The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 153

-yimntfiryftTii-yrifWy i C8 MONDAY, JULY 13, 1998 LOS ANGELES TIMES Soul of French Team Finds Rare Air IrD World Cup: Two headers by Zidane are too good for anyone to stop his dream. 2 IF1 WCVrVf.TO VTT'' 1 I tTVKT DAILY REPORT I -ri I ,3 'I Associated Pres Brazil 4l Chile" ll June 27 a Paris 1 Brart 3l 1111 11 Denmark" 2 1 jV' Nigeria 1 Any 3 June 28 fi BraiH li .1 Netherlands 2 I Mr 7 i rugose i fjSHS 1 'i June29 Netherlands 2 4 "1 Argentina l7 VS f-, Argentina 2'M UmiIi Third place England 2 semifinal Iota )une30 Netherlands 1 Brad 0 faht-EUwne Croatia 2 Franca 3 July 11 Juryl2 VjjWoildCyp Italy 1 "ana I lelatJsajs 'J 'y 1 June 27 I A Mmae Italy I Franca oi Franca 1 t1 July3 Paraguay 0 f-' I E28 Fnc2 I rnewortda I Croatia 1 1 Cup Trophy Jr. Germany 2 Mexico 1 ft wmmmmmJl 'June 29 Germany Oil MwrrpaWer Croatia 3 7 vlZi July 4 Croatia 1 rS Lyon I In the crowd in front of Brazil's nets, France midfielder Zlnedine Zidane (10) directs header into goal. By HELENE ELLIOTT TIMES STAFF WRITER SAINT-DENIS. France-Zine-dine Zidane had called France's World Cup matchup with Brazil on Sunday "the final of an entire people," and it was exactly that But it was a final not only of all the people, but for all the people.

It was for those who waited decades for France to claim supremacy as well as for those Jean-and Jeanne-come latelies who waited for their team to win before they became football converts. It was for the historians, who will note France's 3-0 victory made it only the seventh nation to claim the World Cup trophy, after Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England and Argentina. They also will note France inflicted the worst loss Brazil has absorbed in World Cup or qualifying play. It was one for the crowd of 80,000 at the Stade de France, which drowned out the Brazilian samba with spontaneous and affecting choruses of the French anthem, "La Marseillaise." Most of all, it was for every kid like Zidane, the Algerian night-watchman's son who began playing soccer in the streets near his home in Castellane, a rough area north of Marseille. Zidane grew up to live his dream and by scoring two goals with his head off corner kicks Sunday, he fulfilled the hopes of a joyfully united nation.

"I wanted to score a goal in this World Cup, and I got two. It's amazing," said Zidane, who missed France's final first-round match and its round-of-16 game against Paraguay because of a two-game suspension for a rough tackle. "In the final, too, and with my head, of all things." Zidane, the elegant midfielder who is the soul of the French team and might be the world's top player at his position, isn't known for using his head to score. He's more likely to use it to make clever passes that enable teammates to score. But with the French forwards unable to score since the second game of the first round, someone had to provide some offense.

"My teammates asked me to score goals. It's not my specialty, but I did it," he said. "I badly wanted to score at least one goal in this World Cup, and I only had the final left to do it It's incredible. There are no words." As the crowd chanted his nickname, "Zizou," he led a team that four years ago didn't qualify for the finals to its first triumph in the final. His strength of will helped propel France past a Brazilian team that was more experienced and might have had more individual talent "Zinedine Zidane brought us the light with two magnificent goals scored on headers," Coach Aime Jacquet said.

"Who would have thought that? But we have seen things in football I never expected. That's what makes this such a wonderful game." Zidane scored his first goal in the 27th minute. Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos failed to keep the ball in on the far side, setting up a corner kick by ponytailed French midfielder Emmanuel Petit. His left-footed kick curved toward Zidane, who was about seven yards away from the net when he outjumped Brazil's Leonardo to head the ball past Brazilian goalkeeper Taffarel. His second goal, in the 46th minute, resulted from a similar setup.

