Discussing World Cups, France’s chances, and international soccer with the former goalkeeper
It’s definitely been a second since Joël Bats was wearing the blue uniform of France, representing his country in goal during the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. France had kicked off its tournament against Canada, beating us 1-0 in our first and only appearance at a World Cup.
“There were colours everywhere – the stadiums were full and coloured every time,” said goalkeeping coach Joël Bats. “There was a lot of pressure on us. The most important part of a competition like the World Cup is to have a good start. A win gives you confidence.”
France moved on to the quarter-final game against Brazil that year, where Bats made two saves that would cement his legacy for a very long time. The first was against Zico, from the spot, to keep the score level. The second came in the penalty shootout against Socrates, and it allowed the French to qualify for the semifinals, against the Germans.
“Everyone remembers the game between Brazil and France, with the extra time, the penalty save on Zico, and the other one during the penalty shootout, added Bats. “Better for me, because they don’t remember the semifinals, where we lost 2-0 to Germany.”
Always pressure on the favourites
France went into the competition in 1986 in the same way it goes into tournaments today: as one of the favourites. But having the favourite etiquette attached to you before the tournament even begins isn’t necessarily an advantage for Bats.
“Teams that are favourites suffer, because they know that they can’t waste too much energy if they want to go far, so they always try to adjust to their opponents, without wasting too much energy,” said Bats. “That’s my experience at the World Cup. It builds up, game after game.”
The French were coming off their first ever European Championship win, on home soil, just two years prior, in 1984, when they beat Spain in the final at Parc des Princes by a score of 2-0. Although representing his country at the World Cup is one of his prouder moments as a goalkeeper, he’ll never forget the semi-final game in 1984, a 3-2 win over Portugal in Marseille.
“That game, we were losing 1-0, and then again 2-1, and we came back to score the winning goal at the 118th minute in extra time,” added Bats. “In my head I was already preparing for a shootout. When we scored, I fell to my knees, looked at the sky, and it was a huge sense of relief.”
History now tells us that it was the first ever championship won by a French team in any sport, paving the way for the successes the French national team has experienced over the years – including a World Cup win in 1998 and another European championship in 2000.
“We were kind of the pioneers, that paved the way for future generations,” said the former goalkeeper. “I spoke about it years later with Thierry Henry, who told me that we were the ones that gave future generations the confidence to do it again. It was an enormous compliment.”
How the game has changed
Joël Bats has been watching Les Bleus attentively as they finished in top spot of a group that consisted of Australia, Peru, and Denmark. But it didn’t come without a struggle; they edged out the Kangaroos 2-1 thanks to an own goal, beat Peru just 1-0, giving away key opportunities to the South American country, and fought to a scoreless draw against the Danes in a game that definitely won’t win match of the tournament.
“Every team is extremely well organized nowadays,” assessed Bats. “Everyone works hard. They’re very well prepared physically. Even against so-called small teams, which don’t exist anymore, it’s decided on details. And a lot is decided on set pieces. It shows how hard it is to score goals.”
For Bats, this is simply a result of the modern game, which has changed quite a bit, especially on the international scene, since he last played in a major international tournament.
“Everything goes fast, there’s more aggressivity, more duels, and simply better players on the field,” explained Bats. “Before, there were two or three good players that made the difference. Today there are a lot more, and teams are better. The danger can come from anyone and anywhere.”
France won’t have it easy in its round of 16 game either; with Croatia taking the top spot in its group, that means Argentina, along with a very motivated Lionel Messi, will be the ones facing the French this weekend. If one thing is certain, it’s that Joël Bats will be watching it closely come Saturday.
