All Time World Cup! 2nd Round...
Greaves 57, Platini 69
Rome
The second match of the tournament to pit former World Champions against each other (after France’s dour nil-nil dead rubber against Uruguay) was to be a predictably tight affair. France coach Aime Jacquet brought back all the big guns who were rested against Uruguay.
To counteract the creativity of France’s formidable midfield, Ramsey took a gamble on Bryan Robson’s fitness. After both scored against Poland, Ramsey had a tough choice to make between Lineker and Greaves up front. He opted to start with Lineker, but alongside him, he decided to bring in Tommy Lawton and leave out Dixie Dean, who had played well without scoring so far.
After a predictably cagey opening thirty minutes, Robson livened things up with a crunching tackle on Zidane. The referee deemed it hard but fair, and Robson was immediately on his feet and driving forward.
He found Charlton on the left, who cut inside and dummied to shoot but in fact spread the ball across the pitch to Matthews, who had evaded Lizarazu. Matthews whipped in a cross and Robson, arriving in the box like an express train, hurled himself at the ball to finish the move he started.
Unfortunately, his header was blocked on the line by a combination of Joel bats and Maxime Bossis, and Robson took a kick to the side of the head as Marcel Desailly attempted (legitimately) to clear. Robson missed a lot of games during his career after picking up injuries due to his fearless style of play. He had to leave the pitch again here to have his head wound patched up, and while he was away, France looked to exploit the space.
Zidane carried the ball forward and had his pick of Tigana or Platini to pass to, with Edwards hopelessly exposed. Zidane picked Tigana, who quickly moved the ball on to Platini, who let the ball run to Kopa on the right-hand edge of the box. Kopa played the ball back in to Platini, who played a one-two with Fontaine before feeding Zidane.
It was glorious one and two-touch football and a joy to watch. Fortunately for England’s overworked defence, France seemed to be trying to walk the ball in to the net. When the ball eventually was worked back to Fontaine, he dwelt too long on it and his final shot was too close to Banks, who made a great save.
Wisely, the great keeper held on to the ball as long as he could, giving his side a few much-needed moments to catch their breath and clear their heads. Robson was still on the sidelines, so Banks rolled the ball short to Pearce, and he knocked the ball back and forth with Charlton to eat up as much time as possible.
Suddenly Lineker burst forward, his remarkable acceleration taking him clear of Desailly. Charlton spotted the movement and sent a high, fast pass over the top for the former Barcelona man to chase. Lineker reached it, but only at the same moment as full-back Amoros, who had read the danger.
The ball came off Amoros last, deflecting past Bats and rolling agonisingly inches wide. From the resultant corner Lawton headed narrowly over the bar. Robson came back on and the game tightened up again.
After the break, Matthews again eluded Lizarazu, who appeared out of his depth against the legendary winger. A cross flew in, but Lawton was beaten in the air by Desailly. Not long afterwards, Jacquet brought on the versatile Patrick Battiston to play at right-back, with Amoros moving to the left to replace Lizarazu.
Alf Ramsey, seeing that crosses into the box might now dry up, soon decided to sacrifice Tommy Lawton in favour of Jimmy Greaves. There would be far less of an aerial threat, but he hoped that the combined pace of Greaves and Lineker would force France to defend deeper and allow Charlton and Robson close enough to goal to unleash their long-range shooting power.
The first goal of the game however, came from a mix-up between former club-mates Didier Deschamps and Marcel Desailly. The cautious Deschamps looked to play the ball backwards to his centre back but Greaves read it and was on to the ball in a flash. With Bossis closing in, he poked the ball mid-stride and squeezed it into a tiny gap between bats and his post.
The lead lasted just over ten minutes. Great work from Raymond Kopa down the right saw him whip in a low out-swinging cross to the near post. Fontaine reached it a fraction of a second before Walker, but could not get a firm enough contact to divert it past Banks.
