Spain V Nigeria 2-3
A DOMINANT build up to the tournament saw Spain
lose just once in 33 games, making them a highly
fancied nation to take the title. Given this record
and Nigeria’s 3 defeats on the bounce prior to the
tournament, including a 4-0 loss to Yugoslavia,
expectations were of an easy victory for Spain.
But, at the World Cup, expectations go out of the
window.
The match began as expected, with Spain in the
ascendancy, with Raul coming close inside 20 seconds
from Fernando Hierro’s long pass. He struck 4 minutes
later following Albert Ferrer’s cross, before, after
20 minutes, Hierro’s free kick finally gave Spain
the lead.
This, however, would be short-lived. 5 minutes
later woeful marking by Kiko, and a poor attempt
by Ferrer to clear on the goal line let in Mutiu
Adepoju to score with a near post header. As the
match progressed both Zubizarreta in the Spanish
goal, and Raul began to suffer, having poor games,
with Raul becoming increasingly isolated, as Nigeria’s
Jay-Jay Okocha began to boss the midfield with his
vast array of tricks.
The match became more interesting a minute after
the re-start when a great goal by Raul, allowing
Hierro’s long pass to drop over his shoulder before
firing in a first-time volley, with the inside of
his left-foot, beyond Rufai from 10-yards.
Again everyone expected Spain to go on from this
and wrap up a comfortable win, but Nigeria had other
ideas. After 72 minutes, Yekini’s pass coupled with
an error by Zubizarreta, leaving space at his near
post, allowed Lawal to cross, with the Spanish keeper
spilling the ball into the net to make it 2-2.
Nigeria bagged a winner five minutes later when
a long-throw into the Spanish box was cleared, it
fell to Sunday Oliseh’s 25 yards. The midfielder
hit a stunning first-time volley with the outside
of his right-boot, past an agonised Zubizarreta.
The goal gave Nigeria a deserved victory in a match
they dominated for long spells and helped them into
the knockout phase, whilst the defeat helped send
Spain, one the fancied nations before the tournament
began, out in the group phase.
Holland V Argentina 2-1 Quarter Final
Argentina secured their quarterfinal match with
a controversial penalties victory over England,
who had David Beckham sent off, and a late Sol Campbell
goal disallowed. Holland won an excellent match
against Yugoslavia to progress. Both sides went
into the tournament highly fancied and both had
been in excellent form, there were no favourites
here.
Patrick Kluivert gave the Dutch the lead in the
12th minute following a breathtakingly incisive
flicked header on the edge of the box, a quick piece
of thinking that suggested this could be his day.
Argentina equalised 5 minutes later when Claudio
Lopez slipped the ball past Edwin Van Der Sar from
a few yards, setting the match up for a showdown
between the skill of the South American’s and the
sophistication of the Europeans
In the second half, chances were harder to come
by and it was the disappointing Gabriel Batistuta
who had the best chance, lashing a shot against
the post. It took two moments of controversy to
settle the score. Diego Simone, whose ability to
incite David Beckham helped put England out the
competition, was the catalyst for another red card
when Arthur Numan clattered into him. Numan’s challenge
was reckless, but Simone certainly didn’t miss the
opportunity to go through more rolls than a repertory
junior.
For the next ten minutes Argentina seemed the
more likely winners but then Ariel Ortega dived
over Jaap Stam’s out stretched leg. Van Der Sar
confronted Ortega, who responded by leaping up so
that his head collided with the Dutchman’s chin,
resulting in him being sent off.
Then came a moment of genius that is still talked
about today, 8 years later. Dennis Bergkamp latched
onto Frank De Boer’s sixty-yard ball, he controlled
the ball and beat Roberto Ayala before flicking
it up and volleying it past Carlos Roa, three divine
touches. Holland secured a 2-1 win setting up a
mouth-watering semi-final match against World cup
holders, Brazil.
Germany V Croatia 0-3
One of the oldest sayings in World Cup history
is ‘Never write off the Germans’ or 40 minutes in
this match that statement was holding true, come,
Germany were playing very efficiently and incisively.
Many had regarded the opening 40 minutes as Germanys
best play in the tournament, and it was difficult
to see Croatia stepping up the necessary gear in
the second half.
Then, to everyone’s surprise, Croatia took the
lead from a Robert Jarni goal during injury time
in the first half, with a low 20-yard drive, and
despite Oliver Bierhoff’s best efforts, the Germans
couldn’t find an equaliser. However, Croats will
always remember Drazen Ladic’s 54th minute point
black save from Bierhoff. Two late goals secured
the victory for Croatia, they came from Goran Vlaovic
and Davor Suker. It was this 3-0 defeat by Crotaia
that signalled the demise of the current German
squad as a world force, two years later on the Germans
bowed out of the European Championships losing all
their first round matches. This Croatian victory
meant that they were to face the hosts France in
the Semi- Finals.
