Best player

[Tariq]

Who do you think were the best and funnest to watch players in World Cup '98?

[gb1520]

for me it was owen, but i also think ortega was fantastic.

[Omar]

I agree with GB, but I'd also like to add Berkgamp, Batistuta, Suker, Bilic, Vieri, and as I think of more, I'll come back.

[gb1520]

vieri didn't do that much in the world cup, and bergkamp didn't do much at all. i'll admit he might have had the goal of the tournament against argentina but for the most part he didn't do much at all.

[Farid18]

I think most of the named players performed well. There were a lot of overrated and underrated players in WC '98. But the one who really got me impressed was the one and only Marcelo "el matador" Salas. I know you guys are thinking i picked him because he's from Chile too, (which might have something to do with it) http://worldsoccerboard.cfc-network.com/ubb/smile.gif but if you saw the Chile games like i did... you would know that he was the perfect attacking striker. He had 4 goals in 4 games (including a spectacular header against Italy), which i think was really nice to see this being his World Cup dayview.
Right with him, i thought that the striker from Morocco, Haigi (i think that's how u spell it), was awesome during the few games Morocco played.
And another player that i thought truly did exceptionally well, was Mexico's Luis Hernandez. He had great goals against tough opponents (like Germany), and also had 4 goals in 4 games.

Any comments?


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"L'cileno" Farid

[gb1520]

i agree, salas was fantastic. i am not just saying that because of his goals but his work off the ball was also great. that was the first time i realy got to watch salas and i thought he was one of the best players in the tournament.

[Omar]

Also. . .Salas, Hernandez, Blanco (only that move he pulled on the Japanese!), Roa (great saves), and as Farid said, Hadji (I think this is the way. .hehe) was also great.

[Tariq]

I would also like to add Zinedine Zidane. Not only because of the two goals in the finals, even though that's part of it, but because of his overall performance in the tournament.

[Omar]

Blanc was also great. . .

[gb1520]

zidane was good when he played, but because of the stamp i wouldn't say he was great.

[Tariq]

Yeah...that wasn't too great.

[Omar]

That upset me. I had more respect for Zidane.

[lilphenom]

I think that the there was many bright spots in 98 such as Owne's goal against argentina.But to me the player that stood out the most was Ronaldo yes i know what happened in the final and he still has not really proven himself but up until the final no one could stop Ronaldo he had all eyes on him and he carried Brazil on his back. Dont forget he already had enough pressure with the absence of 94 hero romario and not to mention this was ronaldo's coming out party and he performed well he scored 2 against chile (sorry farid) and not to mention the goal against holland he lead brazil into the final and up utill the final he was no doubt the best player in the world what happened the night before? we may never know but what happened was that ronaldo that day was at his worst and ZZ was at his best. the only thing Zidane did before the final was getr himself a 2 game suspension he did nothing for france before the final but when he had to play he did and that is why ZZ is great but i still think ronaldo was and is the best player in the planet when he is healthy

[gb1520]

i'm sorry but i have to disagree. i in no way thought that ronaldo carried brazil. yes he got his goals but he is a striker that is what he does. i thought that ronaldo had a poor tournament and was one of my biggest disapointments. as for zidane not doing anything for brazil once again i disagree. he is really the only creative player france have in the midfield. before and after he got sent off he was fantastic in calming the midfield down, controlling the match, and setting up his teammates.

[Massilia2600]

How can you say Zidane is the only good midfielder in France. Certainly Viera, Deschamps, Djorkaeff, and Petit are fantastic in midfeild and top performers for their clubs. But I do agree that Zidane pulls the whole team together and with him France are almost unstoppable and he is one of the reasons for Juve's success.

[gb1520]

can you show me where i said that zidane was the only good midfielder in france?. deschamps, viera, petit, and djorkaeff are all good , solid midfielders. but zidane is the only one of them that can constantly set up his team mates with goal scoreing oppertunities, not to mention he is the only constant threat to score from the midfield. during the world cup zidane was (for the most part) the only french player who was able to creat chances for his strikers almost every time he touched the ball.

[Omar]

I don't think Zidane is the only creative player in the French midfield, GB.

[gb1520]

i do, it seemed that every scoring chance france had went through him.

[lilphenom]

There s now way that in the tournament that ZZ out played ronaldo the final was the only game that ZZ did anything for France and yes aa was brillant in the final. but ronaldo did not just score for brazil he had about 3 or 4 assists and he was the only consistant player fir brazil up until the final and what haapened ti him i dont know and he has still nit recoverd from it nearly 2 years later whether roanldo willl ever return to his top form i dont know. but as for know ZZ has been maybe the biggest reason for juve's sucess and right now ronaldo is not even n the picture amd i he has been disapointing every since the final but dont forget ronaldo was named most outstaning player in the tourny and i truly believe that had ZZ not scored those 2 goals in the final that ronaldo would have won his 3rd straight fifa player of the year

[lilphenom]

Another player that performe very well that was suker he carried croatia to 3rd place and he took home the golden boot as for vieri he can do better he was not spectacular put he did not disapoint he played well and i think it was unlucky that italy did not beat france in that game. As for Salas he played very well and had chile not ran onto brazil so early they could have made it a bit farther. And i cant forget about chilivart he was amazing to watch and in that game against france he was spectacular and France was very lucky to beat Paruguary.And i think the sleeper team that shocked some people was Denmark no one thpught they were going to beat nigeria and they surprised brazil and scored an early goal but i took a great rivaldo goal to put denmark away. As for the Ronaldo Zidane dispute I say Ronaldo played better until the final but Zidane took over in the final and that is why Zidane is a legend and Ronaldo is not one yet but if he returns to his form Inter and Brazil are going to be tough to beat.

[Omar]

I COMPLETELY agree with Lilphenom. And I mean COMPLETELY.

[Tariq]

I agree with everyone that Zidane played excellently in the final, scoring two goals and everything, but he did not do anything really except get himself a two-day suspension (like some one said, I forgot who). I think the main reason why Zidane is so famous not only because he is a great player for Juventus and France, but because he scored two goals in the final against Brazil. He is well known by a lot of fans, only because of his performance in the final game. Now about Ronaldo, he is famous and he is known well throughout the world not because of one final he played in a World Cup. He has been known for being a great player and always consistent. (well, almost always) Yes, he gets injured a lot, but that's his terrible luck. He is still loved by many, many people even though he didn't play well in the final.

By the way, is this topic about who is better, or who did better in the World Cup? Because if it's about who's better, you can't really compare Zidane and Ronaldo, two different players with different styles of play.

[This message has been edited by Tariq (edited 31 March 2000).]