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Costly victory
Injury, red card mar France's 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia
Posted: Thursday June 18, 1998 05:51 PM
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France lost Zinedine Zidane (left) to a red card late in the game (AP) |
ST. DENIS, France (AP) --
France joined Brazil in the
second round of the World Cup Thursday, beating Saudi
Arabia 4-0 with a joyful blend of bubbly soccer that hid the misery of
yet another French injury and the expulsion of star Zinedine Zidane.
Thierry Henry symbolized France's happy-go-lucky style with two
opportunistic goals. The Monaco winger has now scored half of France's six
goals, tying him for the World Cup's scoring lead. "I'm truly
satisfied with my players," said French coach Aime Jacquet. "They
have a long way to go in the competition," Saudi coach Carlos Alberto
Parreira said of the French. But a torn right hamstring suffered by
Christophe Dugarry and Zidane's expulsion for kicking an opponent warned
there could be doom ahead for the host nation. Saudi Arabia was
already down to 10 men because of a red card when Zidane set Bixente
Lizarazu free in the 36th minute. The lightning quick left back perfectly
passed it into the goalmouth, where Henry coolly knocked it home for the
opening strike. In the 68th minute, substitute David Trezeguet added
an insurance goal, capitalizing on a rare error from goalkeeper Mohammed
Al-Dayea, who let a simple cross from Lilian Thuram slip through his hands,
ffering the simplest of headers for the 20-year-old striker. Henry,
another 20-year old, scored his second in the 77th minute, running on to a
bad defensive clearance and beating al-Dayea with a low right-footed shot.
To top off another sparkling performance, Lizarazu collected a
delicate backheel from Youri Djorkaeff in the 85th minute and set the
80,000 strong crowd at the Stade de France chanting again with goal No. 4.
Trezeguet (20) and Henry accounted for three of France's four goals (AP) | |
Starting forward Dugarry, however, had to be carried off with a torn
right hamstring, threatening the rest of his World Cup campaign. Fellow
forward Stephane Guivarc'h already had to sit out Thursday's game with a
strained right knee. And Zidane will miss at least next Wednesday's
first-round closer against Denmark after
Mexican referee Arturo Brizio sent him off in the 70th minute for putting
his studs in the hip of Saudi captain Fuad Amin as they fell over one
another during a challenge. After the 1-1 draw between Denmark and
South
Africa, France now leads Group C with 6 points, 2 ahead of the
Scandinavians. Saudi Arabia became the first team to be eliminated from
second-round contention. Saudi Arabia started defensively and was so
overpowered from the start. In the 19th minute, Mohammed al-Khilaiwi was
outrun by blazing Lizarazu on the left and his late kick at the Frenchman's
leg was the first red card of the game. "We tried to break out of
defense, but there was just no way to stop the French team," said Parreira.
"We were demoralized." French coach Aime Jacquet made some
surprising changes to the lineup, sidelining Inter Milan star Djorkaeff and
selecting Bernard Diomede's qualities as a winger instead to keep the front
of attack as wide open as possible. It worked like a dream with wave
after wave coming from each wing, either from Henry on the right or Diomede
on the left. Lineups France: Fabien Barthez; Lilian Thuram,
Laurent Blanc, Marcel Desailly, Bixente Lizarazu; Didier Deschamps,
Zinedine Zidane, Alain Boghossian; Thierry Henry (Robert Pires, 78th),
Christphe Dugarry (David Trezeguet, 30th), Bernard Diomede (Youri
Djorkaeff, 58th). Saudi Arabia: Mohammed al-Daeyea; Mohammed
al-Jahni (Ahmed al-Dosari, 76th), Mohammed al-hilaiwi, Mohammed Zebramawi,
Hussein Solaimani; Ibrahim al-Shahrani, Fuad Amin, Khamis al-Owairan,
Sayeed al-Owairan (Ibrahim al-Habri, 33rd; Khalid al-Mowalad, 63rd); Sami
al-Jaber, Hamzah Saleh.
Referee: Arturo Brizio, Mexico.
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