This time, Youri Djorkaeff took the corner that found Zidane's head almost like a magnet "I'm not very good with my head," said Zidane, who is 6 feet 1 but isn't a great leaper. "But I went for the near post on the corner from Emmanuel. I got there and the ball came and I headed it right in for once. "We played a great first half, and after we got a goal, it seemed easier. We held up well and never gave away a thing.

The score might have made the match look easy, but it was very tough. If they had gotten a goal back, Brazil would really have made us suffer at the end." Brazil never got that goal. Instead, Petit added to the lead, leaving Zidane and his teammates head and shoulders above the field. "It's fabulous, to score two goals in the final," said Zidane, who was on the losing side in the three previous championship matches he played with his club team, Juven-tus. "There's nothing better.

We're world champions." I June 30 'Argentina won on penalty kicks, 4-3 'France won on penalty kicks, 43 Brazil won on penalty kicks, 42 All times Pacific. Spotlight I 3 CUP find Jacquet Knows You Can't Top This Although French Coach Alma Jacquet has said he plans to retire after the World Cup, several of his players got together over the weekend and asked him to stay. Laurent Blanc, Marcel Deiallly, Dldler Deachampt and Yourl DJorkaeff Informally met to decide whether they will ask him to reconsider his decision. "The World Cup marks the end of an extraordinary adventure," Deschamps said. "I don't know what the decisions will be.

But we would like to continue with the same group and the same men. We have attained our objectives. It's necessary to respect each person's choice, including the coach's. But we talked among ourselves. Why shouldn't he continue?" However, Jacquet appears firm in his decision.

"I have devoted myself to French football since 1994. 1 long ago announced that I would retire," he said Saturday. "The objective was met." -HELENE ELLIOTT Qj France IV) Brazil 3 0 SCORING SUMMARY The 1998 World Cup was no sooner over than British bookmakers were quoting odds on the JapanSouth Korea 2002 tournament. Oddly enough, Brazil is the 5-1 favorite, with France at 10-1. Winning, it seems, does not translate into respect with the wagering set -GRAHAMEL.

JONES It 1 ill -4" Brazil 0 00 France 2 1 3 Flrat-half tearing 1, France, Zidane 1, 27th minute. 2, France, Zidane 2. 46th minute. Second-half acoring 3. France, Petit 2, 92nd minute.

Strata Brazil 12, France 14. Shot! on goal Brazil 6, France 5. Offsides Brazil 5, France 3. Foula Brazil 15, France 13. Yellow tarda Brazil, Junior Baiano, 34th; France, Deschamps, 38thi Desailly, 47th; Karembeu, 55th: Desailly, 68th.

Rod earda France, Desailly, 68th. Referea Belqola, Morocco. Llnes-men-Salie, South Africat Warren, England. Attendance 75,000. LINEUPS BrazH Claudio Taffarel; Cafu, Aldair, Junior Baiano, Roberto Carlos; Leonardo (Denilson, 46th), Cesar Sampaio Edmundo, 74th), Dunga, Rivaldo; Ronaldo, Bebeto.

Franca Fabien Barthez; Lilian Thur-am; Frank Leboeuf. Marcel Desailly, Bixente Lizarazu; Christian Karembeu (Alain Boghossian, 57th). Didier Deschamps, Zinedine Zidane, Emmanuel Petit; Youri Djorkaeff (Patrick Vieira. 76th), Stephane Guivarc'h (Christophe Dugarry, 65th). Zlnedlne Zldane comes from just north of Marseille, where the celebrations got quite lively.

