FRANCE 98 – Match preview n°62
France’s semi-final jinx and tired legs with be put to the test in Wednesday’s World Cup showdown against proud little Croatia on a glory run in their first ever finals.
France, who have competed in every World Cup since the first one in 1930, come up against Croatia, who weren’t even recognized by world governing body FIFA till 1992. France appeared in the 1954, 1982 and 1986 semi-finals but were not able to go that step further and appear in the final game.
Croatia, who suffered in a vicious Balkan civil war during the 1990s, only just scraped through in a play-off late last year after finishing second in their group to Denmark in their debut qualifying campaign.
France have been jinxed in all three semi-finals and must avoid a further Suker punch. First they had the misfortune to come up against Pele at his peak who scored a second half hat-trick in a 5-2 defeat in 1958 in Stockholm. And France were effectively reduced to 10-men late in the first half while losing 2-1 when Robert Jonquet seriously hurt a leg in a tackle by Vava. In those days there were no substitutes. Then in Sevilla, Spain in 1982, Patrick Batiston was smashed to the ground in the 57th minute by keeper Toni Schumacher’s elbow after he raced out of goal. Despite leading 3-1 in extra time, substitute Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Klaus Fischer scored to level at 3-3 and Germany won on penalties. In 1986 when Germany won 2-0 in Guadalajara, France suffered the sucker punch of a last minute Rudi Voller lob over keeper Joel Bats. A Bats error had earlier gifted Andreas Brehme’s opener from a freekick touched on by Felix Magath.
Croatia have just one international competition to their name and were knocked out of the Euro 96 quarter-finals after being drawn into a physical game by Germany. But pride has made up for lack of experience as the Croatians raced to the semi-finals on the back of post-independance nationalistic fervour. Fans in Lyon partied hard into the early hours in the town centre following their 3-0 quarter-final win over Germany. Croatia may only have just 82,000 registered players compared with 2,055,000 in France but they believe they have the character to upstage their more celebrated opponents. ” We play from the heart and football is the winner, “ said Davor Suker following the 3-0 destruction of Germany. ” It’s not always the big guys who have it all their own way. “ Those statements from the now national hero following his four-goal tally would read well as France’s epitath should Croatia create national mourning with a victory over the hosts.
Laurent Blanc, who scored the winner against Paraguay and France’s final penalty in the shootout against Italy, admitted at the Clairefontaine national training centre on Monday that the team were tired and badly needed rest on the run-up to the semi-final.
Jacquet is playing his cards very close to his chest on who will start in their first ever match against Croatia. His major selection dilemma is whether to play two or three defensive midfielders. If he chooses three, Christian Karembeu might keep his starting place, but if Jacquet opts for just two defensive midfielders, right winger Thierry Henry might start the match instead of the Real Madrid star. Speedy Henry is the best bet to break down the Croatians as Stephane Guivarc’h is without a goal in ten outings and Christophe Dugarry has scored just three in 26 games. Henry has three in eight. The other selection poser looks to be between striker Guivarc’h, who started against Italy, or David Trezeguet, who replaced him during the match.
Fully fit Croatia have no suspensions though Zvonimir Boban, Slaven Bilic, Suker and Dario Simic all have one yellow card.