Yes it will be confirmed in the next post. They say 5,90 for Stam though but I'm confident you made the exactly right calculations. As for Bergkamp, yes, he has 6 before and after the game against Croatia whilst he received a 4 for this 3rd place match. Perhaps you have all those issues too?
Thanks for clarifying, or rather clarifying there is no clarity! Yeah and Zidane received a 0 or 1 for his red card game I think? (standard rules of either L'Equipe or FF I remember) Surely DB10 wasn't entirely fit in the tournament, hence him used as a sub vs Belgium (entered 65th minute) and subbed out against Croatia... Still three beautiful goals and three very crafty assists (the assist vs Mexico, Argentina).
What would be feasible (numbers wise) for Bergkamp would be if he ended on 6 out of 10 over 6 games after the 3rd place match, but was on 6.4 over 5 games after the semi-final. The Football Ratings BlogSpot page suggested 6.4 at the end though of course. Alternatively it could be 6.4 if he got an 8 for the 3rd place match (taken off on 57 minutes) and wasn't rated for the Mexico match (taken off after 72 minutes). That would seem an unlikely scenario but he could have been averaging 6 for a total of 24 before his last game I suppose in theory. The absence of Ronald de Boer is interesting in that long list, but it could be they didn't rate him enough rather than lack of rated games (after semi-final?) - I'm not sure. Bergkamp on 6 would be a bit under what the Italian sources had him down for, whereas 6.4 would be a bit above. Maybe L'Equipe's ratings were fairly conservative (maybe 5.5 is considered an average/standard performance?). EDIT - wm, yes, if Bergkamp got a 4 in the 3rd place match, that is also consistent with a final grade of 6, having been 6.4 after the semi-final. That seems the most likely thing perhaps, but no I don't have any issues of the magazine (I was just using the grades posted for the Final for Thuram/Desailly/Rivaldo/Ronaldo and working out how things must have been for Stam and Asanovic).
Ok, so... L'EQUIPE ratings after the semi-finals were just played (before the "little final"). As printed. Criterias of inclusion : players who qualified for the round of 16 and were rated at least 4 times. Keepers : 1. Barthez, 6,42. 2. Chilavert, 6,38 3. Schmeichel, 6,20 4. Grodaas, 6,13 5. Pagliuca, 6,10 6. Ladic, 6,08 7. Van der Sar, 5,92 8. Stelea, 5,88 9. Roa, 5,80 10. Taffarel, 5,75 11. Seaman & Campos, 5,50 13. Tapia & Kralj, 5,38 15. Köpke, 5,30 16. Rufaï, 4,75 Field Players : 1. Desailly & Thuram, 7 3. Petit, 6,80 4. Matthaüs, 6,75 5. Ronaldo, 6,67 6. B. Laudrup 6,60 7. Rivaldo, 6,58 8. Zamorano & Gamarra, 6,50 10. Ortega, Veron and Davids, 6,40 13. Di Biagio, 6,38 14. Dunga, 6,33 15. Henry, 6,30 16. Campbell, Scholles, Shearer, Blanco, Hernandez, Ayala (Par), F. de Boer, 6,25 23. Cafu & Vieri, 6,20 25. Junior Baiano, Asanovic, Suker, 6,17 28. Wörns, Benitez, Overmars, Ilie, Petrovic, 6,13 33. Batistuta, Jörgensen, M. Laudrup, Lizarazu, 6,10 37. Bierhoff, Adams, Anderton, Le Saux, Margas, Blanc, Zidane, Cannavaro, Jugovic, Mihajlovic, Bergkamp, Stam, 6. 49. Helveg, Cocu, Stam (they have him two times already), 5,90 ... By country : Germany : Matthaüs, 6,75 England : Campbell, Shearer and Scholes, 6,25 Argentina : Ortega & Veron, 6,40 Brazil : Ronaldo 6,67 Chile : Zamorano 6,50 Croatia : Asanovic & Suker 6,17 Denmark : B. Laudrup 6,60 France : Desailly & Thuram, 7 Italy : Di Biagio, 6,38 Mexico : Blanco & Hernandez, 6,25 Nigeria : Okocha, 6,67 Norway : Grodaas, 6,13 Paraguay : Gamarra, 6,50 The Netherlands : Davids, 6,40 (so his final rating must be 6,33 as he received a 6 against Croatia, in the 3rd place match*). Romania : Ilie, 6,13 Yugoslavia : Petrovic, 6,13 *, as said right now by PDG1978 amongst other observations. See previous page.
Ok, maybe the other possibility is they gave Bergkamp a 4 in the final game but then considered they wouldn't include that rating since he came off fairly early. It's either that, or it was initially 6.4 after the semi-final and the 6 is for after the 3rd place match (maybe that can still be the case if a ratings list was posted that had two different grades for Stam/Asanovic/Davids - maybe Bergkamp's 6.4 was posted at some point after the semi-final and picked up by Football Ratings BlogSpot).
