Zidane’s Goal Is the Difference
The 31 nations with pretensions of taking the World Cup away from France next month were shown Wednesday just how difficult that task will be.
Zinedine Zidane, the midfielder whose two goals against Brazil in the France ’98 World Cup final were key to a 3-0 victory in Paris that earned the French their first world championship, scored another glorious goal Wednesday to propel Real Madrid of Spain to its ninth European Champions Cup triumph.
The goal, almost on the stroke of halftime, proved decisive as the Spanish team held on to defeat Bayer Leverkusen of Germany, 2-1, in front of 51,456 in Hampden Park at Glasgow, Scotland.
Zidane had been on the losing end in the finals of 1997 and 1998 while with Juventus of Italy, but he proved that his move to Madrid last year for nearly $65 million was money well spent.
The score was tied, 1-1, after Raul scored an opportunistic goal for Real Madrid in the ninth minute, one-timing a throw-in from Roberto Carlos past goalkeeper Hans Jorg Butt, and Lucio returned the favor six minutes later by heading the ball past Sanchez Cesar.
A tie at halftime seemed certain, but Zidane then produced a flash of magic. Taking a high cross from Roberto Carlos, he swung his left leg in a scything motion and crashed a spectacular 18-yard volley into the roof of the net.
“It was a nice goal to score,” he said. “I simply slammed the ball in without thinking. It was purely instinctive.”
Real Madrid had lost the Spanish league championship to Valencia and the King’s Cup to Deportivo la Coruna, but could not be denied Wednesday. Bayer Leverkusen threw everyone forward in the last few minutes, including goalkeeper Butt, but could not score the tying goal.
Goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who went into the game in the 68th minute after Cesar was injured, made three or four tremendous saves in close succession to preserve Real’s victory.
“This is a special victory for the people of Madrid,” Real Coach Vicente del Bosque said. “I am pleased for them that we could bring them a trophy after missing out in other competitions, especially in our centenary year.”
Raul, Spain’s World Cup striker, said Real Madrid’s third European Cup triumph in the last five years proved a point.
“We’ve proved that the club is the best in Europe,” he said, “the best ever. We’re going to celebrate this all night and all of tomorrow as well.”
Wednesday’s defeat was particularly difficult for Bayer Leverkusen, which had three trophies within its grasp this season only to see them slip away.
The club led the Bundesliga for most of the season, but lost two of its last three games to much weaker teams and was beaten to the title by Borussia Dortmund on the last day of the season. It also reached the German Cup final, but lost to Schalke ’04 by a goal.
Coach Klaus Topmoeller said he expected the team to break up in the wake of the triple disappointments.
“I think we managed to present a challenge to Real and we got quite close to them, but at the end of the day you don’t always get the rewards for all the sweat and commitment you put in,” he said. “However, we should honor the performance and forget about the result.”
World Cup 2002
Injuries that have been playing havoc with World Cup-bound teams knocked three more players out of the May 31-June 30 tournament when Costa Rica, Sweden and Ireland each lost a player Wednesday.
For Costa Rica defender Reynaldo Parks, the blow was particularly cruel. The team was already training in Japan when he re-injured a knee. Coach Alexandre Guimaraes summoned defender Pablo Chinchilla from Costa Rican league champion Deportivo Alajuelense as Parks’ replacement.
Sweden lost midfielder Hakan Mild, who played on the team that finished third in the 1994 World Cup in the United States. Mild ruptured an Achilles’ tendon while training at Stockholm. “I’m going to go home, rest and watch the World Cup on television,” he said.
Midfielder Mark Kennedy withdrew from Ireland’s squad--which plays Nigeria at Dublin today--after re-injuring a groin and was replaced by Steve Reid.
Brazil has yet to play its first game, but Ricardo Texeira, president of the Brazilian soccer federation, said he wants Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari to remain as coach, with former coach and World Cup player Paulo Roberto Falcao as an assistant.
