Significant, too, was the absence of that electric little winger Marc Overmars, not fully fit when put on as substitute against Argentina and now definitely out. He would surely have tormented the uneasy Brazilian reserve right-back, Ze Carlos.
Twice in the first half Kluivert sent headers just wide, emphasising the vulnerability of Brazil’s defence in the air for which they’d pay so heavily in the Final. So it was Brazil who went ahead just after half time, Rivaldo producing a typical defence-dissecting through pass, Ronaldo dashing in from the right to score, after which he was rampant.
Four minutes from time, however, Cocu found Ronald De Boer, whose swift centre eluded both Brazilian centre-backs Aldair and Junior Baiano, enabling Kluivert to head home at last.
With Denilson, on after 70 minutes for Bebeto, improving the Brazilian attack, Brazil now called the tune. The resilient Frank De Boer kicked Ronaldo’s shot off the line, stopped the centre-forward with a majestic tackle and blocked a dangerous shot by Rivaldo. So to penalties. Cocu missed, Dunga scored to make it 4–2 for Brazil, then Taffarel saved again, from Ronald de Boer. Holland were out with honour.
At Saint-Denis, Aimé Jacquet successfully shuffled the pack against Croatia, went without wingers, used attacking wing-backs, was rewarded by two fine goals from Lilian Thuram and saw France prevail despite the contentious expulsion of Laurent Blanc five minutes after Thuram had scored his second goal.
Earlier in the tournament Thuram’s great friend and team mate at Parma, Fabio Cannavaro, had said that Thuram lost 50 per cent of his efficiency when deployed at right-back rather than at centre-back. Tell that to the Croatians! With a 4-3-2-1 formation, Stéphane Guivarc’h being the one, against Croatia’s 3-5-2, France rode the shock of Croatia’s opening goal and reached the Final for the first time ever.
You might say that the course of the game was decided in one dramatic minute. After 46 minutes, Asanovic sent Davor Suker through to score for Croatia. A minute later or less, Zvoni Boban, previously a Croatian hero, lost the ball to Thuram, who thundered on, exchanged passes with Djorkaeff and equalised.
After 69 minutes Thuram, remarkably, did it again, taking the ball from Jarni and advancing to shoot past Ladic, this time with his left foot. Then came the expulsion of Blanc. Should it have happened? Was Slaven Bilic guilty of histrionics? He denied it fiercely after the game. ‘He caught me here,’ he said, pointing somewhere between throat and chest. ‘I didn’t want him to be sent off. I didn’t want him to miss the Final, but that’s his problem.’ In retrospect, it may be said that Blanc, initially provoked, was foolish to raise his hand and that Bilic probably made a meal of it. One remembered that in Euro 96 Bilic had kicked Germany’s Christian Ziege on the head as he lay on the ground and got clean away with it. In the end, though, France had won and Paris went wild.
The game had really turned on France’s immediate equaliser and Croatia’s evident moment of distraction. ‘We gave our maximum,’ said Davor Suker afterwards, ‘but when we scored, we thought we were already in the Final.’
They were not, though they duly won the meaningless third-place match against Holland at the Parc des Princes. Then the stage was set at Saint-Denis for France, the home team, against Brazil, holders and favourites. And for the astonishing events which have still to be fully explained; Ronaldo’s pre-match ‘fit’, the team sheet which excluded him and named Edmundo; the rumours, never substantiated, that there had been a fight in the dressing-room; the eventual, demoralised performance by a Brazilian team clearly distracted; the presence, till the end, of a Ronaldo so clearly a shadow of the player we knew him to be. It was cruelty to keep him on, and immensely destructive. Rumours flew that Nike, Brazil’s demanding sponsors, had demanded that Ronaldo played. They were denied, not least by an angry Zagallo.
Before the Final, the former Dutch hero Johan Cruyff had declared, ‘I said at the start of the tournament that I did not like this Brazilian team, and I still say that. It would be really bad for football if Brazil won with such poor play, because this team is imitated throughout the world.’ France, he hoped, would win the Final. ‘I am not going to say that they will, because Brazil are a strong team, but I hope so for the sake of football, because the play produced by Zagallo’s team is really poor.’
