FRANCE 98 – General Media News Template
Brazil clearly have the most feared strikers in the world, even without the genius of Romario-who starred for them as they won their fourth title in the USA four years ago. Romario and Ronaldo had been expected to form the most formidable attacking duo at the World Cup until coach Mario Zagallo announced on Tuesday that Romario had not recovered from a calf injury. Emerson, a 22-year-old midfielder who plays for German side Bayer Leverkusen has been called up into the squad to replace him. The traditional mighty nations of Italy, Germany and Argentina also have great strikers, but Brazil still have a surplus of talent even without Romario.
Bebeto, who partnered Romario in 1994, is not quite the player he was then, but nevertheless the dependable front man could form a reliable partnership with two-time world Player of the Year Ronaldo. Edmundo is another possibility if Zagallo can forgive him for their past disagreements. The Vasco da Gama striker shattered the Brazilian championship goalscoring record with 29 goals in 1997 but was abruptly dropped by Zagallo after striking an opponent last June. His wily silver-haired boss suggested he should seek psychiatric treatment. One of the most feared forwards on his day, Edmundo’s appearance on the pitch is evidently dependent on his form off it.
The 30-million-dollar Ronaldo is the undoubted best player in the world with remarkable skill, pace, vision, and an uncanny knack of winning freekicks in dangerous positions. He combines pace with strength to enable him to run straight at top-class defenders and bustle past them. His time at Barcelona and Inter Milan, with whom he won European trophies, has toughened him up yet further and made him a more mature player. FIFA’s directive that a red card be shown for tackling from behind can only help Ronaldo, whose twisting and turning often invite the badly-timed challenge. Ronaldo will be shouldering a great deal of responsibility but the legendary Zico, now an assistant to coach Zagallo, pinpointed what he expected of him. “Ronaldo has to know how to handle that pressure,” Zico said.
Three-times world champions Germany have Oliver Bierhoff and Ulf Kirsten plus 33-year-old Jurgen Klinsmann in their striking squad. Bierhoff, a revelation for both Udinese in Italy and for Germany in the World Cup qualifiers, has proven his ability at top international level. Although a late developer-the 30-year old only made his debut against Portugal two years ago-his golden goal winner against Czech Republic in the Euro 96 final proved his star quality. Bierhoff scored six goals in the qualifiers and was top scorer in the Italian league with 27 goals. Bayer Leverkusen’s Kirsten, of the former East Germany, scored five in the qualifiers and is likely to strongly feature in the summer.
Veteran Klinsmann cannot be ignored, and despite his recent injury problems and controversial season with Tottenham because of disagreements with manager Christian Gross, he’s a valuable member of the squad. The veteran striker had to sit out the game against Finland on May 27 suffering from a badly bruised calf muscle but coach Berti Vogts is hoping his key player would be fit for World Cup duty. Fiorentina striker Argentina Batistuta, who like Ronaldo has excelled in Italy, is another of the goal-getters likely to be in the limelight in France. His hat-trick in Argentina’s 5-0 thrashing of Bosnia and a further goal in their 1-0 win over Chile, both in May, prove he’s the man in form.
He also hit 21 goals in the Italian league. Roma striker Abel Balbo was the last player called into the Argentinian squad by coach Daniel Passarella, in preference to Velez Sarsfield midfielder Christian Bassedas and Boca Juniors’ striker Claudio Caniggia. Babel only played in three World Cup qualifiers but his 14 goals in Italy this season prove he can score against the best defenders in the world. Fabrizio Ravanelli reckons that Italy’s strike force will be every bit as good as Brazil’s at the World Cup finals. Ravanelli rates the likes of Alessandro Del Piero on a par with Ronaldo and Romario. “There’s no country in the world with as many people to choose from up front as we have,” Ravanelli said. But Del Piero pulled an adductor muscle high up in his left thigh in the closing stages of Juventus’ 1998 European Cup final loss against Real Madrid and his fitness is still in question.