There was a good gestion of him for sure. Then I tend to think that it was for tactical reasons too. Both things at once + yes it permitted him to be decisive when needed, against the most "playful" teams also it seems, I'd tend to think (Mexico, Yugo, Argentina...) but hopefully he was here, it's not a negative critic just an observation, a point of view. We can have this impression indeed, me too, most of all when knowing that the traditional FF ratings with their maximum score and the "extraordinary performances" were rated with a 6. It's like they did not want to touch to the sacred number... lol. As for the maths (erm), I'm totally confident in your calculations and hypothesis.
It does seem the 6.4 for Bergkamp might be a typo or misunderstanding then, and actually the Italian ratings might be the slightly better for him (and he got included in the All-Star squad of course). Zidane can't have been rated for the game he was sent-off in by l'Equipe I think, otherwise they'd be giving him less than a 6 for the Final lol! He must just have 4 rated games I think.
Actually, looking at things after a sleep: It seems Zidane's final rating (after a 9 in the Final - you showed that before wm I think...with Thuram on 8, Desailly on 7.5 despite a sending off etc), would have been 6.6, because he must have been rated for 4 games at an average of 6 before that game. Bergkamp's final score seems like it can be 6, if either they erroneously showed it as 6 (instead of 6.4) in a summary pre-'little final' and corrected that later, or if they finally discounted the 3rd place game for him (considering perhaps that he only played less than two thirds of the game) and just counted five ratings as before. Using a 4 games minimum criteria this seems to be the L'Equipe best XI: Barthez; Thuram, Matthaus (otherwise Gamarra), Desailly, Lizarazu; Veron, Petit; Ortega, Zidane; B.Laudrup, Zamorano A 5 games minimum team might have Davids (for the above team it seemed there was no reason not to convert to a magic square line-up and insert Ortega with Zidane though really) but I'm not sure right now, and possibly Ronaldo too despite the Final even, if Bergkamp's rating is not 6.4 (which it now seems it can't be even if it's uncertain what it finally would have been). Rivaldo arguably would be in the ballpark to be in too I think, perhaps instead of Ronaldo finally if B.Laudrup as lone attacker seemed agreeable (Rivaldo could be shown alongside, but settled more on a left side role of course).
Otherwise Rivaldo seemingly. Whether the FootballRatingsBlogspot page indicates Suker didn't get an 8 or higher I'm not sure. A 7.5 would see him above Ronaldo actually though I think too (I make it that 8.5 would seem him equal Zamorano's average and so seem a feasible choice for the 4 games minimum team too as he'd have several more rated games, albeit being behind until the 3rd place play-off ratings). The Final match ratings were on the page Puck posted the link to for those ratings (seemingly 5 games minimum but incorrect for Bergkamp) of course. So it's the 3rd place game I was guessing on. If Frank de Boer's rating was not too bad in that one then he'd be the other one making a 5 games minimum team I think. Barthez, Thuram, Desailly, Lizarazu, Veron, Petit, Ortega, Zidane and Brian Laudrup should all still be in that XI anyway.
Holland v Croatia was : Sar 6. Stam, F. de Boer and Numan 5,5. Seedorf, Jonk and Davids, 6. Cocu, 4,5. Bergkamp and Kluivert, 4. Ladic 7. Soldo 5,5. Stimac and Bilic 6. Prosinecki, Boban, Asanovic and Jarni, 5,5. Suker and Stanic, 6. France v Croatia was : Barthez 7. Thuram, 8,5. Blanc, 6,5. Desailly, 7. Lizarazu 6. Karembeu (no rating, replaced by Henry at the 31', 6). Deschamp, 6. Petit, 7. Zidane, Djorkaeff and Guivarc'h 6,5. Ladic 7. Bilic and Stimac 6. Simic, 5,5. Stanic 5, Soldo 6, Asanovic and Jarni, 5. Boban 4,5. Suker 6. Vlaovic 4,5. L'Equipe did not apply the same rules as France Football concerning the red-carded players. It seems. Not for the French players in any case (I don't have other magazine issues). Yes, F. de Boer was better rated than Lizarazu in general I think : was actually very good, made those passes, looked superior to other teammates at the back. Lizarazu at one point looked to suffer physically (Italy, Croatia), more than some of his teammates in defense and was particularly exposed against Croatia and their "secret weapon" Stanic on his side, who had the same role of "harasser" as Binic at Red Star '91, here on the right. Stanic'role was a bit different against Holland it seems, more like a second striker a bit on the right, more like Binic '91 finally on the paper, though in terms of what they did on the pitch the comparison with the game Fra v Cro is more valuable since Red Star did not attack much against Marseille (so the idea that Binic was not really a striker, but a counter-attacker from quite deep on the pitch before all). Way, way less than Croatia against France, and Stanic was an offensive threat and truly blocked his side as well at the same time. I'm not sure why Stanic received only a 5 because he was very annoying from memories. Probably he faded during the second half...
Frank de Boer and Suker both ended on 6.14 then I think. That does look enough to put Frank in the 5 games minimum Team of the Tournament of l'Equipe (as Matthaus and Gamarra plus all Paraguayans are ineligible for that). Not so for Suker though, as Ronaldo would still be ahead of him so even if nobody else took the place of Zamorano then he would do before Suker.
