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  Page Last Updated 16 September 2015

at-Tunisiyyah

 

 
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Monday, 15 June 1998
1998 FIFA World Cup Finals First Phase Group G, match one

England 2 Tunisia 0 [1-0]
 

Le Stade Vélodrome, Saint-Giniez, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhone, France
Attendance: 54,587;
Kick-off: 2.30pm CEST, 1.30pm BST
Live on BBC One (UK) - Commentator: Barry Davies and Trevor Brooking

England - Alan Shearer (43), Paul Scholes (89). Match Summary
England Squad
Tunisia Squad
Tunisia - José Clayton (48), Imed Ben Younes (70), Kaies Ghodhbane (87);
England - Sol Campbell (88).
Results 1995-2000

? kicked-off. ? minutes (? & ?).

 

Match Summary

Officials

England

Type

Tunisia

Referee (yellow) - Masayoshi Okada
x (xx), Japan, FIFA listed 1993.

Assistant Referees - Jeon Young-Hyun, Korea Republic, and Dramane Dante, 36 (9 December 1961), Mali.

Reserve Official - Kim Milton Nielsen, 37 (3 August 1960), Denmark, FIFA-listed 1988
.

14 Goal Attempts 8
7 Attempts on Target 1
1 Hit Bar/Post 0
10 Corner Kicks Won 3
0 Offside Calls Against 0
14 Fouls Conceded 26
  Possession  

England Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (20 May 1998) 5th
EFO ranking

ELO rating 6th to 4th
Colours: The 1997 Umbro home uniform - White shadow pinstriped collared jersey with navy buttoned-collar, navy/red side panels, navy shorts with red/white lower side panel, white socks with navy tops and two red hoops.
Capt: Alan Shearer, eleventh captaincy Head Coach: Glenn Hoddle, 40 (27 October 1957), appointed 2 May 1996, effective 27 June 1996,
21st match, W 14 - D 4 - L 3 - F 31 - A 7.
England Lineup
1 Seaman, David A. 34 19 September 1963 G Arsenal FC 41 18 GA
2 Campbell, Sulzeer J. 23 18 September 1974 LB Tottenham Hotspur FC 17 0
3 Le Saux, Graeme P. 29 17 October 1968 LM Chelsea FC 26 1
4 Ince, Paul E.C. 30 21 October 1967 CM Liverpool FC 40 2
5 Adams, Tony A. 31 10 October 1966 CD Arsenal FC 52 4
6 Southgate, Gareth 27 3 September 1970 RB Aston Villa FC 26 0
14 Anderton, Darren R. 26 3 March 1972 RM Tottenham Hotspur FC 19 5
8 Batty, David 29 2 December 1968 CM Newcastle United FC 32 0
9 Shearer, Alan 27 13 August 1970 F Newcastle United FC 40 19
10 Sheringham, Edward P., off 85th min. 32 2 April 1966 F Manchester United FC 34 9
16 Scholes, Paul 23 16 November 1974 CM Manchester United FC 8 4
England Substitutes
20 Owen, Michael J., on 85th min. for Sheringham. 18
183 days
14 December 1979 F Liverpool FC 6 1
unused substitutes: 7-David Beckham, 11-Steve McManaman, 12-Gary Neville, 13-Nigel Martyn, 15-Paul Merson, 17-Robert Lee, 18-Martin Keown, 19-Les Ferdinand, 21-Rio Ferdinand, 22-Tim Flowers.
team notes: Michael Owen becomes the youngest England player to feature in a Finals match, aged 18 years and 183 days.
records: England's fiftieth match played on a Monday. Scholes' goal is the 150th goal scored by England on a Monday.
 
3-5-2 Seaman -
Southgate, Adams, Campbell -
Anderton, Batty, Scholes, Ince, Le Saux -
Sheringham
(Owen), Shearer.

Averages:

Age 28.3 Appearances/Goals - -

 

Tunisia Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (20 May 1998) 21st
EFO ranking

