When talking about Zidane we can hear a lot of extreme and very contradictary points of view. Some say he was among the very best players ever, some others say on the contrary that he was massively overrated. The focal point is often his WC performances and to begin with his WC98 performances. Those who deny Zidane status say that besides his two headers vs Brazil and his red-card vs Saudia Arabia he did nothing significant. I always find such a statement weird because that's not how I remember it. OPTA stats also shows he was actually very good. So, I wanted to know exactly what he did in that WC by watching again his games and pointing out moments in which Zidane created chances. Clear chances (or A grade chances) are indicated in italic characters - ie the chances that could (should ?) have been converted in goals but weren't due to bad luck and/or lack of quality players up-front (Dugarry and Guivarch, I'm talking about you here !). In bold characters : goals in which Zidane was decisively involved either in a direct way or indirect way. France vs south-africa 2 mn 10 : through pass to Dugarry who can't beat the GK in one vs one situation (clear chance). 2 mn 50 : assist to Dugarry from a corner kick. 3 mn 35 : key pass to Djorkaeff who passes the ball to Petit. Petit shoots on-target (clear chance) 4 mn 40 : through pass to Dugarry. Dugarry's shot is blocked. 4 mn 50 : pass to Lizarazu leading to a dangerous cross 6 mn 15 : long lateral pass to Henry on the right side. Henry runs and shoots off-target. 6 mn 25 : through pass to Henry. Henry runs on the right side but he's blocked before he can shoot the ball. 6 mn 45 : pass to Lizarazu leading to a dangerous cross France vs Saudia Arabia : 0 mn 40 : long pass to Henry leading to an off-target shot (clear chance) 1 mn 50 : key pass to Lizarazu leading to Henry's goal (secondary assist) 4 mn 00 : shot on target (clear chance) France vs Italy : 0 mn 15 : shot on target (clear chance) 3 mn 05 : pass to Petit inside the box. Petit is blocked before he can shoot. 3 mn 25 : cross to Karembeu leading to an off-target shot (clear chance) 3 mn 50 : pass to Henry leading to an off-target shot 4 mn 05 : long lateral pass leading to a successful cross from Thuram (?) and a shot from Henry (off-target) 4 mn 15 : pass to Petit. Petit's long-distance shot is blocked. 4 mn 50 : long through pass to Henry. Henry is blocked before he can shoot the ball. 5 mn 02 : long pass to Lizarazu on the left flank. Lizarazu is blocked before he can cross the ball. France vs Croatia : 0 mn 40 : on-target shot (clear chance) 1 mn 35 : off-target shot 1 mn 40 : off-target head shot 3 mn 10 : long distance shot on target 4 mn 30 : off-target volley 5 mn 25 : on-target volley 6 mn 12 : long lateral pass to Thuram. Thuram makes a 1-2's with Henry and he scores. 7 mn 43 : off-target shot after a long-run (clear chance) France vs Brazil : 0mn25 : pass to Guivarch after a long run. Guivarch can't beat the GK in one vs one situation (clear chance) 0mn45 : undirect free-kick leading to a head shot from Djorkaeff (off target) 1mn58 : 1st goal from corner kick 3 mn 15 : 2nd goal from corner kick 5 mn : long pass to Dugarry. Dugarry can't beat the GK in one vs one situation (clear chance) My view on that : Zidane's playmaking was actually quite good. He created a dozen of clear chances according to what I saw. He could have had 2-3 more assists (if not more) with a bit more of luck and with better strikers playing in front of him. He played 5 games in which France scored 11 goals. He was involved in 5 of them (2 goals, 1 assist, 1 secondary assist, 1 goal for which he started the action). He was quite good in the first round vs South Africa and Arabia Saudia but to be fair the opposite defenders were quite poor. He was also obviously excellent vs Brazil (but Brazil's poor defense helped him a lot) and -more surprisingly- vs Italy. Despite being very well marked by Di Baggio and Albertini he actually created a lot of chances. Zidane was however more average vs Croatia. He made a lot of shots but with little success and he created less chances in that game. One negative point is his overall relatively poor shooting accuracy and low goal-conversion rate throughout the tournament.
