France Lay World Cup Ghosts to Rest With Spot in Final 16
June 24, 2006
Togo, at their first ever finals, didn't make it easy for the French. The favored European side failed to convert a hatful of chances in the first 45 minutes, largely thanks to the heroics of Kossi Agassa in the Togo goal.
Close to the break Agassa performed a near miracle to first block Florent Malouda's shot then scrambled around to keep out Trezeguet's attempt to knock in the rebound inches from his line.
Fighting for their World Cup lives, Raymond Domenech's French side was missing suspended playmaker Zinedine Zidane and desperately in search of their first World Cup win since a 3-0 triumph over Brazil eight years ago.
France dig deep for chance to play Spain
Domenech admitted that Friday's game "was difficult and I'll not deny that. But this team can dig deep. I am happy for the team. The next match against Spain will be super."
While France will have felt aggrieved not to be ahead at the break, already knocked out Togo fulfilled their promise not to make up the numbers, looking dangerous on the counter attack with French keeper Fabian Barthez having to move smartly to punch clear a shot from Mohamed Kader.
Patrick Vieira earned man of the match honors on his 30th birthday, taking a pass from Frank Ribery 10 minutes into the second half and bending it off his right foot into the corner of the net.
Six minutes later Vieira, who has faced criticism for a disappointing start in Germany, headed down the ball Thierry Henry fired into the goal from the middle of the penalty box.
Swiss send South Korea crashing out of Cup
A controversial 2-0 victory swept Switzerland past South Korea and into the round of 16 in Hanover at a game that ran simultaneously with the Togo-France match-up.
Arsenal defender Philippe Senderos put Switzerland ahead in the first half before striker Alexander Frei killed the Koreans' hopes of equalizing with a hotly disputed goal in the 77th minute.
The Korean defense stopped after the assistant referee flagged Frei offside but the striker slid the ball home and was delighted when Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo allowed the goal to stand despite furious protests from the whole South Korean team.
"We played well over the three games, we didn't concede any goals and we scored four," an optimistic Frei said after the game. "Now we'll try to conquer the world!"
Switzerland, who reached the second round in their last appearance in the World Cup finals 12 years ago, play their next match against Ukraine.
Korea nearly caught Switzerland cold in the third minute with a sweeping move down the left. Lee Chun-Soo darted into the box but his low cross was just too strong for the onrushing Lee Ho.
Elbow to the head can't sink Swiss
The Swiss side surged forward looking for an early goal and Tranquillo Barnetta had a goal-bound shot blocked by a desperate lunge from veteran defender Choi Jin-Cheul in the ninth minute.
The pressure paid off for Switzerland in the 23rd minute when they went ahead from a set piece. Hakan Yakin fired in a left-footed free kick to the back post and Arsenal defender Senderos rose high to power a header past Lee.
Senderos clashed heads with Choi and blood started to stream down his face but the battling 21-year-old was too overjoyed at scoring his third international goal to feel any pain.