Aime Jacquet looks less like a manager of a football team these days than a man charged with the responsibility of leading a nation to its destiny. At times of World Cup competition, it isn't always easy to locate the demarcation lines between sport and the tribalism which takes people to war.

There was, for example, that astounding illustration of misplaced values in 1970 when the patriots of El Salvador and Honduras got their priorities so warped that they went to war for three days over a World Cup tie.

The French, for all their passion, are never likely to be moved to such extremes; and yet the pressures building around Jacquet and his players at Clairefontaine, about 50 kilometres south west of Paris, are quite enormous.

Over the years France has put its imprint on the evolution of rugby. And at irregular intervals the French have held the world captive in cycling, athletics, tennis and, in the days of Marcel Cerdan, boxing.

Football was and is, however, the most popular of all the international field games. Although, they won the European Championship in 1984, they have never savoured the ultimate achievement of World Cup success. Three times they've been to the semi-finals and three times they have lost. Now the perception is that they will never have a better chance of erasing one of the enduring blots on the list of the country's sporting achievements.

"Yes, it's pressure," says Jacquet. "But it's the type of pressure we've wanted for years. We know that we have good players, but to win the competition you also need good luck. In the past, French teams didn't always have that. Now we hope that our time has come."

These days, their camp, in a secluded location, runs the Eiffel Tower a close second as a tourist attraction. Clustered around the gates of the camp, French supporters crane for the sight of sporting legends. Contrasts between the regime here and the laissez faire attitude of Jack Charlton during Ireland's time in the sun are interesting. In Italy in 1990, and again in America four years later, Charlton and his players lived under the same roof as some of the team's supporters.

In France, it seems, sporting idols are a lot less accessible to the general public and the closest supporters are likely to get to Jacquet is through the medium of television. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why he hasn't yet been visited by the kind of adulation which was Charlton's prerogative in his time in charge of Ireland.

"I see my responsibility as keeping players out of the public eye until match days," says the French manager. "It is enough that they entertain the public in games."

Yet he is not unaware of the benefits of players being with their families and immediately after their win over South Africa last Saturday, camp discipline was relaxed to allow them time off.

By yesterday morning, however, it was business as usual. Ahead is a game against Saudi Arabia tomorrow evening, an assignment which can virtually guarantee their entry to the second phase of the championship.

For most students of form, the French merely have to turn up to win. But the manager is still not prepared to tempt fate and avail of the opportunity to introduce fringe players. Asked if he intended to ring the changes, he said: "That is not an option. This is a game we have to win and in those situations, you play the best team you have. Some of our players are injured, but we do not yet discount them."

Among those undergoing treatment are Stephane Guivarc'h, David Trezeguet and Frank Leboeuf, but after the manner in which Christophe Dugarry took his chance when introduced on home terrain in Marseille last Saturday even a fully fit Guivarc'h may struggle to regain favour.

For many in Ireland, interest in France's attempt on history is heightened by the inclusion in their squad of the two Arsenal players, Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira. A third member of the club's FA Cup and Premiership team, Nicolas Anelka, didn't make it into the squad of 22 and Petit spoke yesterday of his regret.

"All three of us were hoping for selection, but Nicolas was the unlucky one," he said. "Those decisions are made by the manager and I'm just happy that he has given me a place."

In eight years' involvement with the national team, Petit has made only 19 appearances, a disappointing record which probably owes as much to his indiscipline off the pitch as his eccentricity on it. Now, he professes to being a changed man.

"With Arsenal, I think I've learned to play the game with my mind as well as my body," he said. "I think more clearly now and it has improved my performances.

"Like my colleagues, I may have a chance of achieving what so many great French players missed in the past. I've never had a greater incentive in my career."