He was overally good in 1998 with a lot of skills, but probably those detractors - when replying to those who say that he is one of the few best players to ever play the game - want to imply that he didn't took the tournament by storm like Cruyff in 1974 or Maradona 1986 did, which is true. Also, I don't think that he was even the best player of his country during that tournament. Thuram would be a better choice in my opinion, despite Zidane's winning goals in the final. Overall, definitely among the top 10 of the competition though.
Zidane was good. The two goals vs Brazil are used to overrate or underrate his performance depending on what side you are on.
Aside the final against Brazil, where he dominated them, Zidane was merely alright the other matches. He also has the benefit of playing two mediocre opponents in South Africa and Saudi Arabia, missed the next two matches against tough teams in Denmark and Paraguay, showed flashes against Italy, was subpar against Croatia but brilliant against Brazil. Between WCs 98 and 06, Zidane completes one very good tournament.
How good was Zidane in WC98? Well, he was that, "good", not great, not impressive, if it wasn't for his final game against Brazil most people would've described him as "disappointing" even if France still won it in the end. His performances against South Africa and Saudi Arabia, although above average, were not "great", certainly, I would expect much more from a player of Zidane's reputation, when the opponent is as sub-par as (no offense) those nations surely were/are. Could you imagine what Maradona 1986 would do against South Africa and Saudi Arabia? I would say that many players have had better WCs than Zidane did in 1998, Pele 1970 Jairzinho 1970 Johan Cruijff 1974 Mario Kempes 1978 Zico 1982 Platini 1982 Diego Maradona 1986 Diego Maradona 1990 Lothar Matthaus 1990 Paul Gascoigne 1990 Gheorghe Hagi 1994 Romario 1994 Roberto Baggio 1994 Sebastian Veron 1998 Lilliam Thuram 1998 Ronaldo 1998 Rivaldo 2002 Roman Riquelme 2006 Andrea Pirlo 2006 Andres Iniesta 2010 Xavi Hernandez 2010 And those are just the players that I have seen, I am sure that a few or many other players that I haven't seen also did better than Zidane did at the 1998 World Cup. And yes, probably I'll look like a "hater", even though I genuinely enjoy watching Zidane play. I mean, let's be honest here, a lot of people say that "Zidane almost won two World Cups by himself" and that's just hilariously wrong. Could have Zidane ended the tournament with more assists? Certainly, but most of those "almost-assists" weren't great passes to begin with, most of those were rather simple passes. Against Brazil, Zidane could've easily had one assist, but the pass itself wasn't great in my opinion, what was great was the individual run before the pass. Zidane's passes at WC level simply aren't on the same level as Zico, Riquelme, Maradona, Valderrama, Veron, and many other players that I've never seen, probably. So, again, how good was Zidane in WC98? He did ok, but how else to say this: it was nothing remarkable, even if his goals in the final were crucial.
Agree with some here. Zidane never had a "remarkable WC" or so ... but overall, WC98 + WC06 (plus both Euro 00 and 04) made him a great playmaker in history. Zidane was NEVER a "dominant type" of player a la Pele. Mardadona Cryujff Ronaldo Garrincha Zico Platini... in such big games So Zidane had good to very good WC98, and had a very good WC06 (selected in both All star team WC) BUT ... To be honest, his 3goals in 2 WC finals did HELP his status/performance more than he should deserve there ....
This is a nice thread and I think potentially with more footage up on youtube there is a chance for a reassessment. I'm going to watch all the WC 98 matches again in a couple of months so will make a better contribution then. From memory players who I thought had a particularly good tournament were (not in any order): Suker, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Thuram, Desailly, Davids, Campbell, Veron, Dunga, Frank De Boer, Batistuta, Vieri.
