Why do we speak less of football?

Sometimes it seems that what happens before and after matches is more important than the match itself. The footballer is on the point of becoming a secondary figure. Just cogs in the collective machine, very expensive hired hands in their own show.

It’s television that decides, it’s directors who decide, it’s the coaches who decide. It’s all those who are spectators at the moment the game starts who decide. Those who do not decide are the players, who on the pitch play to orders and off the pitch continue to show theirhistoric inability to channel and organise their rebelliousness.

If some free spirits demand a little more freedom (Gascoigne and Romario to name but two, impatiently denied the chance to find their fitness) they are turfed out of the party. Football nowadays is curious party, excluding the different players (why not call them artists?) who are able to give a game a dash of quality, and holding on to the obedient players (why not call them soldiers?).

Thankfully there are still some – such as Roberto Baggio, showing his mettle again for Italy, and Moustafa Hadji, a rising star of football’s Third World – bucking the trend. But in general there is homogenisation, and that must be why events before and after the game are ever more important. And that must be why speak less and less of football. The World Cup is, in life of football, a culmination. Who has not dreamed of scoring a goal in a World Cup final? It happened to me in Mexico ’86 and the first thought that went through my head like a lightning boltin that moment of celebration was: "Is this real – or is it the dream again?"

It seemed incredible but there was my life’s dream, only this time it was really happening. Until that day I had spent half my life imagining it, afterwards I’d spend the other half remembering it. I scored that goal in the final of Mexico ’86 and I wouldn’t sell the memory of that afternoon for anything. I can’t think of a better way to tell what the World Cup means to those of us who love the game.

From the park to the big stadium, from the back streets to the world. The World Cup: days of football for the national team in which we pull on the jersey slowly to prolong the pleasure, as if we wanted to make the child we were jealous. Days of famous rivals who must be killed off with indifference, never letting them see we are frightened of them. Days of media scrums, of millions shouting, and of Maradona sleeping in the room next door. In this sense, the kickabout of childhood becomes a monster.

In a World Cup it’s alwaysSunday, match day. True, but for the player it is not all party. Being shut in a training camp for so long: watching football, talking football, reading football, imagining matches, playing matches, analysing matches, pitches training, videos, the ball bouncing endlessly around all the corners of the imagination; football, football, an overdose of football.

And at the end of each game, the viewer switches off the television, the players continue their professional routine far from home, shut off from the world and each with his own mental burden, the interminable wait stretches out… until the next game. A good moment to confirm that for FIFA the player only exists only from when the curtain goes up until it falls. Off the field the player does not exist. Obsession, boredom and indignation also form part of the World Cup. All great, the good and the bad.

This innocent and primitive game which never gets old, finds in these days the marvellous stage which makes it grow as a spectacle, makes it universalas a competition and, to tell the whole truth, vindicates it as a business. To the players I suggest that they allow themselves a little emotion when they pull on the shirt of their own country and hope they shake off their nerves when they kick their first ball.

I ask them not to be ashamed of their dreams and not to be afraid to dare. And, if possible, that they be strong enough to rebel against the excess of order which bears down on us. And if at some moment they feel overwhelmed by the attentions of the Press, I would ask them to remember the back streets, the park on a sunny afternoon, friends running behind a ball — those days when they set out on the long road that led them to the end of the path of their dreams.

Total recall / Day 4

Goals:

Nigeria: Adepoju 24; Zubizarreta (own goal) 73; Sunday Oliseh 78

Spain: Hierro 21; 1-2: Raul 47

Bookings: Yellow cards:

Nigeria: Okechukwu 62;Spain: Amor 55, Nadal 59, Campo 75

90 minutes in 30 words: Spanish domination in both halves was not enough to stop the obstinant Nigerians. Each time Spain scored they sat back, letting midfielders Oliseh and Adepoju overtake them again.

Boy done good: Mutiu Adepoju for always being there and scoring the first equaliser.

Two left feet: Two left-footed goalies. Zubizarreta deflected a cross shot into his own net and Rufai made sure he was standing in the blind-spot for Spain’s free kick into goal.

Shiver the timbers: Raul’s header in the fourth minute. Posts still vibrating.

Magic moment: The third Nigerian goal. Ball bounced out of the penalty area to the rhythm of the bands in the stands, before being half-volleyed straight into the back of the net off the boot of Sunday Oliseh.

Mr Sitter: Nadal shot for the stars in the 16th. Missed both stars and goal.

Turning point: Clemente’s tactical shuffle at half time led directly to Raul’s goal 2minutes into the second half.

Ref-er-ee!: A crowd pleaser on occasions, but worth his title as American Ref of the Year (!)

Terrace talk:

Nigeria: "Where was Finidi George, but let the beat go on without him."

Spain: "Let’s put someone in goal next time".

Bookings:

Belgium: Staelens 20, Deflandre 29; Red cards: Holland: Kluivert 80

90 minutes in 30 words: A low quality, Low Country encounter characterised by Dutch dominance, Belgian negativity and only belatedly enlivened by the harsh 78th minute dismissal of Patrick Kluivert.

Boy done good: And to think there was a time when Arsenal’s decision to sign Marc Overmars was being seriously questioned. He may have threatened more than he produced, but his pace and power was still a welcome diversion.

Two left feet: Such was Overmars’ early dominance that the Belgian right-back Bertrand Crasson was replaced after only 21 minutes following a total, excruciating, publichumiliation.

Magic moment: A competent double save by Filip De Wilde in the 48th minute kept Belgium in the game. That, unfortunately, represented the limit of their ambitions.

Mr Sitter: Leeds United’s Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink fired a close-range shot across goal after just 5 minutes.