On this important occasion it unquestionably was, though Cruyff ’s strictures seem in retrospect peculiarly harsh. In the event, it was not only the passivity of Ronaldo, who had but one valid attempt on goal, but the failings of the Brazilian defence which condemned Zagallo’s team to defeat and extinguished for ever the myth of his good fortune. Zinedine Zidane took his two headed goals, one at each near post, wonderfully well; but how was he ever allowed to do so the first time, let alone the second, when Brazil’s defence had surely received due warning?
After 27 minutes Emmanuel Petit, a powerful influence throughout, whizzed in one of his insidious inswinging corners from the right, and Zidane popped up on the post to head it in.
His second goal followed an abysmal miss by Stéphane Guivarc’h, allowed through by Junior Baiano’s fearful misjudgement. The best you could say for Baiano was that he might have been fooled by the strong wind. Guivarc’h, however, came too close to Taffarel, who responded with a gallant one-handed save.
But almost at once, just before half time, Zidane repeated his initial coup with a header from Youri Djorkaeff ’s corner from the left. Playing with poise, confidence and fluency the French brushed off early Brazilian supremacy to take over the game. Once, in the 57th minute, Ronaldo almost casually made himself space for a shot which Fabien Barthez held at the near post, but that was largely the extent of the Brazilian threat.
With a quarter of an hour left Zagallo gambled desperately, throwing on Edmundo for Sampaio, but the French, though their usually impeccable centre-back Marcel Desailly had been sent off for a second yellow card after 69 minutes, stood firm. Indeed, revelling in the extra space afforded them, they fluffed another easy chance through the substitute striker Christophe Dugarry. A third goal did arrive, however, when Arsenal’s Patrick Vieira, a lively substitute, sent his club colleague Petit through for an inexorable left-footed goal: 3–0. Joy for France after 68 years of World Cup striving; humiliation for Brazil. A shot against the bar by Denilson was their sole, meagre consolation. ‘Will I stay on as coach?’ asked Zagallo. It was a rhetorical question with only one possible answer. Within a few weeks, he was gone.
And in Paris, the streets had thronged with hundreds of thousands of joyous celebrants. Who could grudge them their delight?
RESULTS: France 1998
First Round
Group A
Saint-Denis, Montpellier, Bordeaux, Nantes, Marseille, Saint Etienne
Brazil 2, Scotland 1
Morocco 2, Norway 2
Scotland 1, Norway 1
Brazil 3, Morocco 0
Brazil 1, Norway 2
Scotland 0, Morocco 3
GOALS
P W D L F A Pts
Brazil 3 2 0 1 6 3 6
Norway 3 1 2 0 5 4 5
Morocco 3 1 1 1 5 5 4
Scotland 3 0 1 2 2 6 1
Group B
Bordeaux, Toulouse, Saint-Etienne, Montpellier, Nantes, Saint-Denis
Italy 2, Chile 2
Cameroon 1, Austria 1
Chile 1, Austria 1
Italy 3, Cameroon 0
Chile 1, Cameroon 1
Italy 2, Austria 1
GOALS
P W D L F A Pts
Italy 3 2 1 0 7 3 7
Chile 3 0 3 0 4 4 3
Austria 3 0 2 1 3 4 2
Cameroon 3 0 2 1 2 5 2
