France head coach Didier Deschamps insists that revenge for their 2002 loss to Senegal is not in his side's sights as they approach Tuesday's rematch at the FIFA World Cup.
Papa Bouba Diop scored the only goal of the game in Seoul to send shockwaves around the world 24 years ago, as the Teranga Lions marked their first ever World Cup outing with a major win, sending reigning world champions France on their way to a shock first round exit.
Deschamps, a World Cup winner with Les Bleus in 1998, was retired by the time the '02 tournament rolled around, and believes that the wounds of that disastrous defeat are too far in the past to have an impact on Tuesday's fixture.
"I know people like to use the world 'revenge' but there is no revenge in football," Deschamps told journalists in Monday's pre-match press conference.
"That was 24 years ago, and we have another page to write now.
"What happened in 2002, congratulations to Senegal, it was good for them then, but we'll make sure the result will be positive for us this time.
"It was history, even [the squad's oldest player] N'Golo [Kante], I'm not sure he watched the game. Many of my players weren't born in 2002. I was watching, of course, but I wasn't there."
Over the last quarter century, Senegal's stock has improved dramatically within African football and globally, with the Teranga Lions winning their first Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022. They again clinching the continental crown earlier this year, only for it to be stripped from them (for now at least) following a Confederation of African Football Appeal Board ruling in March.
Sadio Mané followed in the footsteps of El Hadji Diouf, one of the heroes of 2002, in winning the African Footballer of the Year award, while the likes of Édouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly and Idrissa Gana Gueye have won major honours in Europe's biggest competitions.
"On paper, you can see what Senegal did during the last AFCON, and they have a very high level of player, of team," Deschamps continued.
"Senegal are one of the best African countries, one of the best teams in the world, so we know what to expect in this game.
"They have everything, excellent players at top clubs, great attacking quality, an outstanding midfield. They were very effective at the last competition, have a very high athletic intensity, and have many players with high technical skills.
"They will know what to expect as well, and it will be a duel - a high-level duel - a proper confrontation for the first game."
Whereas the generation of 2002 broke new ground in qualifying the West Africans for their first ever World Cup, having reached a maiden AFCON final earlier that same year, this current crop are more seasoned competitors at the highest level, having qualified for the last three consecutive tournaments.
Having reached the Last 16 in 2022, a case can be made that the Teranga Lions of today have achieved more than that iconic side of 2002... apart from perhaps a high-profile World Cup victory over France.
"I don't remember the 2002 Senegal team very well, but they must have been very good because they beat a very strong France side at the time," Deschamps concluded.
"I'm sure of one thing though, that I've seen enough of this [current] side's games to know they're clearly a very good team with a lot of good players.
"I don't want to compare generations. In 2002 the team did what had to be done for Senegal, but clearly we're facing a wonderful Senegalese team that has what it takes to succeed at the highest levels of football."