No fewer than 60,000 people watched the match on a giant screen at the Prado beach, and several fans dived fully clothed into the city's harbor. -GRAHAMEL JONES The French Culture Ministry's plan to drape a giant banner over the Eiffel Tower honoring the French team was dropped. A certain athletic goods company wanted its logo on the banner but was told that wouldn't be possible and so instead put the banner on another building on the Champs-Elysees. HELENE ELLIOTT Before the final, Croatia Coach Mlroalav Blazevlc threw his support behind France. "We were very touched by the warm reception we were given by the Jrencn during tne tournament, ne said, we love France and I guarantee you that for the final against Brazil, my entire team will give a thumbs up for France." -HELENE ELLIOTT 1930 Uwguay 4, Argentina 2 1934 Italy 2, ftechosiovaKia 1, 0T 1954 West Germany 3, Hungary 2 1958 Brad 5, Sweden 2 1962 Brad 3, tochoslovakla I 1 966 England 4, West Germany 2, 0T Croatian defender Slaven Blllc, booed throughout the third-place match for embellishing an incident in the semifinals that got French defender Laurent Blanc suspended for Sunday's final, still thinks Blanc's Continued from CI during the 90 minutes.

Zinedine Zidane, the balding inspirational midfield genius of the French team, delivered the telling blows with two headed goals in the first half, each from corner kicks. Emmanuel Petit's goal in the game's fading minutes was merely the coup de grace. The victory unexpected but deliriously received-sent hundreds of thousands of Parisians into the streets well into the early morning hours in a flag-waving, horn-honking, whistle-blowing frenzy of celebration. Not since the twin triumphs of 1984, when France won both the European Championship at home and the Olympic gold medal in Los Angeles, has soccer sparked such scenes in the nation's capital. The scenes at the stadium were equally memorable.

A quick set of postcards from the final World Cup game of the century would have to include these imagesi Zidane leaping to reach Petit's right-wing corner kick in the 27th minute, shrugging off the defensive efforts of Leonardo and powering a downward header into the lower right corner of the net Zidane repeating the feat during injury time at the end of the half, this time running to meet a corner kick by Youri Djorkaeff from the left wing and again sending a header crashing into the Brazilian net Ronaldo, the two-time world player of the year, limping about totally ineffectively for the entire match. Zagallo said afterward that Ronaldo was unfit i to play, but gave no explanation why the forward had been in the lineup. Or why he was not substituted. In an astonishing written release to the media minutes before the start, Brazil said Ronaldo had spent i the afternoon at a hospital. "Ronaldo went to the hospital for a test on his left ankle before coming to the stadium," the release stated.

"He had not trained fully for two days. The Brazilian team doctors gave Ronaldo clearance to play 45 minutes before kickoff, when he arrived at the stadium after the rest of the Brazilian team." More, much more, will be heard about this fiasco. Marcel Desailly, the rock upon which the French defense is built, getting his second yellow card in the 68th minute for a hard tackle on Cafu and therefore being sent off, leaving France to play the final 22 minute short-handed. Petit sprinting to reach a ball from teammate Bixente Lizarazu ahead of defender Cafu in injury time at the end of the game and sliding a shot inside the right post to make it 3-0, tying the largest margin of victory in a World Cup final. Didier Deschamps, the French captain in the absence of suspended Laurent Blanc, lifting the World Cup into the night sky in a moment France has waited 70 years to see.

Dunga, the Brazilian captain and the man who held the World Cup aloft at the Rose Bowl four years ago, trudging disconsolately off the field after the final whistle of his final game. Michel Platini, perhaps the greatest French player of all time and the co-chairman of this World Cup, beaming from the stands, delighted that France had finally achieved what he had so narrowly failed to accomplish while reaching the semifinals in 1982 and 1986. France's Christian Karembeu and Brazil's Roberto Carlos, teammates at Real Madrid in Spain, exchanging jerseys and hugs in a moment of sportsmanship. France's coach, Aime Jacquet, criticized unmercifully by press and public for four years, carried off the field shoulder high, all his beliefs vindicated in the best possible way. Zidane, running into the locker room with the gold World Cup trophy clutched to his chest The green and yellow checkered banner unfurled by dejected Brazilian fans after the game that read simply: "Merci Beaucoup, France." Zagallo, his face red with anger, finger pointing and furious, engaging in a shouting match with a Brazilian journalist in the postgame interview room.