Group C
Lens, Marseille, Toulouse, Saint-Denis, Lyon, Bordeaux
Saudi Arabia 0, Denmark 1
France 3, South Africa 0
South Africa 1, Denmark 1
France 4, Saudi Arabia 0
France 2, Denmark 1
South Africa 2, Saudi Arabia 2
GOALS
P W D
L F A Pts
France 3 3 0 0 9 1 9
Denmark 3 1 1 1 3 3 4
South Africa 3 0 2 1 3 6 2
Saudi Arabia 3 0 1 2 2 7 1
Group D
Montpellier, Nantes, Paris, Saint-Etienne, Toulouse, Lens
Paraguay 0, Bulgaria 0
Spain 2, Nigeria 3
Nigeria 1, Bulgaria 0
Spain 0, Paraguay 0
Nigeria 1, Paraguay 3
Spain 6, Bulgaria 1
GOALS
P W D L F A Pts
Nigeria 3 2 0 1 5 5 6
Paraguay 3 1 2 0 3 1 5
Spain 3 1 1 1 8 4 4
Bulgaria 3 0 1 2 1 7 1
Group E
Lyon, Saint-Denis, Bordeaux, Marseille, Paris, Saint-Etienne
South Korea 1, Mexico 3
Holland 0, Belgium 0
Belgium 2, Mexico 2
Holland 5, South Korea 0
Belgium 1, South Korea 1
Holland 2, Mexico 2
GOALS
P W D L F A Pts
Holland 3 1 2 0 7 2 5
Mexico 3 1 2 0 7 5 5
Belgium 3 0 3 0 3 3 3
South Korea 3 0 1 2 2 9 1
Group F
Saint-Etienne, Paris, Lens, Lyon, Montpellier, Nantes
Yugoslavia 1, Iran 0
Germany 2, USA 0
Germany 2, Yugoslavia 2
USA 1, Iran 2
Germany 2, Iran 0
USA 0, Yugoslavia 1
GOALS
P W D L F A Pts
Germany 3 2 1 0 6 2 7
Yugoslavia 3 2 1 0 4 2 7
Iran 3 1 0 2 2 4 3
USA 3 0 0 3 1 5 0
Group G
Marseille, Lyon, Montpellier, Toulouse, Lens, Saint-Denis
England 2, Tunisia 0
Romania 1, Colombia 0
Colombia 1, Tunisia 0
Romania 2, England 1
Colombia 0, England 2
Romania 1, Tunisia 1
GOALS
P W D L F A Pts
Romania 3 2 1 0 4 2 7
England 3 2 0 1 5 2 6
Colombia 3 1 0 2 1 3 3
Tunisia 3 0 1 2 1 4 1
Group H
Toulouse, Lens, Nantes, Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon
Argentina 1, Japan 0
Jamaica 1, Croatia 3
Japan 0, Croatia 1
Argentina 5, Jamaica 0
Argentina 1, Croatia 0
Japan 1, Jamaica 2
GOALS
P W D L F A Pts
Argentina 3 3 0 0 7 0 9
Croatia 3 2 0 1 4 2 6
Jamaica 3 1 0 2 3 9 3
Japan 3 0 0 3 1 4 0
Second Round
Marseille
Italy 1, Norway 0
Paris
Brazil 4, Chile 1
Lens
France 1, Paraguay 0
Saint-Denis
Nigeria 1, Denmark 4
Montpellier
Germany 2, Mexico 1
Toulouse
Holland 2, Yugoslavia 1
Bordeaux
Romania 0, Croatia 1
Saint-Etienne
Argentina 2, England 2
Argentina win 4–3 on penalties
Quarter-finals
Saint-Denis
Italy 0, France 0
France win 4–3 on penalties
Nantes
Brazil 3, Denmark 2
Marseille
Holland 2, Argentina 1
Lyon
Germany 0, Croatia 3
Semi-finals
Marseille
Brazil 1, Holland 1
Brazil win 4–2 on penalties
Saint-Denis
France 2, Croatia 1
Third-place match
Paris
Holland 1 Croatia 2
Van der Sar; Stam, Ladic, Bilic,
Numan, F. de Boer, Soldo, Stimac,
Davids; Jonk, Stanic; Boban
Cocu (Overmars), (Vlaovic), Jarni,
Seedorf; Kluivert, Prosinecki (Tudor),
Bergkamp Asanovic; Jurcic,
(van Hooijdonk) Suker.
Zenden.
SCORERS
Zenden for Holland
Prosinecki, Suker for Croatia
HT (1–2)
Final
Saint-Denis
France 3 Brazil 0
Barthez; Thuram, Taffarel; Cafu, Junior
Leboeuf, Desailly, Baiano, Aldair,
Lizerazu; Karembeu Roberto Carlos;
(Boghossian), Dunga, Leonardo
Deschamps, (Denilson), Cesar
Petit, Zidane; Sampaio (Edmundo),
Djorkaeff (Vieira), Rivaldo; Bebeto,
Guivarc’h (Dugarry). Ronaldo.
