Top row, left to right: Zinedine Zidane, Marcel Desailly, Frank Leboeuf,
Lilian Thuram, Stéphane Guivarc'h, Emmanuel Petit.
Bottom row, left to right: Christian Karembeu, Youri Djorkaeff,
Didier Deschamps, Fabien Barthez, Bixente Lizarazu.
Thierry Henry did not play in the Final.
July 12, 1998: The World Cup Final is held, at the new Stade de France, in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. The host nation takes on defending Champions Brazil.
France had hosted the World Cup once before, in 1938, and reached the Quarterfinals. They reached the Semifinals in 1958, and did it again in 1982, with a team that many had thought would win. They won Euro 84, and reached the World Cup Semifinals again in 1986. But they failed qualify in 1990 and 1994.
The French team, known as Les Bleus for their blue shirts, had never shied away from using players who were citizens of France but not ethnically French. Their 1938 team featured Abdelkader Ben Bouali of Algeria; Frenchmen of Italian descent in Julien Darui, Laurent Di Lorto and Mario Zatelli; Jules Vandooren, of Dutch descent; Oscar Heisserer, of German descent; Ignace Kowalczyk and Martin Povolny, of Polish descent; and Hector Cazenave, born in Uruguay to French parents.
Their 1958 team was led by Raymond Kopa, a son of Polish immigrants; and also featured another Polish Frenchman, Maryan Wisniewski; Dominique Colonna, Bernard Chiarelli and Roger Piantoni, of Italian descent; Raymond Kaelbel, of German descent; Kazimir Hnatow, of Ukrainian descent.
The team that won Euro 84 was led by Michel Platini, of Italian descent. And their best player in between 1984 and 1998, but not on either team, was Eric Cantona, with a mother from Spain's Catalonia region and a father from Italy's island of Sardinia.
The 1998 team, managed by Aimé Jacquet, was alliteratively described, in a mixture of French and English, as "Blanc, black, beur." "Blanc" meaning white, and "beur" was a term, usually now considered a slur, meaning someone born in France, but with his ancestry coming from the Maghreb, the former French colonies of North Africa? Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
Some on the far right, including the fascist Le Pen family of politicians, treated the black and beur players, and even the "blanc" players whose ancestry wasn't fully French, as not fully French, flying in the face of the country's motto: Liberté, égalité, fraternité (Liberty, equality, brotherhood). Under French law, whether the Le Pens and their supporters like it or not, all people born in France, or in a French territory before it achieved independence, are considered citizens of France.
Here was the 1998 French squad:
"Blanc," of entirely French descent: Midfielder and team Captain Didier Deschamps, goalkeeper Fabien Alain Barthez (unusually among starting goalkeepers, chose a number other than 1, wearing 16 for clubs and country), defender Laurent Blanc, forward Stéphane Guivarc'h, midfielder Emmanuel Petit, defender Frank Leboeuf, forward Christophe Dugarry, and 3rd-string goalkeeper Lionel Charbonnier.
"Blanc," but of other descent: Defender Vincent Candela, Italian; defender Bixente Lizarazu, Basque descent; midfielder Youri Djorkaeff, half-Polish, half-Armenian; midfielder Robert Pires, half-Portuguese, half-Spanish; midfielder Alain Boghossian, Armenian; David Trezeguet, born in France as the son of an Argentine playing his club football there, and grew up in Argentina, but exercised his right to play for France.
"Black": Midfielder Patrick Vieira, from Senegal in Africa, but entitled to play for France through his parents, as Senegal was a French colony; defender Marcel Desailly, born in Ghana but entitled to play for France through his adoptive father; forward Thierry Henry, born outside Paris, but his parents were from the Caribbean, his father from Guadeloupe and his mother from Martinique; midfielder Bernard Diomède, born in France to Guadeloupean parents; defender Lilian Thuram, born in Guadeloupe but grew up in France; and backup goalkeeper Bernard Lama, born in Central France but grew up in French Guiana, in South America.
"Beur": Midfielder Zinedine Zidane was the only one, but was already recognized as one of the best players in the world.
And one player who didn't fit any of these categories: Christian Karembeu, who came from the "overseas department" of New Caledonia, off the coast of Australia, and was therefore Polynesian.
Club-wise:
* The 1990 and 1992 French league-winning Olympique de Marseille had Deschamps. When they won the Champions League in 1993, they had Deschamp, Desailly and Barthez.
* The 1994 French league-winning Paris Saint-Germain had Lama.
