Saturday, Jun 01, 2002
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Football
PROUD MOMENT FOR PAPA: Senegal's Papa Bouba Diop (right) slides the ball home past a prone French custodian Fabien Barthez), as defenders Youri Djorkaeff (6) and Emmanuel Petit rush in albeit a bit too late, in the inaugural match of the 2002 World Cup at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul on Friday. -- AP
Papa Bouba Diop got Senegal's winning goal in the 30th minute as the French, trying to become the first team in 40 years to win back to back titles, played without the world's greatest player, injured midfielder Zinedine Zidane. The result in the first World Cup played in Asia mirrored Cameroon's 1-0 win in 1990 over then World champion Argentina in the opening game. Cameroon went on to reach the quarterfinals to become the most successful African side in the World Cup. Argentina recovered to reach the final. ``I'm not a better coach today than I was yesterday, but you have to have faith and keep loving the game and be there to get results like this,'' said Senegal coach Bruno Metsu. ``It is like a dream, but it isn't a miracle because the team worked very hard for it.'' The highly favoured French team failed to fill a creative vacuum left by Zidane and was disjointed against a powerful Senegal defence packed with players largely based in the French league. ``The Senegalese were well organized. These things happen,'' said France coach Rogere Lemerre. ``It's true that we would have liked a happier start. But we take comfort from the fact that nothing's finished. There are two more matches to win. If we can win, we'll have six points and we'll be through.'' In World Cup play, the top two teams in each of the eight four-member groups advance to the final 16. Diop's goal came on a play set up by team-mate El Hadji Diouf, who beat French defender Frank Leboeuf racing down the left side. Diouf centered the ball with French defender Emmanuel Petit deflecting the pass into French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, who was unable to control the ball as Diop slid in and knocked it home. ``It made me very happy, I've always dreamed of this,'' said Diop. As Diop hit the stunning winner, school kids ran out and started dancing in the streets of Senegal's capital Dakar with the government having called off school for the day under the pretext that nobody could have studied anyway. Diop performed a dance of his own, sprinting for the right corner flag, stripping off his shirt and joining his teammates in a jig around it. The beating of African drums in the bleachers intensified as the Africans launched another attacking raid before the French tried to settle back into a rhythm in the first half. French strikers David Trezeguet and Thierry Henry had chances but failed to convert with the French having dominant possession for most of the match. Trezeguet had an opportunity to open the scoring in the 23rd, but his right-footed shot from 18 meters (yards) went wide. In five frantic minutes after halftime, the French blasted four shots on goal but Sylva, rated the best goalie on the African continent, held firm. Lilian Thurum put a neat cross in for Trezeguet, who angled a header wide in the 55th minute and Henry bumped a header over the crossbar from close range two minutes later. Youri Djorkaeff, the 34-year-old veteran called up to replace Zidane, had a strike deflected by Sylva and Trezeguet just missed the deflection. Christophe Dugarry replaced Djorkaeff on the hour. Diouf, the 2001 African footballer of the year, had a solo striking job up front and sweated on French mistakes for most of the first half before Khalilou Fadiga moved forward to lend some help. France missed Zidane's direction in midfield and went into the match on a loss to Belgium two weeks ago and a hard-fought 3-2 win over South Korea in tune-ups. Zidane, who scored twice in France's 3-0 win over Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final and is almost peerless in his game, has a thigh injury that could keep him out of the next first-round matches against Uruguay and Denmark. France's midfield was also depleted with Robert Pires ruled out of the World Cup with a knee injury. One end of the 64,640-seat Seoul World Cup Stadium was awash with fans in bright yellow shirts, with traveling Senegalese recognizable in their colorful hats, robes and flags and beating drums. The opposite end was a sea of blue shirts and chanting French. The sell-out opener in the South Korean capital marked the first of 64 matches across Korea and Japan, with each co-hosting staging 32. Security was tight inside the stadium and outside, where shield-weilding riot police congregated to ensure there was no trouble. Rain that was predicted Friday night held off, although Korean Meteorological Administration forecasters said the seasonal monsoon, which usually hits South Korea in late June and July could start a little earlier this year, with heavy rain expected by late June. The teams: France: Fabien Barthez; Bixente Lizarazu, Patrick Vieira, Youri Djorkaeff (Christophe Dugarry 60), Marcel Desailly (captain), Sylvain Wiltord (Djibril Cisse 81), Thierry Henry, Lilian Thuram, Emmanuel Petit, Frank Leboeuf, David Trezeguet. Senegal: Tony Sylva; Omar Daf, Pape Malick Diop, Aliou Cisse (captain), Khalilou Fadiga, El Hadji Diouf, Lamine Diatta, Moussa Ndiaye, Salif Diao, Ferdinand Coly, Pape Bouba Diop. Referee: Ali Bujsaim (UAE) — AP
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