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By Andrew Warshaw
January 21 – One of David Ginola’s first priorities in his role as the latest ambassador to be unveiled by England’s 2018 World Cup bid team will be to lobby UEFA President Michel Platini.
Platini holds the most crucial hand as UEFA contemplates whether to support one European candidate over the other three - and Ginola will make a point of trying to get his compatriot on-side.
Platini is as yet undecided which way to vote in December but his influence will be enormous in the weeks and months leading up to the decision.
The acquisition of Ginola by England’s bid team could end up being a master-stroke in trying to convince Platini that he and his seven European colleagues among FIFA’s 24-strong Executive Committee should back England.
“Michel Platini - he will be very important,” Ginola told insideworldfootball.
“The bid speaks for itself.
“Football is in the DNA of the English people.
“Interest in the Premier League is everywhere.
“Michel knows what England could bring to the table but yes, if I get the opportunity to speak man to man with him over a coffee in [UEFA headquarters] Nyon, it will definitely happen.”
Ginola, who enjoyed the best period of his career at Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United during the seven years spent playing in England, says no schedule has yet been arranged for his ambassadorial role.
“It’s a brand new thing and we will decide in the next couple of months who I see and where.
“Will I make a difference?
“All of us will put a brick in the wall.
“Maybe I will only contribute one or two per cent but if England wins the bid it will have been worth it.”
Now living back in England with an 18-year-old son who fervently supports Tottenham, Ginola, who was player of the year back in 1999, recalled the passion of his days in the top flight.
“Passion was the one thing that struck me the most. I have had a love affair with English football.
“To be honest, I’m a bit surprised the World Cup hasn’t come back since 1966.
“The other day I saw that final in black and white.
“The old Wembley stadium.
“I can visualise England in the final again in 2018 at the new Wembley.”
Ginola believes England have a far better chance than his native France in South Africa next summer.
“Fabio Capello has brought a new spirit, one that was lacking on the pitch and in the dressing room.
“France have been in trouble in recent years and are not in the best shape.”
Earlier, at a news briefing, Ginola, who played 17 times for his country but was famously dropped after being blamed by coach Gerard Houllier for a mistake against Bulgaria in a qualifier in 1993 that led to defeat and cost France their place in the 1994 World Cup, told reporters his country was still living on past laurels.
“It seems to me that France lives with the 1998 effect, just like England have lived in the shadow of winning the World Cup in 1966.
“Since the 2000 European championships France has done nothing - nothing at all.
“In 2002 in Korea we did not even pass the first stage.
“We have done nothing in the European Championship.
“It is a massive problem.
“The French players are fantastic but they don’t seem to play together as a team.
“That’s why Fabio Capello is very good for England.
“He makes them into a team.
“He brings all the talent together, and that is what a team is all about.”
And when asked to become an ambassador for England 2018 he didn’t think twice.
“I was delighted because I think it’s a wonderful opportunity as a Frenchman to show the entire world the quality of England in terms of its football, organisation and passion. It was a straight yes from me.”
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