France 98

FRANCE 98

France hosted it. France won it. What more do you need to know? France had not qualified for a World Cup since Mexico 1986, and they had seen little success in competitive matches. There is a school of thought which suggests the only reason they hosted the tournament was to guarantee their qualification. But this is for cynics....

With Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Bebeto et al, Brazil were the firm favourites. Scotland's John Collins dared to score a goal against them in the tournament opener, but Brazil inevitably prevailed. Scotland themselves were a disappointment, losing 3-0 to Morocco in a crunch match. A "crunch match" is defined as being a game which either side can ill-afford to lose. So it applies to all games really.

But this tournament will be remembered for one stand-out game, Argentina versus England. 1986 saw the "Hand of God" and it was time for revenge. Two penalties in the first ten minutes set the tone for the drama that was to follow. Michael "injured" Owen scored his wonder goal before Zanetti made it 2-2. Then David "err...obviously..." Beckham flicked a petulant leg at Simeone and was red-carded. He was lambasted by fans and the media at the time, but his response was to become one of the greatest and certainly most famous footballers on the planet today. It was of no use to us at the time, though.

Then the penalties. Paul "guvnor" Ince missed for England, Hernan "tousled" Crespo missed for Argentina. Before the tournament, Glenn Hoddle decided to take David Batty instead of Matt le Tissier, a man who could boast that he had never missed a penalty. David Batty had never TAKEN a penalty, and this was to prove crucial as England were denied once again from 12 yards.

Brazil removed Denmark and France beat Italy on penalties. The surprise package of this tournament were the Croatians, a big, physical team who could also pass the ball with a radar. They spanked Germany 3-0 on their way to a semi-final with France, before falling to the freescoring Lillian Thuram (his only goals ever, and he scored them both in one game). Argentina were defeated by Holland, falling to a goal from Dennis Bergkamp which defied the laws of gravity, evolution and keepy-ups.

All the drama of the Final came before the kick-off. Was Ronaldo on the Brazilian team sheet? Was he ill? Was he even at the ground? He eventually came out but was clearly elsewhere in his head. Little tweetie birds and rainbows were flying around him. Zidane scored two headed goals from corners before Arsenal's Emmanuel Petit sealed it late on. Vive la France. J'ai perdu mon fromage.