The return of Aimé Jacquet to public attention gave Pierre Ménès a chance to clarify his role during a tense period in 1998 while he was working at L'Équipe, a prominent French sports newspaper. The relationship between Jacquet and L'Équipe was famously strained, particularly in the lead-up to France's World Cup victory on July 12, 1998. At the time, L'Équipe ran a series of critical articles about Jacquet, who was the head coach of the French national team. The newspaper portrayed him as overly defensive, strict, and lacking the vision needed to lead France to success in a home World Cup. The criticism peaked in May 1998 when L'Équipe published an article questioning Jacquet's coaching methods and suggesting he was not the right person to lead the team. The article was particularly harsh, calling Jacquet's approach incoherent and even referring to him as "not the man for the situation." Jacquet later expressed deep resentment toward L'Équipe after France's victory, accusing the newspaper's journalists of lying and calling them "thugs, irresponsible, dishonest and incompetent." His strong words led to some individuals, including Jérôme Bureau and Vincent Duluc, making death threats against the journalists. However, Ménès stated that he was not involved in the attacks. In a YouTube video, Ménès reflected on his time at L'Équipe during the 1998 World Cup, noting the intense conflict between Jacquet and the newspaper. He explained that Jacquet had a way of excluding him from the criticism, possibly because he believed Ménès supported him. Ménès recalled a meeting with 100 people involved in the World Cup, including journalists and photographers, where he expressed confidence in the French team, only to be told to "shut up" and that Jacquet was "useless." He later admitted that his instincts were not far off the mark. Ménès also mentioned that he was sent to cover the opening match between Brazil and Scotland after six players were excluded from the team list, a move that created controversy. He emphasized that Jacquet recognized his support for the coach and the team.