England Could Have Won France 98

O O

OnlyOneUweRosler

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At the time I doubted it, but looking back England really could have won it. In a pre-tournament warm up game, they beat the eventual champions France in Paris. They also held Brazil to a draw. When the World Cup proper started, England overcame an early shock to do really well. I think they had Argentina, and would have beaten them without the red card for Beckham. If England had won, that means the Netherlands in the semi-final (who England blitzed 4-1 just two years earlier at Euro 96) then Brazil in the final, and remember Ronaldo (R9) was invisible in the final due to sme mystery illness, so Brazil's main threat was gone. So yeah, England could have won.
 
TinFoilHat said:
Yes they could.

They were robbed by a dodgy ref even after Team Beckham had his mard.
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Tactically, that team was quite something. Hoddle was one of the few managers in that era to use wing backs, and it was quite a dynamic shape that managed to pretty effectively include Beckham AND Scholes AND Anderton AND Ince, all at once. Sven Goran Eriksson by contrast was religiously devoted to 4-4-2 and kept forcing players into a rigid system that even then was dying off.
 
I think it's a shame we didn't get to see what would have happened if he had several tournaments. I heard an interview and one idea he had that he didn't get to implement was camel gob passing the ball out from the back and joining the midfield, like Stones for us.
 
Tico Warrior said:
I think it's a shame we didn't get to see what would have happened if he had several tournaments. I heard an interview and one idea he had that he didn't get to implement was camel gob passing the ball out from the back and joining the midfield, like Stones for us.
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He was a pretty gifted coach. He got Swindon into the Premier League, by making the most of average players with a dynamic system. Then he got Chelsea (pre-money) into their first FA Cup Final in decades using a similar system. Maybe he could have gotten England a trophy before his unfortunate comments ended all that.
 
Not sure the OP has got this right. England were knocked our by Argentina in the last 16. Even if we'd won that and somehow made our way to the final we would have played France not Brazil.

In practice even if England had beaten Argentina there's no way they would have got past the Dutch in the quarters.
 
pace89 said:
Not sure the OP has got this right. England were knocked our by Argentina in the last 16. Even if we'd won that and somehow made our way to the final we would have played France not Brazil.

In practice even if England had beaten Argentina there's no way they would have got past the Dutch in the quarters.
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Did think that, if England had beat the argies wouldnt they have had to play France??
 
Gaz76 said:
Did think that, if England had beat the argies wouldnt they have had to play France??
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After Argentina beat England, they lost to the Dutch in the quarters, then Brazil beath the Dutch in the semi and played France in the final. If England has beaten Argentina it would have been the same route.
 
Based on nothing more than the history of England in major tournaments I would suggest, had we beaten Argentina we'd have lost to someone else. We might have beaten the Dutch two years before but they were a much better side in 98. Brazil or France would have beaten us in the SF/Final.
 
Metal Biker said:
Campbell scored. Nobody can change my mind on this.
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This.

Simeone shithousing taking advantage of Team Beckham's mard moved the team up another level. Only the ref knows why his goal was disallowed.

Maybe FIFA knew he was **** then and would become unbearable had they allowed it?

:)
 
supercity88 said:
Based on nothing more than the history of England in major tournaments I would suggest, had we beaten Argentina we'd have lost to someone else. We might have beaten the Dutch two years before but they were a much better side in 98. Brazil or France would have beaten us in the SF/Final.
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The Dutch were the team of the tournament for me. They were at their peak.
 
pace89 said:
Well yeah, 2 years previously. The Dutch were vastly improved and player for player a much stronger side than England.
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  • David Seaman (GK)
  • Graeme Le Saux (LWB)
  • Tony Adams (CB)
  • Paul Ince (CM)
  • Sol Campbell (CB)
  • Gareth Southgate (CB)
  • David Beckham (RWB)
  • Paul Scholes (CM)
  • Alan Shearer (C) (ST)
  • Teddy Sheringham (ST)
  • Darren Anderton (RM)

v

  • Edwin van der Sar (GK)
  • Michael Reiziger (RB)
  • Arthur Numan (LB)
  • Jaap Stam (CB)
  • Frank de Boer (CB)
  • Philip Cocu (CM)
  • Ronald de Boer (RM)
  • Edgar Davids (CM)
  • Dennis Bergkamp (FW)
  • Patrick Kluivert (FW)
  • Marc Overmars (LM)

we'd won 2-1, Tony Adams overhead kick in the dying minutes.
we always step up against the Dutch. Engerrrrrllllaaand.
 
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