Brazil V Chile 4-1
The Brazilians were always going to be favourites
for this encounter, however they were coming off
on the back of a 2-1 defeat by Norway few days prior
to this match. Brazil had already sealed victory
by the half time interval thanks to Sampaio finding
the back of the net twice and Ronaldo scoring a
penalty. Ronaldo could have added a fourth for Brazil
and his second during the middle of the second half,
however the woodwork prevented the ball from going
in the net. He finally scored his second in the
70th minute of the match and he might have scored
a hat-trick, only the woodwork prevented him from
scoring again. Despite Chile giving the match their
best efforts, the Brazilians skill and pace were
too difficult to overcome, and that led to the convincing
victory they acquired. The game was nearly as good
as the 1962 encounter between both these sides.
However, the result in that match was 4-2 to Brazil.
In this match Brazil beat Chile 4-1, now they were
to face Denmark in the quarter finals.
Brazil V Denmark 3-2
The winner of this match was to face the winners
of the quarter final between Holland and Argentina,
so there was everything to play for here.
Denmark took the lead just after 90 seconds from
start of play, it came from a pass from the retiring
Danish great Michael Laudrup who squared the ball
into the area for Jorgensen to slot it past Brazilian
goalkeeper Taffarel. It only took Brazil around
10 minutes to find the equaliser, it all came from
a precise pass from Ronaldo and Bebeto met the pass
to drive the ball into the net to put the Brazilians
on level terms. Just before the half hour mark,
the Brazilians took the lead, the goal once again
came from another precise pass from Ronaldo to Rivaldo
who then chipped the ball of Danish keeper Peter
Schmeichel to put the Brazilians 2-1 in front and
place them in control of the match.
Denmark almost equalised in the 36th minute from
a shot by Muller, however Taffarel saved the ball
from going in the back of the net. Right after the
half time break, the Danish international, Stig
Tofting blasted a shot wide off the goal. A few
minutes later, Denamrk equalised, Brain Laudrup
capitalised a Roberto Carlos mistake and smashed
the ball onto the roof of the net, to make the game
all square.
On the hour mark Brazil went ahead again thanks
to a Rivaldo goal which all stemmed from a pass
by Brazilian defender Dunga. After that Brazil had
total control of the match and could have added
to their 3-2 victory, however they failed to score
anymore goals and the scoreline remained the same.
This was only Denmark’s second world cup, in the
last world cup the appeared in, they reached the
second round, after there amazing performance in
the group stages of the World cup in Mexico in 1986.
France V Brazil 3-0
The 1998 World Cup Final was effectively settled
by one man, Zinedine Zidane. His two first half
headed goals, both coming from corners, put the
match a stride beyond Brazil. This was a great match
and was completely spectacle as well, giving us
a team performance of the highest order backed by
thrillingly partisan support from the French fans.
There was confusion prior to the start of the match
as to whether Ronaldo was going to start for Brazil,
he wasn’t on the teamsheet and then 45 minutes before
the match his name was on the team sheet. However,
he had a poor match and the French exploited on
his poor performance. Emmanuel Petit sealed victory
for the French during injury time. France won this
classic encounter 3-0. Didier Deschamps lifted France’s
first World Cup. The French were now a force to
be reckoned with in international football.
Brazil V Holland 1-1 (4-2 Penalties)
This was the most eagerly awaited match of the
tournament with both teams spending the opening
45 minutes of the match stalking each other. The
Dutch had the edge during the first half, with a
header from Patrick Kluivert and a shot from Dennis
Bergkamp, however both opportunities went wide.
The Brazilians looked like a collection of brilliant
individuals with amazing skill, but not a team.
After only twenty seconds into the second half
Ronaldo brought the match to life, and scored a
goal to put the Brazilians ahead. The Dutch, however,
responded well, Edgar Davids was at the heart of
things while Kluivert was the main threat up front
for Holland with a few headers and shots. The Europeans
deserved their equaliser, though as the final whistle
loomed it seemed they were to be denied. However
with three minutes to go Ronald de Boer delivered
an accurate cross from the right and Kluivert’s
classical downward header found the back of the
net. The Dutch then went on to have the better chances
during extra time, they had the better of the possession
and had more of the openings.
The score remained level by the end of the extra
period and it went onto penalties. Ronaldo, Rivaldo,
Emerson and Dunga all converted their penalties
into the back of the net for Brazil. However, Cocu
and Ronald De Boer both missed their penalty kicks
which meant Holland were knocked out of the World
Cup at the hands of the Brazilians and would have
to settle for a third-place playoff against surprise
packages Croatia.