GINOLA REVEALS FRENCH DESPAIR
The winger, then with Paris Saint Germain, saw his cross go over Eric Cantona, when the scores were tied at 1-1 in a game which France needed only a draw to see them qualify for the World Cup, with Bulgaria going down to the other end of the field and scoring.
Houllier blamed Ginola for the defeat and France non-qualification for the United Stated tournament, and the winger never played international football again, as well as leaving the French game for Newcastle in 1995.
"I became Public Enemy number one," Ginola said. "The man responsible for my execution was Gerard Houllier.
"It was something I can never forgive him for, as it was a cruel attempt to wreck my life and I have been paying the price ever since.
"My 'crime' was to over-hit a cross aimed for Cantona during our last qualifying match, against Bulgaria in Paris. Unfortunately, the Bulgarians went up the other end of the field and scored with almost the last kick of the game.
"I started the game on the bench but came on with ten minutes to go, with the score at 1-1. Houllier gave me instructions to attack, even to score the goal which would have put the result beyond doubt.
"When Emil Kostadinov scored just 30 seconds before the final whistle, it was like a nightmare. I had no thoughts that I would be blamed but, on the way home, my wife Caroline said to me: 'David, I don't know why but I have a feeling they will put this on you.'
"The next day, I switched between television channels but, no matter which one I chose, I saw Houllier's face - and I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"The punishment handed out to me so far outweighed the crime that it was to have a dramatic effect on my life. It is something which will haunt me for the rest of my life. I believe a weaker person would have been destroyed.
"He was saying things like: 'David is the murderer of the team& he sent an Exocet missile through the heart of French football...David committed a crime against the team.
"Everyone around me was crying. They feared for my safety and I know my father was hoping I might leave France, find a club abroad, so I would be out of the spotlight in my home country.
"Houllier was the one who should have taken the blame and, to highlight how much of a hypocrite he was, he said: 'I am sure this will not harm David's international career.' What a joke!
"My next game for PSG was only four days after the Bulgaria match, away to Toulouse. I was practically the last man out of the tunnel and suddenly it hit me - it was as if everyone inside the stadium was booing and whistling.
"After 10 minutes, I scored a header, and cried like a baby. All the pent-up emotion came flooding out. I ended the season being voted France's Footballer of the Year but I was not the same person and I am still not the same person.
"Houllier has ensured that I carry this stigma around with me for the rest of my life."
Ginola, speaking in his autobiography, serialised in the Daily Mail, also revealed that he had not spoken to fellow countryman Eric Cantona since an argument before the Bulgaria game, which has made him "sad."
"I am convinced he resented me coming to play in England," he added. "He was idolised at Manchester United and wanted to be the king in England. I wanted the same thing, so there was an inevitable clash."
