask it to the cities that any people who come from the world to France, I think,
04:14is not only for the football,
04:16but only for visiting, to be happy, to eat good, to drink good, to be in good conditions.
04:23Platini was, of course, a great player, instrumental in France's European success of 1984.
04:38That was France's one major international trophy, winning it as hosts.
04:42They've failed to qualify for the last two World Cup final series.
04:45Now comes their big chance.
04:48Coach Aimé Jacquet carries the burden of expectation.
04:53What about the hopes for France, the home nation?
04:56I mean, my impression is that they've got some wonderful players, but they can't score goals.
05:04Nobody understands.
05:06I cannot understand.
05:07And I just think we have maybe among the best players in the world, because all the players play in
05:18big clubs.
05:19Big clubs are not stupid.
05:21They look all over the world and they take the best.
05:23We have two big problems, I think.
05:26Sometimes in France, I would say, individually, we have all qualities.
05:32But if you add one to the other one, the whole doesn't work.
05:35And at the moment, that's our problem, is to make a team, a balanced team of all the qualities we
05:43have.
05:43And the second problem we have, I used to think that the national team is something special.
05:50You must have culturally the qualities of your nation.
05:58For example, if England creates a team who is committed, who plays a simple and quick passing,
06:05and everybody fights for each other, I think they get the agreement of the nation.
06:16The French strength is in midfield, the Zidane of Juventus.
06:19But can he reproduce his club form for the country?
06:44Zidane's club colleague, Didier Deschamps, is the great workhorse of the team.
06:48Eric Cantonao called him the water carrier.
07:22And there's Joukhev, who plays his club football with Inter Milan.
07:26His father, Jean, played in the 66 finals for France.
07:30But will the Sun end up as a World Cup winner?
07:35A good chance, a good chance, because now we have the pressure, but a good pressure for the team.
07:42But I know it's very difficult, because we have a lot of teams, good teams.
07:49But we had nothing to lose, nothing, because French wasn't winning a World Cup.
08:01And I think this year we can win.
08:11We'll see you next time.
Comments