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 | You know, I am really sad about this. Not so much that Spain are out and along with them those glorious shirts. But because Spain COULD'VE won this game so easily (ok, in my very, very, very, bordering on slightly biased, humble opinion). All I'd asked for before the game started, was that Spain should play well and not give all us fans of theirs, reason to ask ourselves why we bothered. I hadn't actually expected them to beat France - but they COULD'VE and that's what hurts. :( |  |
 Zidane: excellent dribbling skills :)  Munitis had Lilian totally confused  Menieta pen: coolness personified
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I'm blaming Camacho again. I mean, what do you remember most from this game? Close your eyes and try to concentrate. Dugarry with that cotton wool stuck up his nose; looking for all the world like he always walked around like that?? Munitis making the mighty Thuram look like an amateur, with his splendid skills?? Perhaps ZZ's wonderful free-kick? Or Djorkaeff's whirly shot?? The stupid Basque separatist or whatever, who came onto the pitch during the anthems? Abelardo's comical fall in the penalty area, which "earned" Spain a lifeline? Paco demonstrating that he could be a good defender if only he played for Gillingham?? The look of misery on poor Raul's face after that dreadful miss? The shots of Raul at the end of the game, covering his face with his shirt to hide the tears?? La Marseillaise? (please no more!!) Nah! None of these will be the most overriding memory of this match in my tiny head. The sight of the brilliant Mendieta being substituted by the carthorse Urzaiz on 57 minutes (57 minutes!!) will. WHY??????????????? My stomach was gripped with foreboding (i.e. it churned a lot!) OK, Lizarazu had done a good job on him; he hadn't been so dangerous as in previous games - but he was still good. (And what if we went to penalties, I thought - couldn't help it). URZAIZ?? Why the hell Camacho selected him over Morientes is still a mystery to me - but bringing him on for Mendieta?? Man, have you lost your marbles?? Course, it lost Spain the match. Urzaiz bumbled around like he had an animal trap attached to his ankle. Raul, of course, would not have taken the penalty if Mendieta had still been on the pitch. Probably extra time would've ensued and a great chance for Spain to win, for they were by far the more hungry of the two teams. The fact that Urzaiz could himself have so easily taken us into extra time, had he not headed woefully over the bar, only proves my point further (doesn't it??) Anyway, I am deeply disappointed - although proud of the efforts the Spanish put in. To the World Cup! Olé!!!
 The French? I guess they'll go on to win it, but, frankly, who cares.
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Teams and things
SPAIN (4-4-2): 1 S Cañizares (Valencia) - 2 M Salgado (Real Madrid), 5 F Abelardo (Barcelona), 18 Paco (Real Zaragoza), 3 A Aranzábal (Real Sociedad) - 16 G Mendieta (Valencia; sub: 20 I Urzaiz, Athletic Bilbao, 57min), 4 J Guardiola (Barcelona), 7 I Helguera (Real Madrid; sub: 14 G López, Valencia, 77), 9 P Munitis (Racing Santander; sub: 17 J Exteberría, Athletic Bilbao, 73) - 10 Raúl (Real Madrid), 11 Alfonso (Real Betis). Substitutes not used: 13 I Casillas (Real Madrid), 22 F Molina (Atlético Madrid), 6 F Hierro (Real Madrid), 8 F González (Deportívo la Coruña), 12 S Barjuán (Barcelona), 15 V Engonga (Real Mallorca), 19 J Velasco (Celta Vigo), 21 J Valerón (Atlético Madrid). Booked: Alfonso, Guardiola, Salgado, Paco.
FRANCE (4-2-3-1): 16 F Barthez (Manchester United) - 15 L Thuram (Parma), 5 L Blanc (Internazionale), 8 M Desailly (Chelsea), 3 B Lizarazu (Bayern Munich) - 4 P Vieira (Arsenal), 7 D Deschamps (Chelsea) - 21 C Dugarry (Bordeaux; sub: 9 N Anelka, Real Madrid, 81), 10 Z Zidane (Juventus), 6 Y Djorkaeff (1FC Kaiserslautern) - 12 T Henry (Arsenal). Substitutes not used: 1 B Lama (Paris Saint-Germain), 22 U Rame (Bordeaux), 2 V Candela (Bayern Munich), 11 R Pires (Marseilles), 13 S Wiltord (Bordeaux), 14 J Micoud (Bordeaux), 17 E Petit (Arsenal), 18 F Leboeuf (Chelsea), 19 C Karembeu (Real Madrid), 20 D Trezeguet (AS Monaco).Booked: Deschamps.
Referee: P Collina (Italy).
WHY did he take you off??? |
Match report from the Official UEFA site
France win a thriller
The French, without Nicolas Anelka in attack, opted to use Thierry Henry as a lone striker with support from Youri Djorkaeff and Christophe Dugarry on the flanks. They had the opening chance after two minutes when Pedro Munitis was adjudged by Italian official Pierluigi Collina to have fouled Lilian Thuram on the edge of the penalty area. Zinedine Zidane delivered the ball but Patrick Vieira headed over. Spain began to see more of the possession, although the French maintained their grip on the early scoring opportunities. Henry stepped past half challenges from Michel Salgado, Gaizka Mendieta and Iván Helguera before shooting from 16 metres, but his effort never threatened the target. Then, on the quarter hour, Didier Deschamps turned Josep Guardiola deep inside the Spanish half to cross for Dugarry, but the striker's brave header was over the bar.
Chances at both ends
Fabien Barthez was soon required to deny the Spanish as he punched Guardiola's free-kick over from virtually under the crossbar in the 17th minute. At the other end, Dugarry threaded a pass through to Djorkaeff, who returned the compliment, but Dugarry's shot from 16 metres went straight at Cañizares. Then in the 21st minute, Alfonso Pérez's pass found Raúl González, who noticed Barthez had advanced to the edge of the five-metre box and attempted an audacious lob, only to see Barthez retreat far enough to be able to palm the ball over. From the resulting short corner, Spain had penalty claims waved when Guardiola's attempted cross appeared to strike the elbow of Zidane.
Zidane opens the scoring
Zidane was then presented with a great chance to open the scoring when he ghosted into the penalty area unchallenged to meet Dugarry's low pass only to mis-kick. He atoned in the 32nd minute when he fired right-footed into the top corner of the Spanish net after Agustín Aranzabal had fouled Djorkaeff. Spain levelled from the penalty spot through Mendieta in the 38th minute after Thuram took Munitis' legs away. But further goal action followed one minute before the break after a superb run from Vieira was capped with an even better finish from Djorkaeff, who rifled the ball past Santiago Cañizares from ten metres.
Explosive stuff
Alfonso stretched for Munitis' cross in the first minute of the second period and Barthez was down quick to gather. The French then held the Spanish at bay until midway through the half, when Vieira headed Guardiola's free-kick behind. A goalmouth scramble ensued from the corner before the ball was cleared. Guardiola had a stinging 25-metre volley deflected behind by Marcel Desailly, Salgado did likewise at the other end to deny Vieira, and Djorkaeff had a 30-metre free-kick palmed around the post before the game exploded in the final minutes. Barthez was adjudged to have hauled down Abelardo Fernández and as the referee pointed to the spot, it looked as if the player who had won Spain a penalty against Yugoslavia to set up their qualification, had kept alive their hopes. But Mendieta, who scored that penalty, had been substituted, and Raúl stepped up only to miss. There was still enough time for Spain to carve out another scoring chance, but substitute Ismael Urzaiz's header was over the crossbar as France held on for a worthy win.
