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Compilation and commentary by Essam Farag

 

World Cup France '98

Following a four year dormancy, the much-anticipate World Cup 1998 kicked off in Saint-Denis, France, on June 10. Over a period of 32 days and following 64 games, the competition has witnessed unimaginable surprises, excellent performance, and enough excitement to glue 1.7 billion viewers worldwide viewers to television screens. In this page, The Ambassadors hopes to capture some of this historic tournament's memorable moments, share the overwhelming joy and sorrowful embraces of this worldwide experience. We would also wish to note that this section is not covering the games, but instead is highlighting monumental events that occurred during the course of the tournament.

The soccer World Cup is a tournament that only takes place every four years, and is a playground for world competition. The game of football (referred to as soccer in N. America) attracts millions of fans from around the world. For teams to reach the World Cup, they must go through a qualifying round against other nations from the same continent. As for the teams that make it to the World Cup itself, there has been a great variety of nations who have had the chance to take part in such a tremendous tournament, while there are those countries that are almost always expected to be part of the competition including Brazil, Italy, Germany, Netherlands and England.

With so many countries now catching on to the football-craze, FIFA (the international association for football) has increased the number of World Cup qualifying nations to 32 teams to compete in the world cup, eight more teams than there were in the previous world cup held in the USA 1994. This has increased continental representation from Africa and Asia.

Football spirit: Americans and Iranians hand in hand

Contrary to popular belief, American and Iranian team players pose for a group picture before the start of their World Cup match at Gerland Stadium on June 21. As is widely known, these two countries have very little in common, since their political systems differ greatly. Although there was a huge buildup of media animosity coming into this match, the two teams exchanged flowers and took a team photo together displaying the themes of the World Cup; fair play and football spirit. This spirit continued throughout the game which ended in favour of Iran 2-1.

Royal support of the World Cup in France

Throughout the World Cup games in France, many world leaders have shown their interest in this fair and entertaining competition. In previous games, the French President, Jacque Chirac was in attendance in several matches as well scores of other celebrities in the competition's 64 games. Other leaders to have attended France 98 games include; Croatian president, Italian president and Argentinean president. (Right) Prince Charles with son Prince Harry watching the England team in one of their first round games. Where's Prince William?!

Penalty curse haunts Italians

Di Biagio falls to the ground after missing the final penalty kick for Italy in the

Quarterfinal match, which France won on penalty kicks 4:3. For the second

consecutive World Cup, Italy are eliminated though penalty kicks. The Italian

coach Maldini stated following the loss, "This loss is a result of a curse on our

team!"

Penalties postpone England's hopes another 4 years

England's Paul Ince shed tears of sorrow following England's elimination from World

Cup contention in the second round of the competition versus Argentina. The loss came

after 90 minutes of regulation play and 30 minutes of Golden Goal extra-time in the

deciding penalty shoot-out, which Argentina won 4:3. England played all of the second

half and extra time one man short after its young star player David Beckham was sent-

off for a hard tackle. The two teams were tied 2-2 at the end of extra-time.

Sweet for some, bitter for others

French player Henry and goalkeeper Barthez embrace immediately

following a final penalty miss by Italy's DiBiagio (on the ground). in

Stade de France. DiBiagio's crossbar shot sent the host country

France to the semifinals of the World Cup, to play the downsized

Croatians.

Croatian underdogs upset Germans, advance to semifinals

In the last quarterfinal match between Germany and Croatia, all odds were pointing at Germany to advance to the semifinals to face the host team, France. This scenario was far from reality as the rookie Croatian team looked strong from the opening whistle. However, the turning point came five minutes before the end of the first half, when German midfielder, Woerns was given a red card for a physical tackle. A fierce offense from the Croatian team give them a 1-0 lead at the end of the first half. With one man and one goal down, the Germans never recovered in the second half to end their World Cup dream with a 3-0 loss to Croatia. This unprecedented occurrence left the three-time Cup winners Germany heartbroken at the hands of Suker (left).

Berkamp: In the right place at the right time!!! The quarterfinal match between Holland and Argentina took place on July 4th. These two top-ranked teams went at it from the very start. It was an amazing match-up. Kluivert scored first for Holland to give them a lead only to last for 6 minutes, when Lopez scored an equalizer for Argentina. In the 77th minute, Holland were forced to play with 10 players after Numan got a red card. Holland defended bravely until Argentinean forward, Ortega was sent off for head-butting the Holland goalie two minutes from full time. Taking advantage of the 10 man opponents, Dennis Berkamp gets a pass in the penalty box, and with great skill, scores the winning goal in the 90 minute.

Zagreb celebrates historic achievement!!

Croatian forward Suker (9) became a World Cup Hall of Famer after winning the Golden Boot award for scoring 6 goals in 7 games. In the course of the competition Suker has been the man to watch in Croatia's win against Romania and its humiliation of the giants Germany. Suker concludes his scoring frenzy and Croatia's memorable debut with a winning goal to beat Holland 2-1 for the Bronze medal and third place in France 98.

 Ronaldo kisses a ball in practice, hoping it be the Cup!

Brazil practice in preparation for the World Cup final against hosts France. Cup-

holders Brazil made it to the finals for the fifth time, after defeating Holland in the

semifinals as a result of penalty kicks. (Left) The game's proclaimed best,

Ronaldo, in practice before the game everyone has been waiting for. Will Brazil

hang on, and win the World Cup for their fifth time, or will France win it for the

first time on their home turf ?

In the World Cup final, on July 12, the two best teams of this World Cup competition met in the final match to decide who leaves with the 18K golden trophy. With the home-crowd, France went into this game with the determination of a winning side. Brazil were fighting not only for a fifth title, but for their pride and football reputation. But the French proved to be too much to handle in this game. French midfielder, Zinedine Zidane (Zizou) scored two headers for France to give them a 2-0 lead over the cup-holders by the end of the first half. Although French defender Desailly was given the red card with 20 minutes left to play in the second half, the French team remained intact, their defense invincible. World Cup glory was secured when Emmanuel Petit scored the third and last goal of the game for France in the first minute of injury time, leaving the Brazilian side in total disarray. French fans celebrated the victory and Bastille Day (July 14) in the same week.

"This wasn't our day.......France was better," said the Brazil coach Mario Zagallo. This is France's first appearance in a World Cup final and the first time to win the trophy, and return it to Europe. Seen above are (L-R) Zidane, Desailly, and Blanc holding the Golden Cup! And France erupts in joy!! A great victory for a multiracial team. Les Bleus did it!

 

Millions of French fans crowded downtown Paris following the game

in celebration of the victory. (Above) French hero Zizou has his face

superimposed on the historic Arc de Triumphes. And what a triumph it was!

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