PARIS. May 4: It may be ironic that the nation which invented the Tour d e France tends to tandem when it soccer, reports

French national team success has always been founded on a dynamic duo - Kopa-Fontaine in the 1950s. Piatini-Glresse in the 1980s. then Papin-Cantona.

The latest double act. to be foisted on to a world stage at Junes European

Championship In England, will be billed as the Djorkaeff-Zidane show and early signs are that U could be just as appealing as Its predecessors

Trainer Alms Jacquet • de clsion to break up the team built around Jean Pierre Papin and Eric Cantona and opt instead to place Youri Djorkaeff and newly-crowned French footballer-of-the-year Zinedine Zidane at the hub has paid off mi far

His team has gone 20 matches without defeat, beat Ing the French record, since he took charge more than two years ago. is on a run of six successive wins and claimed the best defensive record in the qualifiers with two goals conceded in 10 outings

Jacquet s logic was simple Papin and Cantona were great but their team flopped at the 1992 European Championship and fizzled out in tbe 1894 World Cup qualifiers.

The trainer, who stepped m after stunning home defeats to Israel and Butaana blocked the route to the US finals, felt he had to dump them and rein vent the more successful mid field combination of Michael

Platini and Alain Giresse In stead.

Zidane was an obvious choice for the Giresse role. The young Bordeaux players of North African origin caresses the ball as If it were a pet kit ten. possesses a seemingly endless supply of defence-splitting passes and has a keen eye for goal.

Finding a new Platini was no easier than discovering another Edith Piaf, a second Charles de Gaulle or a rein carnation of Paul Cezanne but Jacquet, showing bravery bor dering on foolhardiness gave It a try.

He came up. hesitantly at first, with Djorkaeff and nobody Is ridiculing his choice now

The Parta St Germain player hit seven goals In five matches last autumn, struck up an In stinctive understanding with Zidane and was the lynchlpin of France s qualification lor the finals

Djorkaeff now 28. matured slowly with Monaco before blossoming into one of the finest players on the contl nent enjoying a role between midfielder and striker, always at tlie centre ol the action and often finishing it off too.

II giving the number 10 jer sey to Djorkaeff was a Jacquet masterstrike so too was axing Cantona. Papin and David Ginoia but there is a growing belief that Cantona and to a lesser degree Ginoia should be included in Jacquets thinking

With Cantona and Ginoia performing so brilliantly In England criticism might have been expected and it has come from an increasingly vociferous press even though many ob servers feel that the exiles, for

all their skills, do not fit in the Jacquet mould

Cantona. Just voted foot-bafier-of-the year in England, might be in the squad, but probably only If he agrees to accept ne will not be in the starting line-up, something he Is not guaranteed to do

Jacquet's team is a tightly knit unit based on a well or ganised defence, a high wokrate in midfield and the match-winning qualities of the new tandem

Ax It Is. France and Jacquet are riding on the crest of a wave of self-confidence and can legitimately dream of ri vailing the Plant Ini Giresse team. European champions in 1984 and World Cup semifinal Ists In 1982 and 1986

The team has a solid look with goalkeepci Bernard Lama among the beat In Europe and central defenders Mariel Desallly and Alain Roche forming an enviable pairing Full backs Jocelyn Angioma and Eric De Mer o add weight to the attack with their over lapping runs

In midfield Didier Deschamps Vincent Guerin and Christian Karembeu will chase all day like overworked retrievers and in attack, the selfless Pat Her e Loko tirelessly pulls defenders out of position lor the benefit of Djorkaeff and Zudane

When the machine is firing on all cylinders, it can be spectacular as well as ruth lesaly efficient But It la the tandem which will determine whether it can win Ure utle

If not. Jacquet may well be the one told to get on his bike as the French look to their ul Umate objective of finding a team to wjn the World Cup on home soil in 1998