|
FIFA to decide future of 3rd-place match
Posted: Saturday July 11, 1998 10:25 AM
| |
Michel Platini is strongly in favor to retain the World Cup's third place playoff
(AP) |
PARIS (Reuters) -- FIFA is going to consider the future of the World
Cup's third place playoff amid suggestions that it should be scrapped.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter told a news conference on Saturday, "We're
going to look into it to see if the third-place match should be played at
all."
"For this World Cup of course it has to be played but it is a subject we
are often asked about. The European championships don't have one, although
it is played everywhere else. We will have to see."
The third-place playoff between the losing semifinalists has been played
at every tournament since 1934, apart from in 1950. The third-place match
at the current tournament sees the Netherlands
play Croatia
later on Saturday.
Some officials want to retain the fixture. UEFA president Lennart
Johansson and French organizing committee chief Michel Platini said they
were strongly in favor.
"There is a world outside the big ones," said Johansson. "My country
[Sweden] became No. 3 in 1994 and were greeted at the airport by 240,000
people. It means a lot and I think we should keep it."
Platini said, "You may think I'm a specialist, France having
played in two third-place matches ... I agree that they should be played.
"There may be a lack of motivation for some players but it gives the
other squad members a chance to play.
With Platini on the bench, France lost to Poland in 1982 and the former
French captain said that Poland's Zbigniew Boniek, a one-time teammate of
his at Juventus, reminds him of it every time they meet.
The match seems to have most relevance these days to the goalscorers'
charts.
This year Croatia's Davor Suker, currently joint top scorer with Gabriel
Batistuta of Argentina and
Christian Vieri of Italy on five
goals, will be going all out to find the net to put himself clear at the
top.
In 1994 the whole Bulgarian team
tried to get the ball to Hristo Stoichkov but he failed to score in a 4-0
defeat by Sweden and had to share the honor with Russian Oleg Salenko.
In 1990 Salvatore Schillaci scored a late penalty in Italy's 2-1 playoff
win over England to top
the charts.
But pride of place goes to Just Fontaine, who banged in four in the 6-3
third place win over over West Germany in 1958
to reach a record total of 14.
Sandor Kocsis of Hungary, sitting pretty on what is still the second
highest total of 11, would no doubt have preferred the playoff not to have
existed.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
| 