I know the games are probably all on Footballia anyway, and it's only a week's worth of games from the end of the group stage, but here are some player ratings from Shoot, 4th July 1998: Nigeria vs Bulgaria Shoot Verdict: Top Skills, Exciting, Great crowd Man of the Match: Jay Jay Okocha (Playing in a role between the midfield and forwards, the tiny African was impossible to pick up and produced quality every time he was in possession) Bulgarian best player: Guentchev Nigeria: Rufal 7, Babayaro 8, Uche 7, West 7, Finidi 7 (Babangida 6), Adepoju 7, Okocha 9, Lawal 6, Oliseh 7, Ikpeba 8 (Yekini 6), Amokachi 8 (Kanu 6) Bulgaria: Zdravkov 7, Kischischev 6, Ivanov 7, Petkov 6, Guentchev 7, Hristov 7 (Borimirov 7), Yankov 6 (Batchev 6), Balakov 6, Iliev 6 (Penev 6), Kostadinov 7, Stoichkov 6 Spain vs Paraguay Shoot Verdict: Boring Man of the Match: Celso Ayala (The Paraguay central defender was in commanding form as he managed to snuff out any threat the Spanish offered in the final third of the field) Spanish best player: Hierro Spain: Zubizaretta 7, Alkorta 6, Abelardo 6 (Celades 6), Sergi 7, Aguilera 7, Hierro 7, Amor 6, Luis Enrique 7, Pizzi 6 (Morientes 6), Raul 6 (Kike 6), Etxteberia 7 Paraguay: Chilavert 8, Arce 7, Gamarra 7, Ayala 8, Sarabia 6, Caniza 6, Acuna 7 (Yegros 5), Benitez 6, Enciso 6, Rojas 6 (Ramires 6), Campos 6 (Paredes 6) Belgium vs Mexico Shoot Verdict: Exciting, Punch Up, Top Skills Man of the Match: Marc Wilmots (Scored two top goals and worked hard throughout for the Belgium cause. Vital as his side fought back from two down) Mexican best player: Suarez Belgium: De Wilde 6, Staelens 6, Vidovic 6, Borkelmans 6, Deflandre 6, Van Der Elst 7 (De Boeck 6), Wilmots 8, Scifo 7, Boffin 6 (Verhayen 7), Oliveira 7, Nilis 6 (Mpenza 6) Mexico: Campos 5, Suarez 8, Sanchez 6, Davino 6, Pardo 6, Ramirez 6, Garcia Aspe 7 (Lara 6), Ordiales 6 (Villa 6), Blanco 7, Hernandez 7, Palencia 6 (Arellano 7) Netherlands vs South Korea Shoot Verdict: Top Skills, Exciting, Great crowd Man of the Match: Dennis Bergkamp (He linked midfield to attack with perfection and looked dangerous every time he honed in on goal. He was superb throughout) South Korea best player: Min Sung Lee Holland: Van der Sar 6, Stam 8, Numan 7 (Bogarde 6), F. De Boer 7, Jonk 7, R.De Boer 8 (Zenden 6), Davids 7, Cocu 7, Overmars 8, Bergkamp 9 (Van Hooijdonk 7) South Korea: Byung Ji Kim 6, Young Il Choi 6, Min Sung Lee 7, Hong 5, Sung Yong Choi 5 (Tae Young Kim 6), Yoo 6, Do Hoon Kim 6 (Ko 5), Sang Yoon Lee 6, Do Hoon Kim 5, Yong Soo Chol 6, Seo 6 (Dang Gook Lee 6) Japan vs Croatia Shoot Verdict: Boring, Great crowd Man of the Match: Davor Suker (The only player on the pitch able to sustain his talents throughout the entire 90 minutes) Japanese best player: Nakata Japan: Kawaguchi 6, Narahashi 5 (Morishima 6), Akita 6, Ihara 6, Soma 6, Nakanishi 6, Nanami 6 (Lopes 6), Nakata 7, Yamaguchi 6, Nakayama 6 (Okano 6), Jo 6 Croatia: Ladic 6, Soldo 6, Stimac 6 (Vlaovic 7), Bilic 7, Jarni 7, Simic 6, Jurcic 6, Asanovic 8, Prosinecki 7 (Maric 7), Stanic 7 (Tudor 7), Suker 9 Germany vs Yugoslavia Shoot Verdict: Exciting, Top Skills Man of the Match: Dragan Stojkovic (Yugoslavia's impressive midfield general tore the Germans apart for 70 minutes) German best player: Bierhoff Germany: Kopke 5, Worns 6, Kohler 6, Thon 6, Heinrich 6, Moller 6 (Kirsten 7), Jeremies 7, Hamann 6 (Matthaus 7), Ziege 5 (Tarnat 7), Klinsmann 6, Bierhoff 8 Yugoslavia: Kraij 7, Mihajlovic 6, Komeljenovic 6, Petrovic 6 (Stavic 6), Djorovic 7, Jokanovic 7, Stojkovic 9, Stankovic 7 (Govedarica 7), Jugovic 7, Kovacevic 6 (Ognjenovic 6), Mijatovic 8 Jamaica vs Argentina Shoot Verdict: Top Skills, Punch Up, Great