WARM and sunny in Paris this morning, but it's going to be a cold, cold night. That's if the managers get their way.

Game time is so close now that even the Parisians can feel it. A scattering of Irish fans in the city last night, more arriving today, their green jerseys landing at airports around the city or being churned out by trains, France today finally woke up to the fact that there's a game on tonight.

The French players? Cool as could be. Captain Thierry Henry faced the media at the French FA's HQ in Clairefontaine, a tiny, sleepy village south of the city, last night, the Barcelona man sitting with poise and ease while speaking about the game.

Different backgrounds, you see. For a batch of Irish players, such as Liam Lawrence, Glenn Whelan, Keith Andrews and Leon Best, this is the biggest game of their careers. For others, such as Kevin Kilbane, it's possibly their last international game, or in the case of players such as Damien Duff and Shay Given, their last chance to play in a World Cup, so edginess is only natural.

But for Henry and the French, they've all been here before. So no talk of turning the Stade de France into the "hell" which John O'Shea promised Patrice Evra that he would encounter in Croke Park.

There's much at stake for the French, of course, as Domenech will not coach the national team again if his side lose to Ireland tonight -- Henry and others will not get to play in another World Cup if the same happens.

But still, coolness personifies the French squad. If they are under pressure they are not showing it.

Shortly after arriving in Paris yesterday, Giovanni Trapattoni faced the press in the Stade de France and outlined his game plan, his key demands. "Warm hearts and cool heads," he pleaded.

About 50 miles away, on the other side of Paris, the French are also warming up by cooling down. Tradition means a lot to Les Bleus, so the French side don't hold their last training session before a major game in the match stadium, as is customary, but instead do all their preparation at their world-renowned HQ in Clairefontaine, an hour south of Paris by train.

"We need cold blood, we need patience, we need to be clever and enthusiastic," said Domenech in his pre-match press conference.

"The second leg may be different from Dublin as we have a 1-0 lead so the Irish approach may be different. As Thierry Henry said, we will play for a win and not for a draw, we have the quality of players who can play positive football and can push for the win.

"I have lost some games on penalties as a coach, we lost the World Cup (2006 final) on a penalty but in my mind that won't happen. We have to adapt with Abidal missing but we won't complain, and I might change some players," added the France coach.

"I feel the same as I felt before the first leg. I can't wait for the game to start because the day of the game is the only truth, everything else does not matter. I always take it one game at a time, I concentrate on what we have to achieve against Ireland now, not what we have achieved already.

"And I have experience of this with France before, knock-out games where each game could be your last and you could die. This could be my last game, but I am not thinking about that today."

The French are thinking about it. Some Irish fans were today going over past history in their minds: our poor record in play-offs, our dreadful away record in qualifying games, our inability to hold on to a lead.

France today was also looking to the past, not always for the right reasons. "Never forget Crécy," was a headline in one newspaper today, referring to a battle in 1346 when the French (and let's start the football analogies now) lost at home to England, even though the French were bookies' favourites and had home advantage.

Another name lurking in the back of every French mind is Kostadinov: his goal in Paris back in 1993 gave Bulgaria a shock win and deprived France of a place at the World Cup finals which had appeared to be firmly in their grasp. "Remember Kostadinov, today and always when we are at home," warned France Football magazine this week.

Ignominy

Those thoughts are in their minds. A cartoon in L'Equipe today sums up the French mood as the nation stands on the brink -- the glory of another World Cup effort on one side and the utter ignominy of losing out to little Ireland on the other. We see Domenech at the door of an airplane in mid-flight, about to hop out without a parachute, the players looking at him, with Domenech saying: "It looks like we are qualified but if not I'm dead, any questions boys?"

They are on the brink, but could still fall, as previous disasters force France to consider the possibility of losing out. Today the local daily here in the city, Le Parisien, lists five reasons for France to be afraid tonight.

1: Over-confidence, pointing out that France have lost big games before and also noting that while Ireland on Monday put in a hard shift in their training session in Dublin, the French squad just played a game of head-tennis.

2: The difficulty of making their lead count, noting that an early goal for Ireland will level the scores at 1-1 but leave Ireland then as favourites, with a second away goal crucial for Irish hopes.

3: Ireland's good away record, claiming that Ireland played their best football in the group stage away to Italy and Bulgaria.

4: France's bad form, noting that France were poor in many recent games (Romania and Serbia) and also that France have to change their team, with the pairing of newcomer Julien Escude alongside William Gallas not filling the French fans with confidence.

5: The lack of pressure on the Irish side.

The French side are not the only ones under pressure, with the local media here noting that failure to qualify would not only embarrass the French Football Federation but leave them and their sponsors crippled, one report claiming that non-qualification would cost TF1, the national TV station who have already bought the rights for the 2010 World Cup, €60m.

We'll leave the last word to the mouthpiece of the man in the street here, Le Parisien: "It's now or never."

For the first time since the countries were drawn together, through all the rows over TV rights, match tickets and that Diarra-Andrews spat, Ireland and France agree.

- Aidan Fitzmaurice