In the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, France beat Belgium by 1 goal, Croatia reversed England in extra time, and France and Croatia joined hands to play the final of this World Cup! Such a showdown can't help but remind many fans of that French summer 20 years ago, when France reversed the semi-final match that defeated Croatia, which was a classic showdown. On the eve of the final, let's review the wonderful battle that the two teams left us in the semi-final of the 1998 World Cup 20 years ago .
After three semi-finals in 1958, 1982 and 1986, France reached the semifinals for the fourth time and finally came to work. However, despite controlling the situation in the first half, Didier Deschamps and his teammates were unable to turn the advantage into a score advantage. To make matters worse, just one minute into the second half, Davo Souk stepped behind the French defence, received a pass from Assanović to form a single knife, and then stabbed fabian Butters into the city gate with his left foot (0-1), his fifth goal of the tournament.
Lilian Thuram was responsible for Sukh's goal, and it was his dragging behind that caused the Croatian striker not to be offside. However, Thuram immediately broke the ball from the feet of Zwohnimir Boban at the other end of the field and then passed it to Yuri Djokav, who immediately sent a straight plug from the outside of his foot and the ball returned to Thuram's feet. France's right-back faced goalkeeper Delajan Radic and calmly pushed in (1-1).
Twenty-three minutes later, it was another smash against the wall, only this time with Henry, Thuram who shot a perfect arcing ball with his left foot to give France a counter-score (2-1).
"This game could have sentenced me to death for my sporting career because Sukh scored because I didn't offside," Thuram lamented, "If I was eliminated, it would be a disaster, because people always need to find the object of blame, it must be me!" Sometimes, you're really on the line. "The French team survived to the end and finally won. Then he defeated Brazil in the final and lifted the Hercules Cup for the first time!
"If we had been more experienced, we could have been world champions." Croatia coach Miroslav Blažević said: "Croatia has only been independent for 6 years, I let the players play the power of patriotism, no one knew us, but our performance has attracted the attention of the whole country. My players are very motivated. The physical confrontation against Germany was very intense and we were lucky that one of the players was quickly sent off. We're great because very few teams beat Germany 3-0. France beat us in the semi-finals, but I believe that if we get to the final, we have a chance to play Brazil. However, our country is already happy and proud to see us finish third. But at the same time, I was also a little annoyed because if I had been more experienced, I think we could have been world champions. ”
After Thuram scored two incredible goals into the Croatian goal for the second time, Lilian Thuram fell to his knees on the turf of the Stade de France, his fingers resting on his lips. The defender, who scored zero goals in his first 37 games for France, said: "I don't understand what I mean by that posture myself! I took that position out of instinct, a feeling I never forgot, because that pose undoubtedly reflected my own surprise. Everybody knows, I'm not that good. When you think about that, you laugh to death, because I've never scored, not even in training. I simply couldn't understand what was wrong with that. I fell to my knees, not out of excitement, but because of confusion. If I hadn't seen the photos later, I wouldn't remember anything. I had never scored a goal before that game, and I scored two that night, and after that night, I never scored again... I guess those two balls were actually scored by someone else. ”
Two days later, at the Luzhniki Stadium, France vs. Croatia, 20 years later, will Croatia achieve perfect revenge, or France will create another gold cup glory. Please continue to pay attention to the latest news of the "World Football Encyclopedia" and let us look forward to it together!