ELO rating 43rd to 51st
Colours: Made by Lotto - Red collared v-necked jerseys with white sleeves/collar/abstract pinstripes, red abstract pinstripes going up sleeves, red shorts with white side abstract pinstripes, red socks with white tops.
Capt: Samir Trabelsi Manager: Henryk Wojciech Kasperczak, 51 (10 July 1946 in Poland), appointed in 1994.
Tunisia Lineup
1 El Ouaer, Chokri 31 15 August 1966 G ES de Tunis 52 GA
21 Badra, Khaled 25 8 April 1973 D ES de Tunis 27  
3 Trabelsi, Sami 30 4 February 1968 D CS Sfaxien 46  
4 Boukadida, Mounir 30 24 October 1967 D ES du Sahel 31  
5 Trabelsi, Hatem, off 79th min. 21 25 January 1977 D CS Sfaxien 3  
17 Clayton Robeiro Menezes, José 24 21 March 1974 D ES du Sahel 5  
14 Chihi, Sirajeddine 28 16 April 1970 M ES de Tunis 48  
15 Souayah, Skander, off 46th min. 25 20 November 1972 M CS Sfaxien 32  
18 Ben Slimane, Mehdi, off 65th min. 24 1 January 1974 F SC Freiburg eV, Germany 33  
10 Ghodhbane, Kaies 22 7 March 1976 M ES du Sahel 47  
11 Sellimi, Adel 25 16 November 1972 F Real Jaen CF SAD, Spain 58  
Tunisia Substitutes
8 Baya, Zoubeir, on 46th min. for Souayah 27 15 May 1971 M SC Freiburg eV, Germany 45 -
2 Ben Younes, Imed B.K., on 65th min. for Ben Slimane 23 16 June 1974 F ES du Sahel 10 -
7 Thabet, Tarek, on 79th min. for Trabelsi, H. 26 16 August 1971 D ES de Tunis 44 -
unused substitutes: 6-Ferid Chouchane, 9-Riadh Jelassi, 12-Mourad Melki, 13-Riadh Bouazizi, 16-Radhouane Salhi, 19-Faycal Ben Ahmed, 20-Sabri Jaballah, 22-Ali Boumnijel.
team notes: Coach Henryk Kasperczak was a member of the Poland team that prevented England reaching the 1974 World Cup Finals, in the scoredraw of October 1973.
 
3-5-2 El Ouaer -
Boukadida, Badra,
S. Trabelsi -
H. Trabelsi (Thabet), Ghodbane, Souayah (Beya), Chihi, Clayton -
Sellimi, Ben Slimane
(Ben Younes)
.

Averages:

Age - Appearances/Goals - -

 

    Match Report by Mike Payne

 

Source Notes

England have beaten Tunisia 2-0 in their opening World Cup game in Marseille.  Alan Shearer headed England in front three minutes before half-time when he rose to meet Graeme Le Saux's free-kick, following a long period of England pressure.  Paul Scholes got the second moments before the end with a wonderful shot which curled inside the far post, after he had latched on to a ball from Paul Ince and made himself some space.

Shearer's goal capped a spell of concerted attacking by England after the lively Tunisians had shaded the first half-hour of the game. The North Africans had given England an early scare when Sol Campbell had to sprint back to clear from Skander Souayah after a mistake by Tony Adams.

The Tunisian goalkeeper, Chokri El-Ouaer, also kept his side in the game with three good saves.  First he pushed away Scholes' header from point-blank range on the half-hour mark as England finally managed to push forward. Scholes looked certain to score as Le Saux, set up by Ince, whipped in a perfect cross from the left.  Five minutes later the keeper again pulled off a great save, stretching to palm Teddy Sheringham's long-range shot onto the bar and away for a corner.  Sheringham then found room down the right and picked out Scholes in the area, but Scholes fluffed his shot and the keeper pushed it round his left-hand post. 

England resumed their pressure in the second half, with Scholes again central to much of the attacking play.  England had a great chance in the 61st minute when Sheringham, on the right, put the ball across a wide open Tunisian goalmouth. Adams tried to stab the ball home but El-Ouaer blocked it. Shearer and Darren Anderton were narrowly off target from long range.

Michael Owen became the third youngest player in World Cup history when he came on for Sheringham in the 85th minute.  The Tunisians also set up a number of attacks as the game opened up. Substitute Zubeir Beya fired a fierce shot over the England crossbar in the 63rd minute. But England Goalkeeper David Seaman and his defence stood firm.

England coach Glenn Hoddle paid tribute to Shearer and Scholes after the game.  He said: "Alan's reputation goes before him, today he had a limited amount of chances and this is what a world striker can do. He can take one chance out of nothing.  Young Paul Scholes is showing a lot of maturity, he's got good talent and today he felt at home out there. I looked at a young man playing his natural game under those circumstances and that's good to see."

The 60,000 fans in the Vélodrome stadium seems to be well behaved following renewed clashes between England and Tunisian fans outside the venue in Marseille. - BBC Sport

CNN/SI - Soccer 1998 FIFA World Cup
WorldCup.Fr website
Official FIFA Match Report
PlanetWorldCup.com
TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
F.A. Yearbook
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