crowd Man of the Match: Ariel Ortega (Brilliant skills, two excellent goals and non-stop running all game. Just ask Darryl Powell how good Argentina's new wonder boy is!) Jamaican best player: Gardner Jamaica: Barrett 6, Goodison 6, Gardner 7, Sinclair 5, Malcolm 6 (Boyd 6), Dawes 6, Simpson 6, Whitmore 5 (Earle 6), Powell 5, Burton 6 (Cargill 6), Hall 6 Argentina: Roa 6, Ayala 6, Chamot 6, Sensini 6 (Vivas 6), Zanetti 7, Almeyda 7, Simeone 7 (Pineda 6), Ortega 9, Veron 8, Lopez 7 (Gallardo 6), Batistuta 8 USA vs Iran Shoot Verdict: Exciting, Great crowd Man of the Match: Medhi Mahdevikia (The attack minded right back had an excellent game and scored a superb second goal for Iran) USA best player: McBride USA: Keller 6, Hejduk 7, Pope 6, Dooley 6 (Maissoneuve 6), Regis 6, Wegerle 5 (Radosavljevic 6), Moore 6, Ramos 6 (Stewart 6), Jones 6, McBride 7, Reyna 6 Iran: Abedjadeh 6, Mahdevikia 9, Kakpour 6, Bagheri 7, Estili 7, Daei 8, Azizi 7 (Mansourian 7), Mohammadkhani 6 (Pehravani 6), Zarinceh 6 (Saadavi 6), Pashazadeh 7, Minavand 7 ....to be continued (with England vs Romania, Colombia vs Tunisia, Italy vs Austria, Chile vs Cameroon, Scotland vs Morocco, Brazil vs Norway, South Africa vs Saudi Arabia, France vs Denmark, Nigeria vs Paraguay, Spain vs Bulgaria, Belgium vs South Korea, Netherlands vs Mexico, Germany vs Iran, USA vs Yugoslavia, Japan vs Jamaica, Argentina vs Croatia, Tunisia vs Romania, England vs Colombia)
England vs Romania Shoot Verdict: Top skills, Great crowd Man of the Match: Gheorghe Hagi (He may be 33 and not have the legs anymore, but Hagi's brain and superior passing had England in a daze. Sadly, the great man is set to retire from the International stage after France '98) English best player: No player bolded (not sure if a mistake - two starting players and two subs received a 7 anyway, as shown below) Romania: Stelea 6, Clobotariu 7, Petrescu 7, Gica Popescu 7, Filipescu 6, Galca 7, Hagi 8 (Stinga 5, Marinescu 6), Munteanu 7, Gabriel Popescu 7, Illie 7, Moldovan 7 (Lacatus 6) England: Seaman 6, Adams 6, Campbell 7, Le Saux 6, Neville 6, Anderton 7, Batty 6, Ince 6 (Beckham 7), Scholes 6, Shearer 6, Sheringham 5 (Owen 7) Colombia vs Tunisia Shoot Verdict: Exciting, Great crowd Man of the Match: Carlos Valderrama (The 37 year old skipper proved that he is still one of the best midfielders at France '98) Tunisian best player: Trabelsi Colombia: Mondragon 7, Cabrera 6, Palacios 7, Santa 6, Burmudez 7, Lozano 7, Rincon 6 (Alstizabal 6), Valderrama 9, Serna 6 (Bolano 6), De Avila, Valencia 7 (Preciado 8) Tunisia: El Ouaer 7, Thabet 6 (Ghodbane 6), Chouchane 6, Clayton 7, Trabelsi 7, Bouazizi 6, Chichi 6, Souayah 6, Baya 6 (Ben Ahmed 6), Sellimi 7 (Ben Younes 6), Ben Slimane 7 Italy vs Austria Shoot Verdict: Top skills, Exciting, Great crowd Man of the Match: Christian Vieri (The Atletico Madrid striker's goal was his fourth of the tournament and on this display there are a few more to come. The Golden Boot could be his) Austrian best player: Reinmayr Italy: Pagliuca 7, Maldini 7, Cannavaro 6, Costacurta 5, Nesta 5 (Bergomi 7), Pessotto 6, D.Baggio 7, Di Biagio 7, Moriero 6, Del Piero 6 (R.Baggio 7), Vieri 8 (Inzaghi 6) Austria: Konsel 5, Schottel 5, Pfeffer 6, Feiersinger 5, Pfeifenberger 5 (Herzog 6), Reinmayr 7, Wetl 7, Mahlich 6, Kuhbauer 5, Vastic 6, Polster 5 (Haas 6) Chile vs Cameroon Shoot Verdict: Exciting, Great crowd Man of the Match: Francois Omam-Biyick (A tower of strength in the Cameroon frontline who was unlucky to have two goals disallowed) Chilean best player: Zamorano Chile: Tapia 6, Fuentes 6, Rojas 6 (Ramirez 6), Margas 7, Reyes 6, Parraguez 6, Acuna 7, Sierra 8 (Estay 8), Villaroel 7 (Cornejo 