“Be careful, let's not take a red card, a cardboard stupidly as you took one, or as we took it in different matches. You penalize us! »». This is what Aimé Jacquet launched during her chat, however, before the second match of the 1998 World Cup of the French team against Saudi Arabia, on June 18 in Saint-Denis. In this sequence of the legendary documentary Eyes in the Bluesthe coach of the Blues then seems to speak to Zinedine Zidane, who had received a warning in the 74th minute of the inaugural victory against South Africa (3-0), at the Vélodrome stadium.
It didn't miss it. The number 10 star of the host country saw red during a 4-0 victory against the Saudis. At the 71st minute of the game, “Zizou”, marked in the panties since the kick -off, wiped his crampons on the back of an opposing player on the ground. The meeting referee, the Mexican Arturo Brizio Carter, did not hesitate to brandish his red card. A frustrating exclusion for Jacquet and all its group, while France already led 2-0 thanks to Thierry Henry (37th) and David Trezeguet (68th), before two other achievements signed Henry (78th) and Bixente Lizarazu (85th).
Zidane victim of the referee of the match
In this same film directed by Stéphane Meunier, who follows behind the scenes of the Blues' journey to the coronation against Brazil (3-0, with a double of the head of Zinedine Zidane), we discover another striking sequence, as shown in the “Generation France 98” account Instagram. In Clairefontaine, during a training by Didier Deschamps and his teammates, Zidane talks about his exclusion on the edge of the field with Laurent Blanc (who was going to be spared for the 3rd match against Denmark), and Stéphane Guivarch, injured in the first match. “The guy who puts the sole to DD (Deschamps, editor's note)deserves the box ”first launches the white “president”.
Guivarc'h, he, downright accuses the referee of the game by telling Zidane: “If it hadn't been you, it would have been Liza, I'm sure, he would have put a red”. For the AJ Auxerre scorer, Mr. Arturo Brizio Carter was determined to exclude a French player. And for good reason. The referee reduced Saudi Arabia to 10 in the 19th minute for a tackle slipped on “Liza”. Guivarc'h thus felt that the referee intended to put the teams with a digital equality, for example by giving a second warning to White or Lizarazu, the two sanctioned in this match. It was finally Zidane who took a direct red. And rightly!