* Juventus, when they won the Italian league in 1995, and the UEFA Champions League in 1996, had Deschamps. When they won the Italian league in 1997 and 1998, they had Deschamps and Zidane.
* The 1995 French league-winning Nantes had Karembeu. So did the Real Madrid team that won the Champions League in 1998.
* The 1996 French league-winning Auxerre had Blanc, Guivarc'h and Diomède.
* The 1996 Italian league-winning AC Milan had Viera.
* The 1997 French league-winning AS Monaco had Henry, Trezeguet, Petit and Barthez.
* The 1998 English Double-winning Arsenal had Vieira and Petit.
So France certainly had a talented team. But the games still had to be played. Of course, they would be played on home soil. They beat South Africa, 3-0 at Marseille; Saudi Arabia, 4-0 at Saint-Denis; and Denmark, 2-1 at Lyon. France and Argentina were the only teams in the tournament to get through the Group Stage with wins in all 3 games.
The U.S. team, encouraged by reaching the knockout stage in 1994, completely flopped. They lost 2-0 to Germany in Paris, and 1-0 to Yugoslavia (at this point, reduced to Serbia and Montenegro) in Nantes, both understandable defeats. But their 2-1 loss to Iran in Lyon was inexcusable defeat.
In the Round of 16, France needed extra time, until Blanc scored in the 114th minute to beat Paraguay, 1-0 at Lens. Also in that round was England losing on penalties, as so often happens, this time to Argentina in Saint-Étienne. Argentina ran out of luck in the Quarterfinal, as Arsenal star Dennis Bergkamp scored in the 90th minute, and the Netherlands beat them, 2-1 in Marseille. France played Italy at Saint-Denis, and it went to penalties, after 120 minutes of no scoring. France won the penalty round, 4-3.
The Semifinals were set up with interesting stories. France played Croatia at Saint-Denis. Croatia having gotten this far was a very big deal: Not only was it as far as its former parent country, Yugoslavia, had ever gotten, but it was the first time a postwar, post-Yugoslavia country had gotten that far. Just after the 2nd half started, Davor Šuker scored for Croatia, but Thuram scored right after that, and scored later in the game -- a defender with 2 goals -- to put France in the Final.
The other Semifinal saw defending Champions Brazil, masters of "samba football," against the Netherlands, inventors of "total football," Marseille. Ronaldo de Lima, usually referred to by only his first name, scored early in the 2nd half, and Patrick Kluivert equalized for the Dutch in the 87th minute. The game went to extra time, and then to penalties. Like England, the Netherlands are notorious for losing on penalties, and Brazil beat them, 4-2.
The Final would be the hosts against the defending Champions. It should have been the perfect matchup. But on the morning of the Final, Ronaldo, thus far having justified his label as the best player in the world, suffered a convulsive fit. When the starting lineups were released to the media, 72 minutes before the 9:00 PM kickoff (3:00 PM, U.S. East Coast time), his name was not included with Brazil's. John Motson, announcing the game for the BBC, said, "The scenes in the commentary box have been absolute mayhem and chaos."
Stade de France
And yet, right before kickoff, Ronaldo talked manager Mário Zagallo, who had played on their 1970 winners and managed their 1994 winners, into putting him into the starting XI.
Left to right: Ronaldo, Leonardo, Roberto Carlos,
Claudio Taffarel, Aldair, César Sampaio
I watched the game on ABC, and Jim McKay, who had broadcast so many sporting events for the network since the debut of Wide World of Sports in 1961, said the moment had come for which all of France had waited. No, not hosting the World Cup Final on home soil, but singing the National Anthem before the Final. No country does a National Anthem quite the way France does "La Marseillaise."
Ronaldo had nothing, and he even got hurt further in a collision with Barthez. Zagallo admitted that the fears over Ronaldo affected his team psychologically, and stated "for the whole of the first half, I was wondering whether to take him off," but feared a public outcry in Brazil had he done so.
So the star of the game would be a man with a shaved head, but not Ronaldo: It was Zidane. He scored in the 27th minute, and again in stoppage time in the 1st half. Brazil never recovered, despite Desailly receiving 2 yellow cards, resulting in his being sent off in the 68th minute. Guivarc'h nearly scored in the game's 1st minute, and just missed another shot in the 63rd. It could have been 5-0, but France had to settle for 3-0, when Arsenal men Vieira (on the assist) and Petit (on the goal) combined to score on the last kick of the game.
Zidane with the Jules Rimet Trophy
Over 1.5 million people poured into the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in downtown Paris, and photos of the players' faces were rotated in projections on the Arc de Triomphe. It was said to be the biggest celebration in Paris since the liberation from the Nazis on August 26, 1944. France were the Champions of the World, and had united the world within France.
