00:05At France, 1998, football's greatest stage was a giant stage.
00:11For the first time, FIFA had decided the World Cup tournament would be contested by 32 nations instead of 24.
00:21And in keeping with the theme, organizers of the opening ceremony in Paris were convinced that size mattered.
00:30The ceremony was highlighted by a parade of giants, four figures, 70 feet high, weighing 38 tons each.
00:40The four giants, representing the four colors of humanity, and named Ho, Romeo, Pablo and Moussa,
00:48each started at different points of Paris and lumbered their way to a symbolic meeting spot at the Place de
00:54la Concorde,
00:56accompanied by an array of jugglers, acrobats, dancers and contortionists.
01:04Coincidentally, the France 98 tournament would also feature four giant personalities.
01:11Even if one of them wasn't there at all, one left rather early, one went missing in action when it
01:17counted most,
01:19and one was absolutely stunning.
01:24The one who wasn't there at all probably got as much publicity as any player who was.
01:30Paul Gascoigne, Gazza, had made the FIFA All-Star team in 1990,
01:35when he carried England to their first semi-final appearance since their 1966 triumph.
01:42But by 1998, his infamous lack of discipline and other personal struggles had begun to seriously impact his reliability,
01:51if not yet his brilliance.
01:55England coach Glenn Hoddle believed Gascoigne could no longer be risked in the demanding environment of a World Cup,
02:02and cut him from the squad, creating a media storm and signalling a rapid acceleration of Gazza's decline.
02:11When Hoddle told him of the decision,
02:13Gascoigne trashed the coach's room at the camp in Spain.
02:18He never played for England again.
02:22Another England player grabbing headlines in 1998 was David Beckham,
02:27at 23 the hottest property in the Premier League with Manchester United,
02:31but still establishing his reputation at international level.
02:36Having seen first-hand the ruination of Gascoigne,
02:40Hoddle was perhaps over-sensitive to the distractions caused by the media obsession with Beckham's private life,
02:46as the fiancée of Spice Girl Victoria Adams.
02:51Although Beckham was the only Englishman to have played all eight qualifying matches,
02:56the coach questioned his focus and refused to start him for the first two group matches.
03:03After losing the second match to Romania,
03:06Hoddle finally picked Beckham for the third match against Colombia,
03:10and he responded by bending a free kick into the net for England's second goal
03:14and lifting them into the round of 16.
03:19But in the next match against Argentina,
03:21Hoddle's fears about Beckham's focus were realised when he was antagonised by Diego Simeone.
03:29After being brutally fouled,
03:31Beckham was on the ground and flicked back his leg in a mild but unnecessary retaliation.
03:38Simeone took a dive and Beckham was red carded.
03:42Leaving England to battle to a draw with ten men before losing on penalties.
03:48Beckham was shattered while Hoddle's reaction was to say the young star should not be blamed.
03:53And then promptly blamed him.
03:56I don't think it's a time now to make scapegoats in David Beckham or to blame anybody.
04:03I think David's the first to admit that it's a silly mistake that he's made on the football pitch.
04:08One that I felt wasn't violent conduct, but it was something that at this level he's got to learn that
04:13we can't afford to do them things.
04:15Not just David, but any player that's playing in a tournament this big, you can't afford to do it.
04:21You're going to get punished and we have been punished on it.
04:25Beckham even received death threats from fans who blamed him for the defeat.
04:29And years later, he said he believed Hoddle's criticism fuelled some of the frenzied anger directed at him.
04:35We're not afraid of him because he is in Australia.
04:36So he's losing control.
04:36When he breathed in the fight, Tony...
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