6), Zamorano 8, Salas 7 Cameroon: Songo'o 6, Wome 7, Song 6, Njanka 6, Pensee 6, Olembe 6 (Angibeaud 6), Ndo 7 (Etame 5), Mahouve 7, Omam-Biyick 9, Mboma 8, Job 8 (Tchami 6) Scotland vs Morocco Shoot Verdict: Exciting, Great crowd Man of the Match: Salahedine Bassir (Morocco's superstar had a quiet tournament up until this game, but exploded with two goals in an accomplished performance) Scotland's best player: Lambert Scotland: Leighton 6, McNamara 6 (T.McKinlay 6) , Boyd 6, Hendry 6, Weir 6, Burley 5, Collins 7, Lambert 8, Dailly 6, Gallacher 6, Durie 7 (Booth 7) Morocco: Benzekri 7, Saber 7 (Rossi 6), Naybet 7, Abrami 6, Triki 6, Hadji 6, Amzine 6 (Azzouzi 6), Chippo 7 (Sellami 6), El Khalej 7, Hadda 8, Bassir 9 Brazil vs Norway Shoot Verdict: Top skills, Exciting, Great crowd Man of the Match: Tore-Andre Flo (The giant Chelsea striker caused Brazil problems all night, scored the first goal and won the penalty for the second. A fine display) Brazilian best player: Denilson Brazil: Taffarel 6, Cafu 6, Junior Baiano 6, Roberto Carlos 6, Goncalves 6, Dunga 7, Denilson 8, Leonardo 7, Rivaldo 7, Ronaldo 6, Bebeto 7 Norway: Grodas 7, Bjornebye 7, Berg 7, Johnsen 7, Strand 6, Eggen 7, Leonhardsen 7, Rekdal 8 (Mykland 6), T.Flo 9, Riseth 6 (J.Flo 6), H.Flo 6 (Solskjaer 6) South Africa vs Saudi Arabia Shoot Verdict: Exciting, Great crowd, Top skills Man of the Match: Shaun Bartlett (The stocky striker was inspirational for the World Cup newcomers, scoring two and creating chances galore) Saudi Arabian best player: Amin South Africa: Vonk 6, Fish 7, Issa 6, Jackson 6 (Buckley 6), Nyathl 6, Radebe 7, Fortune 7 (Khumale 6), Makhalele 7, Moshoeu 6, Bartlett 8, McCarthy 6 (Sikhosana 6) Saudi Arabia: Al-Deayea 6, Al-Jahani 6, Sulimani 7, Zubromawi 6, Al-Temayt 6, Amin 7, Dossari 6, Saleh 7, Al-Jaber 7, Al-Mahalel 6 (Al-Sharani 6), Al-Tunian 7 (Al-Harbi 6) France vs Denmark Shoot Verdict: Great crowd, Top skills Man of the Match: Patrick Vieira (The Arsenal maestro was at his majestic best and just had the edge on his Gunnars team-mate Emmanuel Petit) Danish best player: Michael Laudrup France: Barthez 6, Candela 6, Desailly 7, Leboeuf 7, Djorkaeff 8, Karembeu 7, Petit 8 (Boghossian 6), Vieira 8, Diomede 6, Pires 6 (Henry 6), Trezeguet 6 (Guivarc'h 6) Denmark: Schmeichel 6, Rieper 7, Hogh 7, Heintze 6, Laursen 6 (Colding 6), Schjonberg 7, Helveg 7, Nielsen 7, Jorgensen 6 (Sand 6), M.Laudrup 7, B.Laudrup 6 (Tofting 6) Nigeria vs Paraguay Shoot Verdict: Exciting, Great crowd, Top skills Man of the Match: Celso Ayala (Set Paraguay on their way with a first minute headed goal, before returning to the defence to snuff out the threat from Kanu) Nigerian best player: Oliseh Nigeria: Rufal 5, Eguavoen 5, Iroha 6, Okafor 6, West 6, Babangida 6, Kanu 5, Lawal 6, Oliseh 7 (Okpara 6), Oruma 6 (Finidi 6), Yekini 6 Paraguay: Chilavert 7, Arce 6, Ayala 8, Caniza 6 (Yegres 6), Gamarra 7, Sarabia 7, Benitez 8 (Acuna 6), Enciso 7, Paredes 7, Brizuela 7 (Rojas 6), Cardoza 8
Spain vs Bulgaria Shoot Verdict: Top skills, Exciting, Great crowd Man of the Match: Luis Enrique (After disappointing against Nigeria and Paraguay the Barcelona ace showed all his class as he inspired Spain to a resounding victory) Bulgarian best player: Balakov Spain: Zubizarreta 7, Alkorta 7, Sergi 7, Aguilera 6, Nadal 6, Hierro 7, Amor 6, Luis Enrique 9 (Guerrero 7), Morientes 8, Alfonso 7, Etxeberria 7 (Raul 6) Bulgaria: Zdravkov 4, Kischischev 5, Ivanov 5, Iordanov 6, Guentchev 6, Balakov 6, Nankov 5 (Penev 6), Borimirov 6, Batchev 6, Kostadinov 5, Stoichkov 5 (Iliev 6) Belgium vs South Korea Shoot Verdict: Top skills, Great crowd Man of the Match: Ji Byung Kim (The Korean 'keeper was inspirational