Lizarazu played for Bayern Munich as they won the German league in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006, and the Champions League in 2001. Guivarc'h and Charbonnier played for Rangers when they won the Scottish league in 1999. Trezeguet and Barthez helped Monaco win the French league again in 2000. Karembeu helped Real Madrid win the Champions League again in 2000, and Olympiacos win the Greek league in 2002 and 2003. Candela went on to play for the AS Roma team that won the Italian league in 2001.
Vieira, Henry and Pires helped Arsenal win another Double in 2002, and an unbeaten League season in 2004, with Vieira as Captain and Henry leading the League in scoring. Vieira then helped Internazionale Milano win the Italian league in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Henry went on to help Barcelona win the Spanish league in 2009 and 2010, and the Champions League in 2009.
Zidane helped Real Madrid win the Champions League in 2002 and the Spanish league in 2003. Thuram and Trezeguet helped Juventus win the Italian league in 2002 and 2003. Barthez played for Manchester United when they won the Premier League in 2001. Their 2003 team had Barthez and Blanc.
France won the next major tournament, Euro 2000, with Trezeguet scoring a "golden goal" to beat Italy in extra time. After a dissension-ridden 2002 tournament that saw them crash out in the Group Stage, France regrouped, and, with Zidane as Captain, announcing that he would retire after the Final, they got back to the Final, against Italy.
But they lost it in controversial fashion, as Zidane was sent off in extra time for head-butting Italian defender Marco Materazzi, who had provoked him with racist remarks. Italy then won on penalties, with Materazzi available to take one and make it, and Zidane not available. That result left the team still admired by the whole country, but sparked anger at Zidane from the right.
In 2018, Deschamps managed France to win the World Cup, beating Croatia in the final in Moscow, Russia. He became only the 3rd man to both play on and manage a World Cup winner, joining Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer of Germany. He also got them into the 2022 World Cup Final, losing to Argentina in Lusail, Qatar. In both tournaments, Boghossian was one of his assistants. The 2022 squad included Marcus Thuram, son of another former teammate.
Brazil recovered from their 1998 defeat, and, in 2002, made their 3rd straight Final. This time, Ronaldo was fine, and scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Germany. He became not just one of the greatest players in world history, but one of the most popular. How popular was he? He managed to play for both Spanish giants, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid; and for both Milan teams, Inter and AC Milan -- and remains beloved by fans of all 4 teams.
He began his career with Belo Horizonte team Cruzeiro, and ended it with São Paulo team Corinthians. When people talk about the greatest players of all time, some of those too young to have seen him play call Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo the greatest ever. I have to remind them that Cristiano isn't even the greatest Ronaldo to have played for Real Madrid in the 21st Century.
In 2024, the Stade de France will be the main stadium for the Olympic Games. This means it will join the old Wembley Stadium in London and the Olympiastadions in Munich and Berlin, as 1 of 4 stadiums to have hosted an Olympic Games, a World Cup Final and a UEFA European Cup/Champions League Final.
*
July 12, 1998 was a Sunday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:
* The New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 9-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Yankees scored 7 runs in the top of the 9th inning. making a winning pitcher of Mike Stanton in relief of David Wells. Derek Jeter and Tino Martinez each went 2-for-5, with Derek having 2 RBIs and Tino having 4.
* The New York Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 5-2 at Shea Stadium.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 11-7 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4 with a walk.
* The Florida Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-3at Pro Player Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians, 11-6 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-3 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Mark Clark pitched a 3-hit shutout.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 6-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Mark McGwire hit 2 home runs, giving him 40 on the season. At the same time, Ken Griffey Jr. of the Mariners had 37, and Sammy Sosa of the Cubs had 35.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-3 at Coors Field in Denver. Barry Bonds hit his 19th home run of the season. As far as is now known, he wasn't yet using steroids.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-3 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.
* The San Diego Padres beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Tony Gwynn went 0-for-3 with a walk. Ken Caminiti had 3 home runs and 5 RBIs. He later admitted to using steroids.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 7-5 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum). Rickey Henderson went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.
* And the Anaheim Angels beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-5 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Ken Griffey Jr. went 2-for-3 with 2 walks.
The mention of steroids leads me to close on this note: While Zinedine Zidane played for Juventus and Real Madrid, 2 teams known for various forms of cheating, he is not known to have been a dirty player. Except, of course, for that last game, against Marco Materazzi.
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