It8217;s Baggio8217;s second honeymoon in soccer

Attack has been the key to opening games of this World Cup. There seems to have been a change in culture from previous tournaments when many...

Attack has been the key to opening games of this World Cup. There seems to have been a change in culture from previous tournaments when many of the opening matches were instantly forgettable. Hence 8217;98 has already seen some excellent matches and even a strong contender for goal of the tournament in Peire Njanka8217;s solo effort for Cameroon.

Talking of goals, Marcelo Salas looked absolutely world class against the Italians. I don8217;t want to boast about it but Chile and Nigeria were my two tips as World Cup dark horse and I could yet be proved right. Part of the reason for my confidence in the South Americans was their potent strike force of Salas and Ivan Zamorano. If Chile can get through to the second round they will be a handful for anyone as long as they don8217;t give away silly goals as their defence is a bit shaky. They were within a few minutes of a famous victory against Italy only to have it cruelly snatched from them by a controversial penalty decision.

There was no way I felt it was a penalty andwatching it again on slow motion you could see hapless Chilean defender Ronald Fuentes was trying to pull his hand away.

It was the old master Roberto Baggio who saved them. He showed the coolness and inner belief that marks out the very best players when he stepped up to take the crucial spot-kick. After the nightmare he had in USA 8217;94, it was a very brave decision and shows Baggio is determined to be remembered in his country for all the right reasons.

He has had a few indifferent seasons in the Italian league but he has obviously decided he doesn8217;t want to quit just yet and is now enjoying a second honeymoon with the game. The most disappointing thing for me so far in this World Cup was to see Cameroon perform so naively against Austria. I was between the posts when England played against them in the quarter-finals in 1990 but they have slipped back then.

They haven8217;t got a striker to compare to the incredible Roger Milla and they seemed a bit aggressive in the challenge. They are a very physicalside with great athleticism but they just haven8217;t got the skills in the final third to progress too far this time.

Peter Shilton has 125 international appearences as England goalkeeper and has played three World Cupsn Professional Management Group