Argentina Wins a Classic
Sometimes, superlatives are simply not enough.
Sometimes, rather than trying to capture all the drama and the emotion, all the joy and all the agony of a match such as this in all too few words, it is better to say, you had to be there.
Tuesday night, in front of an utterly captivated crowd at the tiny Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Argentina and England played a World Cup match for the ages.
After two absorbing, gut-wrenching hours, the score was tied, 2-2, and the issue of which team would advance to the quarterfinals of France 98 was settled by penalty kicks.
The South Americans, who had sent blue wave upon blue wave of attackers crashing against the white stone wall of the English defense for most of the second half and all of the overtime, finally did from the 12-yard spot what they could not do from the open field.
They prevailed, 4-3, goalkeeper Carlos Roa stopping David Batty on the final penalty kick.
But although it produced a winner and although Argentina will go on to play the Netherlands in Marseille on Saturday, it was a game without a loser.
For the players, once the emotions have died down and the heat of battle has gained the perspective of years, it was one of those matches they will fondly recall and say, “Yes, I was there. I played that night.”
And most will be enormously proud of that fact.
No one more so that England’s Michael Owen.
Not since Pele made his sensational run through the 1958 World Cup in Sweden as a 17-year-old phenomenon from Brazil has a teenager had such an impact on the sport.
The 18-year-old Liverpool striker Tuesday established himself as an international star of the first order. He created one goal, scored another with a breathtaking solo effort and hammered home his penalty kick with the aplomb of a veteran twice his age.
But all to no avail, at least as far as England’s World Cup hopes were concerned.
The game, which featured more twists and turns and plots and subplots than a Hercule Poirot mystery, began with the drama of not one but two penalty kicks.
In the sixth minute, England goalkeeper David Seaman was judged by Danish referee Kim Nielsen to have fouled Argentina’s Diego Simeone.
It was a harsh call, but Gabriel Batistuta accepted the gift and scored on the resulting penalty kick, afterward performing the “rocking the baby” move first popularized by Brazil’s Bebeto in the USA ’94 World Cup.
Batistuta dedicated the goal to his newborn son, Joaquin.
Four minutes later, Owen went crashing to the ground in the Argentine penalty area, and again Nielsen awarded the spot kick.
It was another harsh call, but Alan Shearer stepped up and tied the score, setting off yet another chorus of “Eng-ger-lund! Eng-ger-lund” from the English fans in the packed stadium.
Six minutes later, Owen produced the goal of the tournament. Collecting the ball from David Beckham at midfield, he set off on a 40-yard run that saw him sweep imperiously past defender Jose Chamot and wrong-foot defender Roberto Ayala with a shoulder fake before firing a glorious goal--running right and shooting left--past the stunned Roa in the Argentine nets.
Match that, the English fans said.
So Argentina did.
In the final minute of an incredible half, a Tony Adams foul allowed Argentina a free kick. With the English wall a solid obstacle, Batistuta ran over the ball in a dummy play, Juan Veron slipped it diagonally to his right and the unmarked Javier Zanetti lashed it home past the startled Seaman.
The second 45 minutes began in even more dramatic fashion.
A foul by Simeone on Beckham--whose Spice Girl fiancee, Victoria Adams, was up in the stands, along with Rolling Stone Mick Jagger--saw Beckham retaliate and get a red card.
With 43 minutes to play, England was down to 10 men.
The complexion of the game changed instantly. From then on, it was Argentina attacking virtually without respite for almost an hour and a quarter of regulation and sudden-death overtime, and England giving as disciplined and as brave a display of defending as the World Cup has seen.
And England came within a whisker of winning. Sol Campbell crashed the ball into the back of the Argentine net with a dramatic header, but Nilesen, the referee, spotted Shearer elbowing goalkeeper Roa in the face when both went up for the ball on the play, and he disallowed the goal.
After that, penalty kicks were the only way to separate the two former World Cup winners on an evening when superlatives were not enough.
You had to be there.
FRANCE 98
TUESDAY
CROATIA 1 , ROMANIA 0
Strong debut continues as Suker makes second penalty kick after first is voided. C7
*
QUARTERFINALS
Italy vs. France, Friday, 7:30 a.m.
Brazil vs. Denmark, Friday, Noon
Netherlands vs. Argentina, Saturday, 7:30 a.m.
Germany vs. Croatia, Saturday, Noon
