00:00With England heading home after the round of 16,
00:03the focus fell back on defending champions Brazil.
00:07In the same round, the world's best player, Ronaldo,
00:10had exploded with two goals in a 4-1 defeat of Chile.
00:15Another goal in the semi-final against Netherlands
00:17took his total for the tournament to four,
00:19and as the reigning Ballon d'Or winner and world player of the year,
00:23the 22-year-old was on his way to fulfilling
00:25what many had felt was his destiny.
00:29But the pressure on such a young player was immense,
00:32and Ronaldo cracked.
00:35Just after lunch on the day of the final against France,
00:38he suffered a convulsive fit.
00:42His roommate Roberto Carlos screamed for help,
00:45and others including defender Sampaio rushed to his aid,
00:49preventing him from swallowing his tongue.
00:53Ronaldo was left off the team sheet,
00:55but after he begged coach Mario Zagallo to play,
00:58he was reinstated, many believe under pressure from sponsors.
01:04But he was a shadow of himself, having little impact on the contest,
01:08as his equivalent in the France team asserted his authority.
01:15As host nation, France would have been under the microscope anyway,
01:19but an embarrassing capitulation in the final qualifying stages
01:23for the 1994 World Cup intensified the pressure.
01:30Gérard Houllier had been sacked as coach,
01:32replaced by his assistant Aimé Jacquet,
01:35who in the minds of the French media carried baggage from the 1994 debacle.
01:42For Jacquet, there was only one way to go.
01:45Invest in youth and start again.
01:48Fortunately for him and for France,
01:51a young midfielder of Algerian descent was crying out for selection.
01:56Zinedine Zidane made his international debut in August 1994 at the age of 22.
02:04Five months later, an incident in England seemed initially to be a disaster for France's national team.
02:11Instead, it was the making of their surprising success.
02:15Eric Cantona assaulted a spectator in the Premier League,
02:19was banned for the rest of the season, and Jacquet stripped him of the French captaincy.
02:26Given his head, Zidane took over as the national team's playmaker,
02:30and the brilliant but abrasive and disruptive Cantona never played for his country again.
02:36Jacquet also transitioned winger David Ginola and striker Jean-Pierre Papin out of the side.
02:45And closer to the World Cup introduced youngsters Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and David Trezeguet.
02:55The French media were skeptical, many calling for the coach to be dumped.
03:00But with a fresh dynamic, the team exceeded all expectations,
03:03bounding through the group stage with nine goals to one.
03:09But a 2-1 win against Croatia in the semi-final was not enough to change the perception
03:14that Brazil would breeze to victory in the final.
03:20But Jacquet had discussed with Zidane a weakness in Brazil's defense at set pieces,
03:25and Zidane exploited it.
03:2827 minutes into the final, he headed his first into the net from a corner kick,
03:33and 19 minutes later, another corner kick, another header, another goal.
03:40With Ronaldo unable to raise a challenge, and the rest of the Brazilian team unable to step up,
03:45the French team breezed to an unlikely victory.
03:49Emmanuel Petit's 93rd-minute goal providing a 3-0 scoreline,
03:54the most decisive victory in any World Cup final.
03:59Zidane was man of the match, and while his best football was still ahead of him,
04:03it established him as the game's glamour star heading into the new millennium.
04:08Of 98's other giant personalities, Ronaldo too would eventually fulfil his destiny.
04:16David Beckham's career would blossom going on to riches,
04:19celebrity, and ultimately forgiveness from England fans.
04:24Gaz's story was not so happy.
04:26But that's the nature of sport.
04:29It's the contrast between triumph and despair
04:31which makes football's greatest stage such intriguing theatre.
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