and he made a succession of saves to earn the draw) Belgian best player: Nilis Belgium: Van de Walle 6, Staelens 7, Vidovic 6, Borkelmans 6, Deflandre 6, Wilmots 6, Van Kerckhoven 6, Scifo 6 (Van der Elst 7), Clement 6 (E.Mpenza 6), Oliveira 6 (M.Mpenza 6), Nilis 7 South Korea: Byung Ji Kim 8, Min Sung Lee 7, Sang Hun Lee 6 (Syok Hung Jang 6), Tae Young Kim 7, Myung Bo Hong 7, Sung Yong Choi 6 (Saeng Lim Lee 6), Sang Chul Yoo 7, Do Keun Kim 6 (Jeung Soo Ko 6), Sook Ju Ha 6, Yong Soo Choi 7, Jung Won Soo 6 Netherlands vs Mexico Shoot Verdict: Exciting, Top skills, Great crowd Man of the Match: Philip Cocu (Was a constant headache for the Mexican defence and scored Holland's second after linking with Dennis Bergkamp*) Mexican best player: Hernandez* * They gave Hernandez the best grade of the game so maybe they intended to give Cocu and 8 or him a 7 but I'm not sure. It's the second uncertainty I've spotted of that type after no England player of the match vs Romania (if I guess maybe they didn't bolden a starting player because they were giving it to Owen, but forgot to bold him too, but again I'm not sure). The Bergkamp/Cocu goal was the first for the Dutch in this game too of course - Shoot does show that correctly when revealing the game result but just says second in the text re: Cocu. Holland: Van der Sar 6, Reiziger 6, Stam 6, F.De Boer 7, Numan 6 (Bogarde 6), Jonk 6 (Winter 6), R.De Boer 7, Cocu 7, Davids 7, Bergkamp 7 (Hasselbaink 6), Overmars 7 Mexico: Campos 6, Suarez 7 (Palaez 6), Sanchez 6, Davino 7, Carmona 7, Villa 6, Ramirez 6, Garcia Aspe 7, Blanco 7, Hernandez 8, Luna 6 (Arellano 7) Germany vs Iran Shoot Verdict: Boring, First aid Man of the Match: Oliver Bierhoff (Iran couldn't cope with the pace and power of the AC Milan-bound frontman who scored Germany's first with a towering header) Iranian best player: Zarincheh Germany: Kopke 6, Worns 6, Kohler 7, Matthaus 6, Helmer 6, Thon 6 (Hamann 6), Heinrich 7, Tarnat 7 (Ziege 6), Hassler 7 (Kirsten 7), Bierhoff 8, Kilnsmann 7 Iran: Abedzadeh 7, Khakpour 6, Pashazadeh 6, Mohammadkhani 7, Bagheri 7, Estil 6, Minavand 6, Mahdavikia 7, Zarincheh 7 (Din Mohammadi 6), Azizi 7, Daei 7 USA vs Yugoslavia Shoot Verdict: Exciting, Great crowd Man of the Match: Brian McBride (The towering forward made it an uncomfortable ride for the Yugoslav defence, especially at set pieces) Yugoslav best player: Jugovic USA: Friedel 6, Regis 7, Hejduk 7 (Wynalda 6), Dooley 6 (Balboa 6), Jones 7, Reyna 6, Maissoneuvre 6, Burn 6, Stewart 6, Moore 6 (Radesavjevik 7), McBride 8 Yugoslavia: Kralj 6, Djorovic 6, Mihajlovic 7, Komljenovic 7, Petrovic 6, Jokanovic 6, Jugovic 7, Stojkovic 6 (Savicevic 6), Stankovic 6 (Brnovic 6), Mijatovic 7 (Ognjenovic 6), Milosevic 6 Japan vs Jamaica Shoot Verdict: Exciting, Great crowd Man of the Match: Theodore Whitmore (The 25 year old of Seba United scored twice to give the Caribbean kings their first ever World Cup win) Japanese best player: Nakata Japan: Kawaguchi 7, Narahashi 6, Soma 6, Ihara 6, Akita 7, Omura 7 (Hirano 6), Nanumi 7 (Ono 6), Nakata 8, Yamaguchi 6, Jo 6 (Lopes 6), Nakayama 6 Jamaica: Lawrence 7, Goodison 7, Gardener 6, Sinclair 6, Malcolm 6, Dawes 7, Whitmore 8, Simpson 6, Lowe 7, Hall 6 (Boyd 6), Gayle 7 (Burton 6) Argentina vs Croatia Shoot Verdict: Top Skills, Punch up, Injuries Man of the Match: Juan Veron (The classy midfielder produced a display of great skill and endeavour to pip Croatia's star performer Aljosa Asanovic) Croatian best player: Asanovic Argentina: Roa 7, Paz 7, Vivas 6, Ayala 6, Zanetti 7 (Simeone 6), Pineda 6, Ortega 6 (Lopez 6), Veron 8, Gallardo 7 (Berti 6), Almeyda 7, Batistuta 6 Croatia: Ladic 6, Soldo 6, Jarni 7, Simic 