Were Zinedine Zidane & Roberto Baggio World Cup failures?
When reviewing the 1994 and 1998 World Cups, there is an obvious consensus amongst all football fans: Zinedine Zidane is considered as the biggest star of France's victory on home soil 12 years ago by a huge margin, while Roberto Baggio is universally hailed as the Italian hero at USA-94, guiding his team to the final, and then tragically missing his kick in the penalty shoot-out against Brazil.
It’s about time to break these two myths and let the truth be known. Baggio might have scored five crucial goals for la Nazionale in 1994, but he was one of their poorest performers in the States. Zidane might have scored those two fantastic headers from corners in the final game, but overall, he was one of the least effective starting French players in 1998, second only to the wasteful Stephane Guivarc'h.
Here is what Baggio accomplished in 1994. The first game, against the Republic of Ireland, was lost 0-1. While Ray Houghton scored with that fluke lob, Baggio was nowhere to be seen for the whole game and was practically the worst player on the Giants Stadium pitch. In the second game against Norway, the coach took him off the pitch when disaster struck and keeper Gianluca Pagliuca was sent off after just 21 minutes.
Dino Baggio, a namesake who had a great tournament in the Azzurri midfield, headed the precious winner against the Norwegians from a Beppe Signori free-kick. In the next game against Mexico, Roby was back in the starting line-up to the same minimal effect. And now to the second round match against Nigeria, allegedly decided by Baggio’s brilliance, the final score read 2-1 with Roberto scoring both goals, but in reality he was again almost non-existent for 89 minutes of the match. The Africans took an early lead through Emmanuel Amunike, and while Albertini and Roberto Donadoni tried to do something about it, Baggio couldn’t have a decent touch. Then, with Gianfranco Zola unfairly sent off and just over a minute left on the clock, he became a hero, striking the equalizer after a terrific run from Roberto Mussi. The winner in extra-time was a penalty, gained by the ever-excelling and energetic Antonio Benarrivo. Mussi and Benarrivo saved that game for Italy, and spared Baggio from being named one of the biggest flops in World Cup history. They should be remembered as the real heroes.
We move on to Zidane’s contribution in the 1998 World Cup tournament. His list will be much shorter because Zizou only participated in five games out of seven. He was fairly decent in the opener against South Africa, nothing outstanding, but setting up two chances for his good friend Christophe Dugarry, with a corner resulting in an opening goal. But in the second game against Saudi Arabia, Zidane lost it, not for the first time in his career, and certainly not for the last time. In the beginning he wasted two easy chances, including an opportunity that was almost impossible to miss. Then, with his team leading 2-0 against a weak 10-man opposition, Zizou needlessly stamped on Fuad Amin, receiving a red card and a two-game suspension for his actions. In his absence, Les Bleus duly won against Denmark and Paraguay, although it wasn’t an easy stroll.
If anyone thought Zidane’s return would improve French play, they were wrong. Zizou was one of the least active players on the pitch in the quarter-final against Italy, which ended in a fairly entertaining 0-0 stalemate. In the semi-finals versus Croatia, he started well, having four good shots on or near the target in the first half. However, he disappeared when he was needed the most after Davor Suker gave the Croatians a sensational one-goal lead. And then to the final, where Zizou headed his two goals against Brazil and played a very good game, but was he really a hero? Does that double make him more responsible for the French triumph than Thuram, Bixente Lizarazu, Didier Deschamps or Thierry Henry who were consistently good, and occasionally brilliant, during the tournament?
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