Strictly speaking about his playmaking game, he did what a playmaker of his caliber was expected to in those first two games : he set up two goals and created 4-5 clear chances. However he only shoot once (from what I saw) which is a low figure for an offensive player. I don't know, but I've never put Maradona into the equation (and -to be clear- I don't consider Zidane to be as good as him). The players in bold are extremely questionable choices to say the least. And Zidane was probably as good as some others as well. These kinds of things are hard to say. See Roberto Baggio in 1994 for example : he was extraordinary in 3 games and average at best in the 4 other ones. It was a kind of improved version of what Zidane did in 2006. At the end of the day Baggio was involved in 5 goals -like Zidane in 98- and created much less chances than he did. And he was a failure in the final. But it's not a matter of how 'great' these passes were. We don't talk about aesthetics here. What matters is how he was capable to create chances for others which is -after all- what he was supposed to do as a playmaker. Anyway as I said in a previous post the number of assist doesn't tell the whole story. Zidane's secondary assist leading to Henry's goal vs Saoudia Arabia was a key pass as important as Lizarazu's assist but it was counted as a 'normal' pass. Better yet : Zidane's long transversal pass leading to Thuram's goal was hardly noticeable but it was as important as Henry's assist (though, to be fair, Thuram made 90 % of the effort). That's why stats don't say all with players such as Zidane. Anyway, Zidane was capable of making great passes. See at 5 : 30 for example Or these ones at 5:49 and 6:02
We don't know what Maradona would do against South Africa and the Arabs but we do know what he did against South Korea in 1986
Lizarazu was probably as good as Thuram to be honest. His two goals are what put Thuram a step above him (and eveyone else in my opinion). In his own unspectacular way, Deschamps -like Dunga- was also instrumental.
France was already qualified when they met Denmark and the usual starters didn't play that game (except Barthez, Desailly, Petit and Djorkaeff). Jacquet wanted to rest his players and to avoid injuries so Zidane would have most likely not played that game had he been not banned.
I'd back you up about Campbell in WC98 from my own memory. I wouldn't pick them out among the very top stars of the tournament but generally speaking I think Scholes, Beckham (despite the sending off) and certainly Owen could be other England players worth a mention. Not so sure about Batistuta (again from my own memory, plus watching the England and Netherlands games again more recently). Ortega was actually playing very well vs England but was another who got himself sent off (like Zidane, Beckham). I seem to recall Ronald De Boer also having a very good tournament in the Dutch midfield. Bergkamp I'd include but he had his great moment vs Argentina in what might otherwise have been his least impressive game I think. I think (unlike WC94 and WC2002) I perhaps didn't choose an all-tournament team myself or at least don't remember details about doing so. Both Laudrups would be there or thereabouts too I think, and maybe Croatian midfielders and Italian defenders would come into contention. Overall, I think the chosen All-Star squad was pretty good IIRC and my choices would be fairly similar.
Perhaps, but Zidane still missed the match against Paraguay, which had Cardozo not been garbage, Paraguay could have well won it in regulation time. I also think Zidane is nowhere near top 5 for WC98, here are six better players than him at a tournament where many of the big players shined: Boban, Suker, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Laudrup, Ortega. You could make an argument for Owen, Batistuta, Salas, Vieri and Bergkamp as well. As for Baggio at WC94, his performance was much more clutch in three matches versus only one by Zidane at WC98, plus Baggio kept Italy in the game in the final despite the fact that no attacking player had a good game there. Easily, Baggio's performance at WC94 is far more memorable and certainlyh gives us more material for conversation than Zidane at WC98.
By the virtue of what were they better than Zidane ? i don't say Zidane was necesarily better than them, but I don't think it's as clear as you say. See the three playmakers you mentioned for example : Boban, Laudrup and Ortega. All of them are far behind Zidane when it comes to the number of chances created. And you can't make as if his two goals in final didn't exist. The clutch factor should be taken in consideration in a short tournament like a WC. That's why I don't think Ronaldo and Rivaldo -who both failed in the final- should be considered (and the fact Ronaldo was ill or not doesn't matter here). Berkamp was great though, no doubt. It depends on the way you see it. On one hand you got Baggio who was mediocre in the three first games (by his own standards), great in three next ones and average to good in the last one (during which he missed his PK). On the other hand you got Zidane who had three good games, one average game and one great game who happened to be the final one. I don't think the answer is as clear as you say. Baggio 94 was more iconic spectacular, and memorable than Zidane 98. But that doesn't mean it was better.