6, Bilic 7, Boban 7, Maric 6 (Vlaovic 6), Stanic 6, Asanovic 8, Prosinecki 6 (Stimac 6), Suker 6 Tunisia vs Romania Shoot Verdict: Top skills, Great crowd Man of the Match: Dorniel Munteanu (Romania's wing-back brought his side to life after they struggled to raise their game at first) Tunisian best player: Sellini Tunisia: El Ouaer 7, S Trabelsi 7, Boukadida 7, Chouchane 7, Beya 6, Ghodbane 7 (Thabet 5), Bouazizi 6, Chihi 6, Souayah 6 (Younes 5), Sellini 8, Ben Slimane 7 (Jelassi 5) Romania: Stelea 7, Petrescu 6, Duica 7 (Popescu 7), Dobos 6, Clubotariu 6, Galca 6, Munteanu 8, Hagi 6, Marinescu 6, Dumitrescu 7 (Molodovan 7), Lacatus 6 (Ilie 6) England vs Colombia Shoot Verdict: Exciting, Great crowd, Top skills Man of the Match: David Beckham (The Man United midfielder was back at his brilliant best as he orchestrated a fine England win and capped it all with a great goal) Colombian best player: Mondragon England: Seaman 7, G.Neville 7, Adams 8, Campbell 8, Anderton 8 (Lee 6), Le Saux 6, Ince 7 (Batty 6), Scholes 7 (McManaman 6), Beckham 9, Owen 6, Shearer 7 Colombia: Mondragon 8, Carbrera 6, Bermudez 6, Palacios 6, Moreno 6, Serna 5 (Aristizabal 6), Lozano 6, Rincon 7, Valderrama 4, Preciado 6 (Valencia 6), De Avila 6 (Ricard 5)
Maybe the other most interesting thing to show is their choices for 'Moment of the Match'. I'll just give a quick outline rather than typing word for word what they wrote, as often it is a description of a goal anyway. Nigeria vs Bulgaria: Ikpeba goal. Spain vs Paraguay: Chilavert save from Raul. Belgium vs Mexico: Blanco goal. Netherlands vs South Korea: Ovation when Bergkamp substituted. Japan vs Croatia: Suker narrowly missing with spectacular lob. Germany vs Yugoslavia: Bierhoff goal. Jamaica vs Argentina: Ortega's first goal, including Veron's pass. USA vs Iran: Final 10 minutes. England vs Romania: Hagi assist to Moldovan. Colombia vs Tunisia: Preciado winner from Valderrama pass. Italy vs Austria: Mazy run by Baggio, nearly leading to a goal by Inzaghi at the end of the match. Chile vs Cameroon: Sierra goal. Scotland vs Morocco: Scenes at the end, with Morocco thinking they'd be qualified then finding out Norway won vs Brazil. Brazil vs Norway: Denilson tricking his way past 3 players and setting up Bebeto. South Africa vs Saudi Arabia: Bartlett's open play goal. France vs Denmark: Michael Laudrup's quick thinking to bring about equaliser. Nigeria vs Paraguay: Benitez goal. Spain vs Bulgaria: Luis Enrique goal. Belgium vs South Korea: Yoo's goal. Netherlands vs Mexico: Hernandez last gasp goal, and celebrations of it. Germany vs Iran: Run by Azizi. USA vs Yugoslavia: McBride returning to pitch with his head bandaged. Japan vs Jamaica: Kawaguchi save to deny Whitmore a hat-trick. Argentina vs Croatia: Boban magic to beat two defenders and shoot just wide. Tunisia vs Romania: Moldovan goal. England vs Colombia: Campbell nearly scoring 'goal of century', going past 5 Colombians in breathtaking burst.
No, sorry Pavlin, I'm pretty sure I posted all I have. Probably I just randomly bought a copy of Shoot (I wasn't subscribed to it by that point, only when I was younger). Whether there would be a final summary about ratings by Shoot I'm not too sure anyway though (there was one from Match in 1990 for example, but it seems like maybe Match did that generally and Shoot maybe not - I don't remember lists of end of season averages by Shoot anyway, and I don't think we've found any yet for the English league have we - although we have now seen all the ratings from games for 91/92 for example but had to calculate player ratings manually from them, whereas Match would show the summary and rankings of top players).