SCORERS
Zidane 2, Petit for France
HT (2–0)
JAPAN
2002
A World Cup redeemed by Ronaldo, you might say, just as the previous World Cup Final was blemished by his all too evident plight. Had Brazil not beaten Germany in the Final in Yokohama, the sheer mediocrity of the tournament would have been plain. Dramatic rather than distinguished, surprising rather than scintillating, its very Final was contested by two teams that at one point seemed unlikely even to qualify for the final stages. The Germans had been traumatisingly beaten 5–1 in Munich by England and eventually had to play off against Ukraine. Brazil, using no fewer than three different managers, losing to the likes of humble Ecuador, had looked in real danger of finishing no better than fifth in the elongated South American qualifying tournament, and thus be condemned to play off against Australia. In the event, they came fourth.
There is no doubt that Ronaldo made the difference, after nearly four traumatic years in which time and again, trying to play in Italy for Inter, he broke down with injury. Even in Japan he did not play a full game until Brazil’s third, a topsy-turvy one in Suwon against Costa Rica. His explosive pace might have been somewhat diminished, but his tremendous skills, his finishing powers, were emphatically not. Although, in the Final, he missed a sitter, he went on in the event to score twice.
Fears over apportioning the Finals between Japan and South Korea proved baseless. If the eternal problem of ticket distribution reared its ugly head again, this was hardly the fault of the hosts, but manifestly that of Byrom, the England-based company run by two Mexicans, who had, somewhat controversially, been given the franchise by the FIFA committee headed by Scotsman David Will.
Controversial to a degree was the re-election in Seoul two days before the start of the tournament of the Swiss FIFA President, Sepp Blatter against an obscure African candidate, Issa Hayatou of Cameroon. Unsurprisingly he won by a landslide: 139 to 56. It was astonishing that UEFA, which provides 80 per cent of FIFA’S funds, couldn’t field a candidate of their own. Under withering allegations of corruption, incompetence (over the collapse of the ISL company which cost FIFA countless millions), favouritism (to such as the autocratic Jack Warner of CONCACAF), and profligacy (for the expensive programmes such as GOAL, which seem little more than sweeteners to the smaller countries), Blatter nevertheless achieved the backing of several major European nations, and of influential figures such as Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer.
Scarcely had the smoke of the election cleared than Blatter had sacked the courageous FIFA Secretary, Michel Zen Ruffinen, who had questioned his competence. When the tournament was over, out too went the efficient Director of Communications, Keith Cooper, seemingly on the grounds of ‘he who is not with us is against us’. Cooper had not been known as one of Blatter’s critics, but in a chaotic organisation in which every member, big or small, had just one vote, the scope for suborning was always to be infinite. The ineffable João Havelange, Blatter’s predecessor, had after all stayed impregnably in office for twenty-four disastrous years.
The favourites to win the tournament were indisputably France, the holders, and Argentina; and both bit the dust in the first group stage. Two years earlier th
e French, with Roger Lemerre succeeding Aimé Jacquet as manager, had added the European title to the World Cup, squeezing past Italy in the Rotterdam Final. By then, they had found the centre forward, indeed the two strikers, they’d plainly needed in 1998, in Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet, both of whom had figured in the 98 Finals but with limited impact. Zinedine Zidane, header of two goals in the 98 Final, had become the most expensive player in the history of the game when he moved from Juventus to Real Madrid and was widely seen as the most influential.
True, France had faltered somewhat in the weeks before the tournament, with two disappointing displays in Paris, a 0–0 draw against Russia and a 2–1 defeat by Belgium, though in neither case were they at full strength. Argentina had romped home top of the South American qualifiers, though they’d lost in Brazil. They seemed to have talent in abundance: Juan Sebastian Veron to pull the strings in midfield, even if he’d had a largely frustrating first season with Manchester United; Hernan Crespo to get goals, even if it were at the expense of the previously prolific Gabriel Batistuta, who’d had an uneasy season with Roma; gifted emerging youngsters such as the creative little midfielder, Pablo Aimar; tough defenders such as Roberto Ayala. In prospect was one more in the series of World Cup matches against England, due to take place in the spectacular domed arena of Sapporo, built with the technological help of nasa, its pitch wheeled slowly in and out of the stadium.
With memories of Alf Ramsey’s ‘act as animals’ words after the 1966 quarter final at Wembley, of Diego Maradona’s Hand of God goal at the Azteca twenty years later, of David Beckham’s petulance that led to his expulsion at Saint Etienne in 1998 and the gallant English resistance into extra time, this was a match loaded with significance.
The Story of the World Cup Page 47