Earlier, Zagallo had been a lot calmer. "France played a brilliant game," he said. "The punishment fit the crime. "I wanted to tell Blanc that I was sorry he was going to miss the final, but I still think he deserved to get sent off," Bilic said. "I'm not a bad Anociatcd Press 1970 Branl 4.

Italy I person, and I know that deep down I'm an honest man. That's what counts most. And after all, I couldn care less. -HELENE ELLIOTT 1974 West Germany 2, Netherlands I 1978 Argentina 3, Netherlands 1, 0T 1982 Italy 3, West Germany I 1 986 Argentina 3, West Germany 2 1990 West Germany Argentina 0 1994 BrafllO, Italy O.Brafllwon 32 on PK NOTES Fashionable Start to the Festivities How the host country hat raw The final game started after a most-French preliminary a fashion show. Some 300 models from around the world paraded about the stadium in a representation of 40 years of work by designer Yves Saint Laurent, whose fashion house was a sponsor of the World Cup.

The field was covered with blue fabric as the models strutted about to Ravel's "Bolero." To protect the field, they wore flats, not high heels. 1930 Uruguay, won tournament 1934 Italy, won tournament 1938 France, eighth place a I950-Bnj2, second place 1954 Switzerland, firth place a 1958 Sweden, second place 1962 Chile. tNrd placa 1966 England, won tournament a 1970 Mexico, sixth place a 1974 Germany, won tournament a 1978 Argentina, won tournament a 1982-Spam, 12th place a 1986 Mexico, sixth place 1990 Italy, third placa a 1994-United States, 16th place a 1998 France, won tournament Brazil's Bebeto (20) tries to console 21 -year-old Ronaldo, who didn't play like his usual self. whole country was behind the team. For us, it will have to be another time, unfortunately.

I would have liked to have given Brazil a fifth World Cup. We did everything we could, but it wasn't our night" But whether Ronaldo was injured or ill or just was plain nervous is immaterial. This game and this night belonged to Zidane. During the partying which threatens to last through Bastille Day on Tuesday a large "Merci Zizou" message was flashed in lights across the Arc de Triomphe. "The Cup is ours," Zidane said.

"Nobody will take it away from us." Added Jacquet; "It's a fabulous dream. When I think about all we've gone through, all the work done by this team. A whole group of players has decided to make France happy. "I was so convinced of the path I was following, so convinced of my convictions. I said what I was going to do and I did it." The French victory was thoroughly deserved.

France had the best defense in the tournament and, ultimately, the most heart. "We knew that if we managed to score one goal they would not come back," Lizarazu said. Said Petit; "The win hasn't sunk in, but with time when I think back it will remain as the most beautiful moment of my life." Not so for the Brazilians. "It's magic for them and they deserved it," said Leonardo. "It's not easy for us because we always have to win and we are not used to losing.

Now we must learn from this defeat." France President Jacquea Chirac wore a scarf in the royal blue of the Kronen team as he watched the historic victory. "We are all so happy, that's the least we can say," Chirac said, "What is the most incredible thing tonight is that we have an impression each and every French citizen has won this cup." Brazil's President, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, tried to take the defeat which was the country's worst in World Cud historv in i laliii-! i stride. "We still had the best football of the century, since we were four-time champions, Cardoso said. French midfielder Emmanuel Petlt'a goal in the last minute of the Goal scorers In the 1998 World Cup: (penalty kick goals In parentheses): a SIX; Payor SuKer, Croatia (1) a FIVE: Christian Viert, Gabriel Batistuta, Argentina (2) a FOUR: tuis Hernandez, Mexico; Ronaldo, Brazil 1 Mareelo Salas, Chile a THREE: Bebeto, Brazil; Dennis Bergkamp, Netherlands; Oliver Blerhoft, Germany; Cesar Sampaio, Brajll; Thierry Henry, France; Jurgen Kllnsmann, Germany; Rivaldo, Brazil game was the 171st scored in the tournament, leaving France '1 with an average of 2.67 goals per game. That is just slightly down from the 2.71 average at USA '94.

From Staff and Wire Reports.