A FRENCHMAN will be out to ruin the World Cup hosts' party in Marseille today. South Africa's French-born coach Philippe Troussier is aiming to turn up the pressure on France who are already burdened by huge expectations from the home fans. Troussier, who has been linked with the Sheffield Wednesday managerial vacancy, said: Sometimes it's difficult to play under pressure. France have a very strong team but sometimes matches like this are not about potential but about the atmosphere and how you cope with it. After years of international exile, the South Africans playing in their first World Cup finals are something of a dangerous, unknown quantity. Troussier admits France will be the favourites to win the group but he believes his charges can cause an upset. He said: We have a 100% chance because there is no logic in football. At this level of the game everyone is the same. The South African objective is to get to the second round. I'm confident we can fill one of the first two places. Once France are out of the way the route is clear. Troussier, Africa's third coach in quick succession, has made an instant impression with his players and Leeds' defender Lucas Radebe says: It has been strange having three coaches in such a short space of time, but I'm sure we can draw strength from that. It makes us more determined to do well. ''Everybody enjoys working with Philippe because he has brought some fresh ideas to the team and that's what we've needed and what we want. He is a great disciplinarian, knows what he wants and how he wants to play. Not since 1978 in Argentina have the hosts won the World Cup but the French look capable of recapturing their glory days from the 1980s when they reached the semi-finals of the tournament in 1982 and 1986 and won the European Championship, inspired by Platini, Giresse and Tigana, in 1984. The current crop of French stars Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps, Zinedine Zidane and Youri Djorkaeff may not have fulfilled their international promise as yet but there is a strong belief in France that, under the guidance of coach Aime Jacquet, they can be successful again. Their World Cup warm-up form has been disappointing but the French beat South Africa 2-1 in Lens last October. French coach Jacquet is likely to field the side which beat Finland 1-0 in Helsinki last Friday. But striker Stephane Guivarc'h may lose his place up front to David Trezeguet who replaced him after 75 minutes and scored the winner. Probable teams: France:Barthez, Thuram, Blanc, Desailly, Lizarazu, Deschamps, Petit, Zidane, Djorkaeff, Guivarc'h (or Trezeguet), Dugarry. South Africa: Vonk, Jackson, Fish, Radebe, Nyathi, Mkhalele, Moshoeu, Augustine, Fortune, McCarthy, Masinga.

OWLS SEARCH STILL ON   SHEFFIELD Wednesday have insisted they are still searching for a manager, despite comments yesterday from South Africa coach Philippe Troussier claiming he has been offered the job. Owls chairman David Richards said the South Yorkshire side were still interviewing potential replacements for former boss Ron Atkinson and Troussier was clearly jumping the gun. "The situation is quite simple really," Richards said. "We are interviewing candidates for the vacant position of manager of Sheffield Wednesday. And we have had such a good response, that we are going to take the best candidate. "We are interviewing like normal people would interview. Nobody has been offered the job. There are several candidates being spoken to, and we will keep interviewing until we decide on the one that we want. But we have had such an influx of good candidates, we need to look at people now," Richards told BBC Radio Sheffield. Earlier the South African coach had claimed that Richards had gone to great lengths to speak to him in France and Troussier even went as far as to say that he already had ideas for the future of Wednesday. "I shall be taking a new vision to the club," Troussier said. "There are many good players in the African continent and I might even bring some of them with me."

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