His faint touch was enough however to deflect it away from Bobby Moore’s attempt to reach it. The ball continued its flight across the face of the goal, to be met by the left foot of Platini, who had ghosted in at the far post and tapped home from a narrow angle. An unlucky goal from the point of view of England’s defenders, but Platini’s timing and reading of the situation deserved great credit.
As the 90 minutes ran down, France’s superb midfield was becoming ever more dominant, and although Fontaine was well-marshalled by Walker and Moore, Platini and Kopa always posed a goal threat.
Meanwhile, England’s new front partnership was being stifled without service. When the final whistle went, England looked the more relieved. Ramsey withdrew the tiring Lineker and pushed bobby Charlton forward to support Greaves.
Charlton’s place on the left was taken by Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin, himself a prolific scorer for a wide man. One winger was enough for Ramsey, so he also brought off Matthews, with Gascoigne coming on to help match the French in midfield.
Straight from kick-off in extra time, a surging run from the ever-eager Gazza took him deep into French territory, but Desailly met him in a thudding collision which floored both men. Greaves got to the loose ball but could hot pick out a shot through a crowd of bodies. Thierry Henry came on for Fontaine to run at the English defence, but on the whole Bobby Moore read his shuffles and body swerves.
England’s shoot-out record is poor, and France’s is somewhat mixed, so both sides were keen to settle things within the 120 minutes. The final chance fell to France, when a free kick was awarded for a foul on Henry by Jimmy Armfield.
Platini struck his kick beautifully, only to see it crash off the underside of the bar. Tigana gleefully smashed home the rebound, only to be left distraught as he realised the linesman had flagged him offside. Television replays suggested he had been very unlucky.
So to penalties, for the first time in the tournament. Greaves stepped up first and made no mistake. France captain Platini famously missed a kick in the 1986 quarter final against Brazil, but swept home easily this time.
Charlton blasted unstoppably down the middle, while Kopa opted for finesse. Gascoigne, serious for once, drove home high to bats’ right. Zinedine Zidane strolled up next, and lifted a soft shot straight into Banks’ waiting arms. He had scored penalties under intense pressure in the later stages of the biggest tournaments, but this time he had perhaps been too relaxed. Banks had read his mind games and had not dived left or right, but stood his ground.
The advantage was with England and Bryan Robson stepped up to extend it. To his horror, his powerful shot clipped the top of the bar and went over. France were reprieved and needed a cool head. Jean Tigana had not yet recovered from his disallowed ‘winner’ a few minutes earlier, so Patrick Battiston stepped up.
Perhaps grateful to be facing Gordon Banks rather than Germany’s Harald Schumacher, the defender clipped home low and hard. All square. Stuart Pearce put England back in front with a ferocious drive.
The England fans knew what penalty shoot-outs meant to him, and he was still enjoying their ovation when Thierry Henry stepped up, needing to score to keep the game alive. Silence fell around the stadium as France’s ‘Mr Cool’ stepped back for a short, two-step run up, and placed his right foot shot to Banks’ left, too high for the keeper to reach but also, excruciatingly, too high over the bar.
England’s celebrations contained more than a touch of surprise –they had only ever won one penalty shoot-put before. Next up for them, a summit meeting with Brazil.
France would be heading home, much earlier than they would have liked. There had been very little between the two sides, and indeed, France had played the better football.
The controversially disallowed Tigana goal would be a sore point for a long time, but Desailly, Amoros, Kopa, Fontaine and Zidane had all shown enough through the tournament to justify their reputations.
Michel Platini had shown that he was a step above, in amongst the very greatest in the game. A goal threat with his head and with either foot, a sublime passer and an inspirational leader, the tournament would miss him.
Penalty shoot-out
Greaves Scored 1-0
Platini Scored 1-1
Charlton Scored 2-1
Kopa Scored 2-2
Gascoigne Scored 3-2
Zidane Missed 3-2
Robson Missed 3-2
Battiston Scored 3-3
Pearce Scored 4-3
Henry Missed 4-3
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