Espana 82

1994 WORLD CUP

Winners:

BRAZIL

Runners-up:

ITALY

Third:

SWEDEN

with the goal net after putting his side ahead on the way to a 3–0 opening win over Bulgaria. Daniel Amokachi scored twice in the group stage as the Super Eagles reached the last 16, where they met Italy. Emmanuel Amuneke scored early on and Nigeria held firm until the 88th minute, when Roberto Baggio equalised.

Despite being down to 10 men –

Gianfranco Zola having been sent off – Italy kept up the pressure in extra time and Baggio, whose ‘Divine Ponytail’ could be seen peeking from behind his right shoulder in USA 94, added his second from the penalty spot.

Baggio was again the matchwinner in the quarter-final and semi-final against Spain and Bulgaria respectively to set up a final with Brazil.

The South American side’s charge to the final had been underpinned by a mixture of flair – led by attackers Romario and Bebeto, he of the baby-rocking celebration – and pragmatism, exemplified by captain Dunga.

Their most exciting match on the way to the final came against the Netherlands when their formidable strike duo put them 2–0 up, seemingly coasting. Dennis Bergkamp – fixing a steely gaze in his first Panini World Cup sticker – pulled one back before Aron Winter levelled. Branco then did what one expects from Brazilians – he pulled a long-range screamer out of the bag to win the game with nine minutes left.

After everything that had gone before, there was much anticipation for the heavyweight final between Brazil and Italy. As it turned out, the 120 minutes – including extra-time – were dull. Italy missed three times from the spot – Franco Baresi, Daniele Massaro and Roberto Baggio all failed to hit the net – while Brazil scored three out of four to win their fourth World Cup.

Italy kept up the pressure in extra time and Baggio, whose ‘Divine Ponytail’ could be seen peeking from behind his right shoulder in USA 94 added his second from the penalty spot

Fourth:

BULGARIA

Golden Boot:

HRISTO STOICHKOV AND OLEG SALENKO (6)

FRANCE 98

The 1998 World Cup in France saw the number of teams at the festival of football increased to 32, which called for Panini’s biggest-ever World Cup album – a bonus for collectors!

After missing out on USA 94, Panini’s France 98 album was once again an ‘Official Licensed Product’. However, collectors were in for a surprise – there were no Iran stickers as Panini had been unable to secure a license in time to feature the Middle Eastern nation. Eventually, an agreement was reached whereby a UK publisher was allowed to produce a sheet of Iran stickers, under license from Panini, with this disclaimer: ‘Use of photographs does not imply endorsement by the Iranian Football Association or by individual players.’

There were also image issues with other teams, including England, who agreed to appear in the album, but did not allow pictures that showed any of the branding connected to the national team. As a result, all England players – along with Morocco, Chile and Nigeria – were pictured in logo-free tracksuit tops. In addition, there was no team group and the foil was of the national flag rather than football governing body.

Image problems aside, the album was sold on a stand-alone basis, or supplied free with the 2 May 1998 issue of Shoot! magazine.

Spain – for whom pop-up versions rather than conventional stickers were issued in some regions – were the biggest casualties of the first round, once again failing to live up to the expectations of a squad featuring the likes of Fernando Hierro, Luis Enrique and Raúl.

Host nation France made it through to the knockout phase with maximum points as 20-yearold World Cup debutant Thierry Henry scored three goals in his first two appearances. Zinedine Zidane – opting for an unlaced shirt front in France 98 – had a less successful group stage, picking up a yellow card in the first match, followed by a red against Saudi Arabia. The midfielder returned to greater effect later in the tournament.

France’s progress to the final was nerve-shredding for home fans, requiring a late extra time goal from Laurent Blanc to get past Paraguay, a penalty shoot-

FRANCE 98 ALBUM FACTS

PAGES: 64 ALBUM PRICE: 99P NUMBER OF STICKERS: 561 (INTERNATIONAL) PACKET COST: 25P FOR FIVE STICKERS

out save from Fabian Barthez (and a further miss by Italy) to get past the quarter-finals, and two goals from the unlikely source of Lilian Thuram to overturn a deficit in the semifinal against Croatia.

Making their World Cup debut, Croatia’s star-studded line-up was captained by AC Milan star Zvonimir Boban and included a host of players who played in English football, among them Robert Prosinečki, Aljoša Asanovic, Davor Šuker (who won the Golden Boot) and Slaven Bilić. Bilić was involved in a controversial incident in the semi-final that led to France centre-back Blanc getting sent off and receiving a ban from the final.

There was more red-card drama when England met Argentina in the second round in Saint-Étienne. The first-half ended 2–2 and is remembered for some outstanding football, notably a solo effort from 18-year-old Michael Owen, who had only made his England debut a few months earlier and so missed out on a France 98 sticker. There was also a well-worked free-kick converted by Javier Zanetti.

Then things took a twist in the second half as David Beckham – a surprise omission from the France 98 album as he had been a regular starter for England – took a petulant kick at Diego Simeone, after a foul by the Argentinian, and got sent off. England fought gallantly into extra time, but came unstuck on penalties for the third time in a major tournament during the ’90s. Carlos Roa saved from Paul Ince and David Batty, while England keeper David Seaman could only keep out Hernan Crespo in return.

Argentina’s quarter-final saw both sides reduced to 10 men, but the match will forever be remembered for the 90th-minute winner from Dennis Bergkamp. Frank de Boer’s raking pass from inside his own half found the Arsenal star in the opposition penalty area. He controlled the ball with his right foot, cut inside a defender and flicked the ball into the net with the outside of the same foot – a work of art from the master craftsman.

The Netherlands went on to meet Brazil in the semi-final. Brazil had begun their campaign with a 2–1 victory over Scotland in the first match of the tournament. John Collins’ penalty equaliser would prove to be the highlight of the tournament for the Scots as they only picked up one point, finishing bottom of Group A.

Ronaldo – who was only 17 years old when he was selected to be part of the 1994 World Cup-winning squad – was by now a superstar and was expected to lead his nation to another trophy. But he wasn’t Brazil’s only potential matchwinner, as Rivaldo proved with his two goals in the 3–2 quarter-final victory over Denmark.

But it was Ronaldo who scored Brazil’s goal in the 1–1 semi-final draw with the Dutch – cancelled out late on by Patrick Kluivert – as well as a penalty in the shootout victory.

Brazil’s preparations ahead of the final against France were thrown into chaos when Ronaldo