|
|
French Arsenal players in the World Cup
Contents
France
Arsenal players in the French team
- Emmanuel Petit
- Squad number: 17
- age 27. 11 caps coming into the tournament
- played against South Africa
- played and scored the winner against Denmark
- played against Paraguay
- Patrick Vieira
-
- Squad number: 4
- age 21. 6 caps coming into the tournament
- played against Denmark
Matches
Results, comments on Arsenal players' performances, and links to
match reports will appear here shortly after the matches.
- South Africa. 3-0 win. Friday June 12th
- Emmanuel Petit started this match and had a pretty good game
until taken off in the second half, rubbing his neck possibly in
some discomfort (?) He had a solid game, making some crucial
blocks in defence and getting forward well too. He forced a good
save from the South African goalie Vonk. He played in the role
he's been so effective in at Arsenal, with Deschamps also impressive
taking Vieira's place alongside. Vieira didn't get onto the pitch, when
Petit was substituted it was Alain Boghossian who took his place.
France generally looked pretty good in midfield. The defence were
good coming forward (especially Lizarazu) but not tested much
at the back. Despite the score, France's problem, if they have one,
might be scoring goals. Two in this match were own goals by Issa
(although Thierry Henry might reasonably claim the second).
reports
- Saudi Arabia. 4-0 win. Thursday June 18th
-
Neither Manu nor Paddy got to play in this match, one of the least convincing
4-0 wins! But, perhaps unsurprisingly, all 3 goalscorers from the
French side have beeneavily rumouredto be the subject of Arsenal interest
(that's Thierry Henry, Bixente Lizarazu, and David Trezeuget).
- Denmark. 2-1 win. Wednesday June 24th
- Paddy got his first game, and did well although there were moments
when you worried his all action (all elbows and knees) style might see
him become a casualty of the bizarre reffing this week. Manu played too,
and played a blinder. He hit several pinpoint passes half the lenght of
the pitch, and popped up outside the area, when the ball came out from
a corner. There were plenty of people in the area, blocking Schmeichel's
view, but Petit drove it low throuhg and beneath them without a
deflection, except the one off Schmeichel's boot. Much fun. Petit came
off after about 70 minutes, presumably to make sure he gets through
to the next round without suspension. He was on a yellow but it's
been scrubbed now. France play Paraguay in the second round.
reports
- Paraguay. 1-0 win. Sunday June 28th
- Manu played but Paddy didn't. Petit had another good game, and
looked the most likely midfielder to score (they don't have a striker
and the goal eventually came from a defender). Incredibly, Petit
was taken off for Boghossian, while the completely ineffectual
Deschamps stayed on.
back to France98 page
copyright belongs to original author where credited. otherwise © Rupert Ward, ArseWeb MMV
ArseWeb is NOT the official Arsenal site. The (excellent) official site is here
|