France-Croatia 1998

Day -45 WorldCup2018

Croatia were the surprise team of France '98. Spectacular in their quarterfinal win over Germany, they probably came into the semifinal against France with a feeling of nothing to lose. They had already performed way beyond their, and their fans', expectations. Lose and it would have been a fantastic run, win and they would extend their unexpected adventure.

When the France '98 top scorer, and Croatian legend, Davor Suker scored with a sublimely cool finish early in the second half it looked like the fairy-tale run was set to continue. But within a minute Croatia were let down by some shaky defending under pressure from a French defender, Lilian Thuram, who went on to equalize. In the 70th minute, Thuram did it again, forcing a Croatian defender to lose possession and scoring with a finish Suker would have been proud of.

Croatia went on to win the 3rd/4th place match with Suker scoring again, while France had their greatest ever football win a few days later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G32IEc2EQg

Croatia-Germany 1998

Day -46 WorldCup2018

In 1994 it was Bulgaria and at France '98 it was Croatia's turn to do to Germany what few seemed possible: make them seem like a normal human football team.

That Croatia would win their quarterfinal seemed unlikely. That they would steamroll over the Germans 3-0 was a beautiful World Cup moment of the new kids on the block, with no expectations, playing carefree football with no respect for the Germans' reputation.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DUDB-6eoQPI

Owen, Beckham and Bergkamp's gem

Day -47 WorldCup2018

We were in Cleveland today, watching baseball not football. I told my girls they are doing what I wish I did when I was their age: the travelling to different stadiums, not the baseball. But I am a convert now.

But I must carry on with France '98. One of the most memorable matches was England-Argentina in the second round. Young Michael Owen's solo-effort goal was spectacular, the back and forth over the 120 minutes was exhilarating, England's controversially disallowed goal was heartbreaking, David Beckham's red card was comical and sad, and in the end England's defeat on penalties was probably predictable.

That was one crazy night. But we have to move on. If Argentina hadn't won maybe we wouldn't have witnessed one of the great World Cup goals, Dennis Bergkamp's last minute beauty to win Holland's quarterfinal against Argentina. Cool, calm skill. Beckham who?

France-Paraguay 1998

Day -48 WorldCup2018

It was fun watching France '98 with a lot of French people. I believe it is researched human nature that we feel stronger about things like home and our country when we are away from them. So although being in France would have been a powerful experience, watching a World Cup held in France with French people who were stuck in the middle-of-nowhere Canada while this momentous occasion took place in their country was a unique experience.

France opened with comfortable 3-0 and 4-0 wins against South Africa and Saudi Arabia respectively. A 2-1 win over Denmark in their final group match meant they moved on to the second round with a perfect win record and confidence for the second round.

That's where they played Paraguay on a Sunday lunchtime, eastern Canada time. Waiters and chefs were seen to be disappearing into the hotel TV lounge while guests waited for their five star lunches.

Dessert was probably served with a lot more love after Laurent Blanc's extra time sudden death winner. There had been lots of French tension before that goal: waiters might have not set plates down perfectly with the food facing the right way, cocktails may have been missing an umbrella and tempers in the kitchen may have been boiling.

But when Blanc scored the first ever World Cup golden goal the world was instantly a better place. Springs were back in steps, smiles had returned and chefs were back in kitchens. There would be a lot more highs and lows to come but what if Blanc hadn't scored that goal and Paraguay had held out for penalties. The reputation of the fanciest French restaurant in Central Ontario might have taken a beating.

Spain-Nigeria 1998

Day -49 WorldCup2018

Romania and Bulgaria fit nicely into the "when they had a good football team" story with their World Cup performances in 1994, and in 1998 for Romania to a certain extent.

On the other hand Spain were not very good, for a very long time. Before the Euro win in 2008 and World Cup win in 2010 and their Euro win in 2012 they were the perennial underachievers. They had the talented players but could never get their act together.

France '98 was the perfect example. They were unbeaten in qualifying and had stars in their team who had just won the Champions League with Real Madrid.

But in their opening match they were beaten in a thriller by Nigeria and ended up going home in the first round. The same old story, but that match against the Nigerians was a bit of a classic, finished off with a cracking winner.

England-Colombia 1998

Day -50 WorldCup2018

Fifty days. 950 days later, here we are. Fifty days to go.

I'll be back with more France '98 tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a happy England moment. When England needed a win and David Beckham shared the limelight with Darren Anderton.

Romania-England 1998

Day -51 WorldCup2018

Moving on today to France 1998.

I'll start with a reminder of one of those teams that used to be quite good: Romania. While the surprise team of USA '94, Bulgaria, were back to their old ways of finishing bottom of their first round group with no wins, Romania carried on where they left off in 1994 (quarterfinals) by winning their group. Their first round results included a late winner against England, by Dan Petrescu.

They lost in the round of 16 to Croatia and haven't qualified for a World Cup since. But they were fun to watch at those two tournaments.