I do think that all the La Stampa ratings might be available on here (I posted some for 1994 too; before that I think maybe not although for some Italy games (for just Italian players) and some random other games occasionally there are ratings I found from for example 1982 (for the Italy players) or 1990): La Stampa (1998-07-05) : Editrice La Stampa : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Netherlands vs Argentina: Netherlands - Van der Sar 6, Reiziger 5, Stam 6, F.De Boer 6, Numan 5, R. De Boer 6, Overmars 6, Jonk 6.5, Davids 7.5, Cocu 5.5, Bergkamp 8, Kluivert 6.5; Argentina - Roa 6.5, Sensini 5.5, Ayala 5, Chamot 6, Zanetti 5.5, Ortega 4, Almeyda 6, Pineda 6, Veron 6, Simeone 6.5, Lopez 6.5, Batistuta 5.5 La Stampa (1998-07-13) : Editrice La Stampa : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Brazil vs France: Brazil - Taffarel 6, Cafu 5.5, J.Baiano 5.5, Aldair 5, R.Carlos 5.5, Leonardo 5, Denilson 6.5, Cesar Sampaio 5, Dunga 5.5, Rivaldo 5.5, Ronaldo 5, Bebeto 5.5; France - Barthez 7.5, Thuram 7, Leboeuf 6.5, Desailly 6, Lizarazu 6.5, Karembeu 6, Boghossian 6.5, Deschamps 7, Petit 7.5, Zidane 9, Guivarch 5.5, Dugarry 5.5, Djorkaeff 6.5 La Stampa (1998-07-01) : Editrice La Stampa : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Argentina vs England: Argentina - Roa 6.5, Vivas 6, Ayala 5.5, Chamot 5, Zanetti 6.5, Ortega 7, Almeyda 6, Veron 7, Simeone 6.5, Batistuta 6, Crespo 5.5, Lopez 5.5, Gallardo 6; England - Seaman 6, Neville 6, Adams 5.5, Campbell 5.5, Anderton 6, Beckham 4, Ince 6, Scholes 6, Merson 6, Le Saux 6, Southgate 6, Shearer 6.5, Owen 7.5 La Stampa (1998-06-14) : Editrice La Stampa : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Spain vs Nigeria: Spain - Zubizarreta 4, Ferrer 5.5, Amor 5, Alkorta 6, Campo 5.5, Sergi 6, Hierro 6.5, Nadal 5.5, Kiko 5, Luis Enrique 4, Alfonso 5, Etxeberria 6, Raul 6; Nigeria - Rufai 5, Oparaku 5, Yekini 6, Uche 6, West 6, Babyaro 5.5, Finidi George 6.5, Adepoju 6.5, Oliseh 7.5, Okocha 6, Lawal 6.5, Ikpeba 6 La Stampa (1998-06-29) : Editrice La Stampa : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Nigeria vs Denmark: Nigeria - Rufai 4, Adepoju 4, Uche 4, West 4.5, Babyaro 4.5, Finidi George 5, Oliseh 5, Okocha 6.5, Lawal 5, Babangida 6, Kanu 6, Yekini 5, Ikpeba 4; Denmark - Schmeichel 7, Colding 6, Rieper 6, Hogh 6, Heintze 6, Jorgensen 7, M.Laudrup 8, Helveg 7, Nielsen 6.5, B.Laudrup 7.5, Moller 7.5, Sand 7 La Stampa (1998-07-04) : Editrice La Stampa : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Brazil vs Denmark: Brazil - Taffarel 6, Cafu 6.5, Junior Baiano 6, Aldair 5.5, Roberto Carlos 5.5, Leonardo 6, Cesar Sampaio 7, Dunga 7, Rivaldo 8, Ronaldo 7.5, Bebeto 7; Denmark - Schmeichel 5.5, Colding 5.5, Rieper 6.5, Hogh 6, Heintze 5.5, Jorgensen 7, Helveg 6, M.Laudrup 6, Nielsen 5.5, Tofting 6, B.Laudrup 7.5, Moller 5.5 It looks like 4 is almost automatic on a sending off (maybe on a 'silly' one anyway - although I saw in 1994 what should have been a sending off for a violent elbow wasn't penalised so as often it's maybe a case of only downgrading the performance if the referee sends off the player - Tassotti on Luis Enrique I'm meaning - I noted the Italy vs Spain grades on the 1994 thread in a similar post to this one - I guess being Italian could play a part too though for Tassotti!). Beckham and Ortega got that vs Argentina and the Netherlands respectively (and I tend to think their performance levels weren't going to get them a score that low).
I think for the time being at least I won't expand on what I've posted so far re: the La Stampa ratings (although I've nearly done all games on the 1994 thread now), but here is their final best XI of the World Cup Chilavert (Paraguay); Cafu (Brazil), Thuram (France), Desailly (France), Jarni (Croatia); Davids (Netherlands), Deschamps (France), Petit (France); Zidane (France); Suker (Croatia), Owen (England) As far as I know it won't be based on average ratings, but they seem to have fitted in the best options in their view, in a feasible formation, even though in the World Cup itself Thuram wasn't playing as centre back, and I suppose Davids tended to play more to the left than right too.