I'm a bit sick of this myth that Houllier missed out on qualification with a team that went on to win the World Cup 5 (not four) years later
France lineup VS Israel 1993: (from
http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/isra-intres90.html)
Bernard Lama - Marcel Desailly, Alain Roche (Bixente Lizarazu, 24), Laurent Blanc, Emmanuel Petit - Didier Deschamps, Paul Le Guen, Frank Sauzée - Jean-Pierre Papin, Eric Cantona, David Ginola (Youri Djorkaeff, 86)
France VS South Africa 12 June 1998 (from
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive...30/report.html)
Fabien BARTHEZ, Bixente LIZARAZU, Laurent BLANC, Youri DJORKAEFF, Didier DESCHAMPS, Marcel DESAILLY, Stephane GUIVARCH, Zinedine ZIDANE, Thierry HENRY, Lilian THURAM, Emmanuel PETIT
Substitues:
Alain BOGHOSSIAN (+73')
David TREZEGUET (+84')
Christophe DUGARRY (+29')
So they had Desailly, Deschamps, Lizarazu (as a substitute), Petit (played in 2 different positions) and Djorkaeff (as a substitute) in common.
Hardly the same team was it?