FRANCE 98 – MatchQuotes
Match Number 18 BRA – MOR Quotes Mario ZAGALLO:
“We entered this match with a lot more confidence than against SCOTLAND. Our game was efficient and joyful. I would like to congratulate Henri MICHEL and his team. MOROCCO is not one of the best teams but they still made it difficult for us. They played a fast game and it was a real pleasure to play a football match against such a team. The score being in our favour, I was able to make substitutions, notably where SAMPAIO was concerned. He will not play the next match in any case and I now have one week ahead of me to reshape my team, particularly our defence. We will have to concentrate on our game, not on that of other teams. We shouldn’t forget that we haven’t won yet and that every match is a new challenge. The coach for NORWAY keeps saying that they’ll be able to beat BRAZIL, but as far as I’m concerned, I don’t want to enter that fight.”
Henri MICHEL:
“We have to be realistic: BRAZIL was better than us tonight and the score proves it. I regret the team’s catastrophic marking at the beginning of the match. The Brazilian goal scored within the first ten minutes made it even more difficult for us. Moreover, the same scenario happened in the second half. I think we were disturbed by the way Brazilian players moved on the pitch. Mathematically, we still have a chance to qualify, but it no longer depends only on us. BRAZIL will have to beat NORWAY.
Noureddine NAYBET, captain (6):
“We lost on tactics. We were poor in defence. We were playing against the favourite, consequently, this defeat doesn’t put our skill into question. The problem when you play the Brazilians is that any one of their players can make the difference. I’ve been waiting a long time to return to La Beaujoire, I would have liked it to be more joyful.”
Youssef ROSSI (4):
“We were badly organised at start, and this poor start could only lead to us playing badly. When we returned after half-time, our primary aim was to equalise. Unhappily, the Brazilians scored again. However, we have to forget this meeting and concentrate on the third match, against SCOTLAND.”
El Moustafa HADJI (7):
“We didn’t play as well as we did against NORWAY. We will have to get our fighting spirit back when we play SCOTLAND. This evening, we didn’t really give our best: we didn’t deserve to win, but we still are very disappointed by the result. We committed far too many technical and tactical errors compared to BRAZIL. In the future, we’ll try to take this team as our example. BRAZIL, they’re the ultimate team.”
Salaheddine BASSIR (14):
“The goals scored at the beginning of the match hit us hard. Anyway, we were fighting against the World Champions. There wasn’t much we could do. We made far too many errors to have any hope of winning. It’s very disappointing, but still everything’s not lost. We’ve got one last match if we are to qualify, and we’ll give our best.”
Roberto CARLOS (6):
“The match against NORWAY won’t be a friendly one, and it will be hard for the Norwegians to qualify. We have accomplished our first goal – which was to finish as leaders of our group. Norwegian coach, Egil OLSEN made some fairly unpleasant comments about our team, so we’ll be very determined to win the third and final match of the first round.”
DENILSON (19):
“The team absolutely had to win tonight, so we’ve achieved our goal. We’ve found our rhythm and we’ll improve as the tournament goes on. We played a good game and we have to keep this up. Despite the final score, MOROCCO posed a lot of problems for us and they deserve to qualify.”
CAFU (2):
“BRAZIL wants to win the World Cup and this game showed just how much. We benefited from a very lax Moroccan defence. This match will serve as a reference for us. Personally I’ve worked very hard to get to this level. When a player has the time to work on his game you can always see it in the score.”
LEONARDO (18):
“After two matches, we’ve six points. We succeeded well in getting around the Moroccan obstacle by playing high quality football. I was very happy to be in the Brazilian selection and I think I have earned my place. We still have five matches to go to win this World Cup. Ten rest days are hardly enough before we play the second round match at the Parc des Princes, which is home to me.”
RONALDO (9):
“It was a real pleasure to play this match tonight. We made some good passes and the atmosphere within the team was really great. I’m particularly happy because I promised my family that I’d score a goal. The next match against NORWAY won’t be just a simple qualifying game we will use it to perfect our game and to improve our reflexes. After the match, we’ll have a rest day and we’ll take full advantage of it as we want to be at the Stade de France for the final. We absolutely want to win this Cup.”