Ref-er-ee! : A somewhat autocratic interpretation of events by the idiosyncratic, Italian slap-head.

Terrace talk:

Belgium: "Play like this and we’ve had our chips."

Holland: "Anyone for Dennis?"

Goals: Mexico: Pelaez 51; Hernandez 74, Hernandez 84; Korea: Seok Ju Ha 28

Bookings: Mexico: Ordiales 26; Garcia Aspe 27; South Korea: M. Lee 20

Red cards: South Korea: Seok-ju Ha 30

Boy done good: Blanco’s incisive passing caused the South Koreans too many problems to handle.Two left feet: Quite literally Ha Seok-ju, for his two-footed challenge which led to his dismissal just a minute after he had put South Korea ahead.

Magic moment:Hernandez, when he finished his second and Mexico’s third goal with methodic ease.

Mr Sitter: Too many to mention as the South Korean defence ran out of steam in the last half hour.

Cheered: Hernandez, for reviving Mexico’s fortunes.

Jeered: Ha Seok-ju: two-footed challenges from behind don’t go down too well in Lyon.

Turning point: Pelaez’s equaliser settled the Mexicans and allowed them to take control of the game.

Ref-er-ee!: Produced four cards in a restless first half hour but didn’t have to dip into his pocket again.

Terrace talk: Mexico: "We’ll see just how strong we are when we play Holland and Belgium."

South Korea: "All we are saying is give us a draw."

Money Talk

Ronaldo is the best paid footballer in a team of the world’s highest earning players compiled by the French Sports Daily L’equipe. The line-up that has total annual earnings of 192 million francs(33 million dollars), excluding advertising endorsements. All players, with the exception of the injured Sammer and Portuguese goalkeeper Vitor Baia, are taking part in World Cup `98.

Team (player, nationality, club and salary):

Goal: Vitor Baia (Portugal/Barcelona; 2.33m dollars)

Defenders: Matthias Sammer (Germ/ Borussia Dortmund; 3.83m); Paolo Maldini (Italy/AC Milan; 2.5m); Marcel Desailly (France/ AC Milan; 2.5m); Roberto Carlos (Brazil/ Real Madrid; 2.16m);

Midfielders: Rivaldo (Brazil/ Barcelona; 3.5m); Dragan Stojkovic (Yugo/ Nagoya, Japan; 2.5m); Andreas Moeller (Germ/ Borussia Dortmund; 3.33m); Paul Ince (Eng/Liverpool; 2.66m).

Forwards: Ronaldo (Brazil/ Inter Milan; 3.83m); Gabriele Batistuta (Arg/ AC Florence; 3.16m).

Player Watch

Andoni Zubizarreta, Spain

After 124 appearances in goal for his country, Andoni Zubizarreta is almost as recognisable a figure in Spain as King Juan Carlos. But events atthe Beaujoire Stadium yesterday suggest Zubi’s days as a national institution may be numbered.

If a 3-2 defeat to Nigeria does not completely rule out a Spanish triumph in Paris next month, it has banished the fond myth that the national team are in safe hands whenever Zubizarreta plays. Down went Zubizarreta for what should have been a routine save, only for the ball to bounce off his right forearm into the net to allow Nigeria back into the game at 2-2. Sunday Oliseh’s subsequent blasted winner from outside the area might also have been kept out in Zubizarreta’s heyday, but the Spanish captain would only take responsibility for the first of the pair.

Patrick Kluivert, The Netherlands

Three years ago, it seemed no other soccer prodigy had as bright a future as Patrick Kluivert. For three years, he has taken a course in self-destruction. And it continues at the World Cup. Near the end of a frustrating, goalless draw against Belgium, Kluivert elbowed Belgian defender Lorenzo Staelens in the chestafter a brief but heated discussion in the 81st minute and Italian referee Pierluigi Collina gave Kluivert his marching orders. Kluivert claimed Staelens said something "below the belt” to him. That could mean a great many things. Since scoring the only goal in Ajax Amsterdam’s win over AC Milan in the 1995 European Cup final, Kluivert’s life and soccer fortunes have taken a dive. In May 1996, he was convicted of vehicular homicide after slamming a borrowed BMW into another car, killing its driver. Kluivert was ordered to perform 240 hours community service.

Egil Ostenstad, Norway

If there’s a player hoping that Norway adds one guy up front, it must be striker Egil Ostenstad. But the other Norwegian Egil, head coach Egil "Drillo" Olsen, is likely to keep his preferred lone striker formation. That means Ostenstad stays on the bench when Norway plays Scotland in Group A on Tuesday.

Ostenstad, 26, who plays for Southampton, has been one of the world’s top reserve players since making his nationalteam debut in 1993. He has scored six goals coming off the bench as a substitute in 12 games, including the clincher in an impressive 4-2 exhibition win a year ago in Oslo against Group A favourite and defending world champion Brazil. His latest goal came on May 27 in a 6-0 rout of fellow World Cup team Saudi Arabia in Norway.

Injury Watch

MOROCCO: Moustafa Hadji, scorer against Norway, has a cracked toe; will need a pain-killing injection before next match against Brazil

SOUTH AFRICA: Benedict McCarthy has strained ligaments in the ankle and coule miss next game against Denmark.

Phil Masinga has a shin injury and could miss game against the Danes

FRANCE: Striker Stephane Guivarc’H will be out for a week after sustaining a knee injury and is ruled out for next game against Saudi Arabia.

Striker David Trezeguet sprained his right ankle and may miss France’s next match against SaudI Arabia on June 18.

Defender Franck Leboeuf pulled a thigh muscle but should be back forthe next game.