Boban is not far behind Zidane in chances created, he was fulcrum to anything good that Croatia would do throughout the tournament. Also, Laudrup was the playmaker for Denmark and performed better overall than Zidane. Bergkamp did nothing agasint Brazil, by the way. You seem to be a master of semantics in this kind of arguments . Baggio at WC94 was botgh more memorable and better than Zidane at WC98. Only one match by Zidane, against Brazil, can compare to three of Baggio's matches plus the dramatics of his last-minute goals comfortably puts him ahead of Zidane's performance.
I can't see how Laudrup was better than Zidane. ...except that the game that compares to the three of Baggio was the final. Without semantics : Zidane raised his level when it mattered (in the final) whereas Baggio did not. In a knock-out tournament, it's something you just can't ignore.
Laudrup's game was uniformly great throughout the tournament in leading a much less stacked side than France to its highest WC standing ever. Without Thuram and Djorkaeff, Zidane watches the final at his favorite pub, the semifinal match, and the round of 16 for that matter, are elimination matches in a knockout tournament. Baggio's great performances in WC94 were precisely at the knockout stage against Nigeria, Spain and Bulgaria. He was also important for Italy in the final. Overall, of the four knockout matches for their teams, Baggio was better than Zidane in three of them.
BOth were good to very good level at WC98. You are right Zidane "raised up in big game FINAL" made the difference between them There are "point system" and sequence to rate player In some order 1- Direct scoring wining goals % (Pele 58 scored 4 winning goals/6 > Jaizinho scored 3 winning goals/7) 2- Goals + assists % to team goals 3- Contribution in more games % from group to final (for example Jaizinho scored in every game > Romario/Baggio ... in less games) 4- Points system Final > SF > QF=16 > Group 5- chances creation % 6- Last and not least, others like pass %, shooting %, duel won%
I think Boban and Laudrup was close to Zidane98 , only his 2goals in final separated them apart. Ortega was also good, with 2 ggreat game Rivaldo was not doing a clear playmaker job in WC98 but he was also same or better than Zidane up to Final. Rivaldo was better in WC02 though. Ronaldo was clear better than Zidane without the final (especially he was not fit there) Zidane was surely NOT in best 5 at WC98. Only Thuram was a clear case to compete with Ronaldo FOR GOLDENBALL. agree. Note that Thuram was ASSIGNED to manmark Ronaldo in th final ... fortunately he did not have to do much ... against the half fit no soul man. 2nd bold agree fully with you. WC or UCL or Euro Copa were all the events where the great players gotta show their worth as "clutch" type or not. Besides the unfit WC98 final, Ronaldo scored in all other finals he ever played 16goals/14 final games. For Zidane he was not excellent in any tourney but he was always consistent good to great there *2 WC and 2 Euros. They both were surely the most CLUTCH players of last 2,3 decades ...
Babaorum, props on a spot-on analysis of Zidane's 98 WC performances in the OP. Would like to add a few things to provide some context for the uninitiated or the forgetful, as background to your overall analysis, 1. Zidane was under tremendous pressure to do well in the 98 final after 3 back-to-back final losses in major tournaments prior to this match and since France was the host nation with a point to prove considering the debacle of the French WC 92 qualification campaign 2. This was not Zidane's peak NT tournament performance but his second best NT tournament performance (his best was at the Euro 00 but his peak should have been the WC 02 which sadly was cut short by injury) 3. Brazil were considered to be favourites to retain the title after they made it to the final by beating the Netherlands on penalties while Euro holders Germany's exit along with the manner of it i.e. 3-0 against the dark horse Croatia in the quarter final was the shock of the tournament 4. In the same tournament against Yugoslavia, Bergkamp was not penalised for a similar foul, to the one committed by Zidane for which he was given a straight red card against Saudi Arabia 5. Zidane's WC 98 performance is kicker magazine's highest rated for an attacking player in a WC tournament with a minimum 5 or more games played (i.e. at least 66.67% or 2/3rds participation), since they started maintaining an online database i.e. incidentally since the 98WC (props to Schwuppe for the source)
What? This has nothing to do with any specific player at all. I think playing well and being eliminated shouldn't be seen as superior to playing well, advancing and then playing badly. Maybe I should have said 'a player' instead of 'they'.
It is not only for Zidane but those match ratings feel quite random to some extent http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...frankreich/22335/spieler_zinedine-zidane.html