FRANCE 98 – Jean Vincent recalls the first ever France-Paraguay World Cup match

In 1958, Jean Vincent played in the first ever FRANCE-PARAGUAY World Cup match, in Sweden. A few days before the two countries meet for the second time, in the second round of this World Cup, Vincent recalled that match: “at the time, we were considered as tourists, as we had not played very well in our preparation games. This opinion seemed justified when, 20 minutes into the match, PARAGUAY lead us 1-0. The pressure was on. We reacted collectively and fought to impose our game”. At the 84^th minute France was leading 6-3 and Vincent decided to “join the party”. He continued: “in the second half I wanted to play a bigger part in the attack, given that the game was in the bag. I received a centre cross pass back from Raymond Kopa and struck immediately with my left foot. Mayaregger, their goalkeeper, read it wrong. It will be difficult for France to score that many goals this time, even if this World Cup has seen some high-scoring games. If there is one player in today’s French team who resembles me, it would have to be Robert PIRES (11). We have the same style of game – like him I could play just as well in the midfield as on the flanks. If he scores I’ll be the happiest supporter in the world.”