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Au revoir, Les Bleus Denmark advances, defending champion humiliatedPosted: Tuesday June 11, 2002 2:20 AMUpdated: Tuesday June 11, 2002 7:47 AM
INCHON, South Korea (Reuters) -- France suffered the acute embarrassment of becoming the first defending champion to be knocked out of the World Cup in the first round for 36 years when it was beaten 2-0 by Denmark on Tuesday. If not the biggest shock in World Cup history, France's elimination at the first hurdle as the bottom team in its group is certainly the worst performance by the world champion since the competition began in Uruguay in 1930. (Match analysis) After dominating world and European football for the last four years, the French finished the tournament with the worst record of any champion in the 72-year history of the tournament after a 22nd minute goal from Danish striker Dennis Rommedahl and a 67th minute effort from Jon Dahl Tomasson. France props up group A after failing to score a single goal in three games and getting just one point. It suffered a shock 1-0 loss in the opening game to newcomer Senegal, which held to a draw by Uruguay and lost to the Danes. (France's fall swift, unexpected, embarrassing) France coach Roger Lemerre was philosophical in defeat. "It was a very tough day for the players, myself and all the fans. "But you must be present (in your mind) from day one and if you're in trouble, it means something's wrong. I must admit that even before the World Cup, we had a lot of little problems and bruises, we never were one hundred percent and not in great health. "We must tell it like it is, we were not up to that World Cup and we don't deserve to be in the second round. The sanction of sport is there, we must accept defeat like we accepted victory." (French players shattered by elimination) Denmark coach Morten Olsen praised his side's teamwork and said they had done a good marking job on playmaker Zinedine Zidane in his first match at this World Cup after a thigh injury. "It was a very difficult group especially after France lost the first game and we saw the quality of Uruguay and Senegal.
"We had a good day, the team played well and with a lot of confidence and discipline. We had to be well organized but I thought we played some good combination football as well. "Having Zidane back in the team was a boost for France but we marked him very well. Mountain to climb After Rommedahl's first-half goal, the European champion needed to put three goals past the Danes in the second period to have any chance of going through. It was too high a mountain to climb for a French team that has failed to sparkle at the finals in South Korea and Japan. Although inspirational midfielder Zidane was back in the French starting lineup, the hero of its 1998 triumph on home soil could not rescue the defending champion. (France gripped by collective anguish) Tomasson was left unmarked and got on the end of a cross from Jesper Gronkjaer to fire under French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez to finish the issue, although the Dane appeared to pull French captain Marcel Desailly as he ran into the box. Denmark clinched top spot in the group, with Senegal also qualifying for the second round as runner-up. France went out along with Uruguay, which drew 3-3 with Senegal in Tuesday's other group A match in Suwon.
The French became only the third country to go out so early in the defense of a title. Brazil failed to get past the first round in 1966 and Italy also suffered the same fate in 1950, although the Italians had not been able to defend their 1938 title for 12 years because of World War Two. But both Brazil and Italy managed to win a match in the first round. Rommedahl took his goal well, half-volleying the ball with the outside of his right foot from eight meters to the left of Barthez after a deep cross from the right from Stig Tofting. The Danes deserved their victory after a shrewd performance tactically. Despite the warm weather, they pressed the French persistently in midfield with Christian Poulsen and Tofting giving Zidane little space. Zidane, returning after a thigh injury, produced a few clever touches which gave the French more creativity in the middle of the park than in their previous matches. But they missed the clinical finishing of suspended striker Thierry Henry up front. France threatened a comeback in the 51st minute when captain Marcel Desailly hit the bar with a header. Three minutes later it brought on exciting young forward Djibril Cisse for Christophe Dugarry and he injected extra pace to the attack. But after Tomasson's goal it was all over, even though striker David Trezeguet hit the bar in the 73rd minute. Score Summary:Denmark 2 France 0 -- World Cup, group A Scorers: Dennis Rommedahl 22, Jon Dahl Tomasson 67 Yellow cards: Denmark -- Christian Poulsen 27, Niclas Jensen 70; France -- Christophe Dugarry 8 Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 48,100 Teams:Denmark (4-4-2): 1-Thomas Sorensen; 6-Thomas Helveg, 3-Rene Henriksen, 4-Martin Laursen, 12-Niclas Jensen; 19-Dennis Rommedahl, 7-Thomas Gravesen, 2-Stig Tofting (23-Brian Steen Nielsen 79), 10-Martin Jorgensen (8-Jesper Gronkjaer 46); 17-Christian Poulsen (20-Kasper Bogelund 75), 9-Jon Dahl Tomasson France (4-2-3-1): 16-Fabien Barthez; 2-Vincent Candela, 15-Lilian Thuram, 8-Marcel Desailly, 3-Bixente Lizarazu; 4-Patrick Vieira (22-Johan Micoud 70), 7-Claude Makelele; 11-Sylvain Wiltord (6-Youri Djorkaeff 83), 10-Zinedine Zidane, 21-Christophe Dugarry (9-Djibril Cisse 54); 20-David Trezeguet Referee: Vitor Melo Pereira (Portugal) Linesmen: Carlos Matos (Portugal), Elise Doriri (Vanuatu)
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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