Group G Final Games

Group G Final Games
Friday night's all right for France in World cup: Every Frenchman remembers where they were on 11 June 2002 and the sick feeling they felt in the pit of their stomach. The FIFA World Cup™ holders had just limped out of the tournament in Korea/Japan, their second defeat in three games hammering them to the basement of their group. They did not even have a goal to show for 12 days in purgatory.
A similar scenario haunted them again today as the spectre of another first-round exit loomed. For 50-odd minutes they struggled to exert their authority over Togo who were motivated by the promise of their first FIFA World Cup points. A 2-0 win eventually saw France safely through but they had to work extremely hard for it.
In the Round of 16 they will face Spain in what promises to be a fascinating all-European confrontation. It was Switzerland who had the honour of winning Group H after easing to a 2-0 victory over Korea Republic which put them in the last 16 for the first time since 1994. That result, coupled with France's win, sends the 2002 semi-finalists home. The Swiss will now face Ukraine who beat Tunisia 1-0.
France had to win - something they had not managed in five FIFA World Cup games since that memorable summer's night in Paris at the climax of their own 1998 tournament when they put three goals into Brazil's net. And if the Koreans and the Swiss drew they would have to win by at least two.
The action, in both arenas, was fast and furious. There were three sets of players desperate to win to continue their stay in Germany and one more wanting their first visit to a FIFA World Cup to be remembered for a first victory and not three defeats.
France laboured in the first half to find a way through. Franck Ribery - in for the suspended Zinedine Zidane, whose retirement will now be postponed for a few more days - was a menace to Togo with his darting runs and close control. And a menace to his own team with his wayward finishing.
He skied one opening midway through the first half and when he did the same again – only worse – in the 53rd minute it was fair to ask if this was going to be another French nadir. Up high in the Alps before the tournament – down low in a pit of despair once the serious business began.

SWITZERLAND-KOREA REPUBLIC: Players' Quotes

Alexander FREI (SUI), Budweiser Man of the Match

(On winning the award a second time) Well, the first thing I'm going to do is fill them up tonight and empty them in celebration. Kidding aside, it's a tremendous honour and achievement to have won these two Man of the Match awards, but it's not just me out there, it's the whole team playing together. I’m proud to be part of one of the best 16 teams in the world. The Swiss fans can be proud tonight as well. As a team we can show the world what ambition we have and what we can do. We’re not little Switzerland any more. There have been times when the Swiss national team hasn’t been that good. It’s very important that the national team leads the nation’s teams and we’re taking the first steps in doing that. We are proud of the way we got here, proud of the fact we are unbeaten and first in the group. The goal we had was to reach the Round of 16, from now on we need luck.
Ricardo CABANAS (SUI)

It’s a dream that we are allowed to get where we have and we’ll do anything to make sure it can go on. It was our goal to qualify. Ukraine will be dangerous, but we’re confident we can win and I just feel fantastic. I was happy for the victory, but we’re already thinking about the next game

LEE Chun-Soo (KOR)

We worked really hard to be successful. I thought we had a lot of chances and I think we wanted win too much maybe. I cried a lot after the game. I think we played very well, but in the future we have to be more prepared. I would like to play in Europe, I think it will make me a better player. I know the fans are disappointed, but the fans were excellent. We had a very short time to prepare, the coaches say the time was too short, next time we will be better prepared. We must improve, we showed we had a good team.

LEE Young-Pyo (KOR)

I’m very upset about the game and I think the second goal was very strange. We all stopped playing because we thought the linesman had flagged. We have to go and prepare for the 2010 World Cup.

TOGO-FRANCE: Coaches' Quotes

Otto PFISTER (TOG)

You have to remember we were playing against the former world champions. There are players with a lot of class in that side, like Claude Makelele, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry. It was the immense talent of those players that made the difference.
We defended our goal well and even created two great chances, but it got tougher as time went on. In the second half, we kept going forward and I made an attacking substitution as well. We came here to win, but the French were highly motivated and, after a lot of criticism, had a few things to prove.
The French aren't at their best yet, but they were still able to raise their game a lot in the second half. Franck Ribery was very good and a real pain for us. You never know what will happen in the Round of 16, but little by little, their play is steadily improving.

Raymond DOMENECH (FRA)

We were able to create a lot of openings in the first half and Kossi Agassa was kept very busy. We were just a little bit more successful after the break, because we played to a consistent level from start to finish. At half-time, we told ourselves one thing: push forward, keep pushing and push even more. We couldn't afford to relax.
We knew it wouldn't be easy and they made it hard for us, as they did for the Swiss and the Koreans. It must have been hard for them following their elimination, so we decided to get right in amongst them.
No one stood out in particular. I have a list of 23 players who need to feel involved in every match. Everyone has to be at their best. For now, we'll savour this win, but it'll soon be time to think about our next game. I'm happy for the players. They never gave up and fought hard in adversity. We had to get past this obstacle, and now we've done that we can afford to breathe a little. That doesn't mean the pressure has gone away though. Every single World Cup game brings its own pressure.
We played without Zinedine Zidane, we won and that's all. You can go back and reflect on what might have been, but what's the point? We had to win 2-0 with the players that were available and we did that. I don't like talking about individuals but I'll make an exception: I've always said Patrick Vieira would be one of the stars of this World Cup and he confirmed that tonight.

TOGO-FRANCE: Players' Quotes

Patrick VIEIRA (FRA), Budweiser Man of the Match

There will be no celebrations because we need to focus on the next game. We won an important game and I’m happy but the team will first rest and we’ll think about Spain tomorrow. It’s a great evening for France. I’m satisfied with the way I played especially as it’s my birthday but the team performance is more important and we’re getting better match by match. We kept calm and stayed focused today - it’s been a long time since France scored two goals. I hope we’ve liberated ourselves now. We have huge potential though we still have a lot of work to do. I’m confident we can now beat Spain.There is an excellent atmosphere in the camp but what we do on the pitch is all that counts. It made no difference playing without (Zinedine) Zidane. Of course he is important but we won deservedly tonight and that is what counts.

Thierry HENRY (FRA)

We tried everything to get ahead before half-time. We created good chances but didn’t drop our heads when they didn’t go in. Vieira was huge. It’s been a long time since France have played as well as this. We took risks, played down the wings but the Togo goalkeeper played a blinder and I despaired that the ball would never go in. We didn’t want to know the score in the Switzerland-Korea game. I think it will be an exciting match against Spain as they won’t just defend.

Moustapha SALIFOU (TOG)

There was chaos in the camp at times and maybe we could have done better without these problems, but it was a special match tonight. Togo was a French colony. We played like brothers, so the atmosphere was a bit different.

Kossi AGASSA (TOG)

We didn’t get overrun though we had few chances tonight. We played well but it just wasn’t enough. Looking back on the tournament, we learned a lot of things.