00:01Leads the nation in celebration.
00:05And Jaime Jacquet still clutching the filofax.
00:08Perhaps it had all the secrets in after all.
00:14And with scenes like these, I think the presentation of the trophy and the medals
00:19may be delayed by a few minutes.
00:25That save that Varches made from Ronaldo, looking back quickly in hindsight,
00:30was quite an important moment.
00:32Yes, 2-1 then would have been different psychologically,
00:35but Brazil never got going.
00:37The French had their heroes, Zidane, with his two goals.
00:40I thought Petit, who came into the side after the first couple of games,
00:44got stronger and stronger as the tournament went on.
00:46Desai, of course, went off this evening and Blanc.
00:48Frank Leboeuf came in, did very well, and the two full-backs, Liza Rizou and Turam.
00:53Because the actual success has been built on a very solid defence throughout the tournament.
00:58I think I've seen my first arrest on the pitch in the World Cup,
01:01and an over-enthusiastic supporter has been rather roughly led away by four security men.
01:09But let's not spoil the occasion with that, because this is what it's all about.
01:15I think it was the Brazilians in Sweden who first hit on the idea of carrying the flag round the
01:19stadium when they won the World Cup.
01:24Now I wonder what this means to a Frenchman, and who better to tell us than our own panellist David
01:32Ginola.
01:32What do you think, David?
01:34We've done it. It's fantastic. I think the celebration after a game like that is just amazing.
01:41I'm so proud to be French tonight.
01:45And so the supporters in the stands, they're all unbelievable.
01:50The French team play, the display of the French team tonight was unbelievable.
01:55They play so much better than the Brazilians.
01:58There was no photo in between the both teams.
02:02And I'm very proud, very proud because our football is recognised all around the world now,
02:10and nobody could speak anymore about, you know, French football, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
02:16It's just fantastic. I'm very proud. Thank you.
02:20Thank you very much, David Ginola. I'm sure he speaks for every Frenchman.
02:25As I said at the very start, a man called Jules Rimet came up with the idea of a World
02:31Cup.
02:33The first one was held in 1930, and it's taken all those years for the country who innovated the competition
02:42to be crowned champions.
02:47There are some amazing scenes outside the stadium as well.
02:51Just look at those pictures from Paris.
02:54And it's going to go on like that all night in the Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elysees.
03:00It's only just starting out there.
03:05And inside the stadium, protocol tells us that the first man to get his medal is the referee.
03:10The Moroccan referee who made history by becoming the first African, Said Belcola, and our English linesman, Mark Warren,
03:18and his South African colleague, and the Saudi Arabian fourth official.
03:22It's a proud night for them as well, and I would have no argument with the way they controlled the
03:26match.
03:26I wonder if Desai will be allowed to go up and get a medal, or whether the FIFA will do
03:31something about that.
03:32He was sent off, of course.
03:34I don't think anyone's got the cheek to say to him, by the way, you can't go up and collect
03:37your medal.
03:38I mean, it's such a festive occasion now, let them not go up, because, you know, France have deserved it.
03:43They've won it on merit, that's more than anything, because, you know, sometimes you have penalty shootouts and golden goals.
03:50But tonight, they've won comfortably.
03:51The national anthem, Thomas Sayers, says, Le jour de gloire es arrive.
03:56The day of glory has arrived.
03:59It certainly has, but not for Ronaldo.
04:05And wasn't it Emmanuel Petit, who had the dream that France would beat Brazil in the World Cup final?
04:11I think he said 2-0, but he made sure it was 3 by scoring himself.
04:15So his dream is fulfilled.
04:19Ronaldo will have to wait.
04:20But then again, he is only 21.
04:24And again, traditionally, the losers are first up for the medal ceremony at the end of the World Cup final.
04:31Each nation receives 45 medals.
04:35Silver for the runners-up, gold for the winners.
04:37The 22-man squad, plus all the staff, down to the masseur and the cook and the team administrators, they
04:46all get a memento.
04:47And it's a very different Carlos Dunga that leads Brazil up in the Stade de France to the man who
04:54led them up in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena four years ago.
05:09But the applause is symptomatic of what's been a very enjoyable and well conducted World Cup with a lot of
05:18good spirit and camaraderie between the nations and the supporters.
05:27Brazil go up as runners-up, not a sight you see very often.
05:33And this time, Dunga will have to lead the World Cup exactly where it is.
05:44Yael Havalange, the retired president of FIFA, Brazilian of course, 82 years of age, he's there shaking hands as the
05:52French president hands out the medals.
05:56But you can only imagine what the stadium is going to sound like when the winners go up.
06:04Just a thought about Brazil, Trevor?
06:08Well, I think it's, you know, there'll be discussions afterwards, the Ronaldo injury, you know, at the back they weren't
06:15good enough.
06:16They were exposed this evening, the market was poor for Zidane.
06:19But I think it's more probably that to reflect on later.
06:22I think it's a night for French football for them to enjoy it and they've won it impressively and convincingly.
06:28Yes, the inquests are for another day.
06:31They will include debate about whether Ronaldo should have played having been rushed here from hospital.
06:36Less than an hour before the kickoff, before they said he would actually take part.
06:43Those who've been substituted, those who haven't played at all, those who've worked in the background, this is their moment.
06:51Deschamps, captain of France, I think he can hardly wait to get up there.
07:05Even Roberto Carlos couldn't tonight provide the magic from the free-kicks.
07:13And all sorts of English-based players in those celebrations, naturally.
07:19Le Boeuf, Gessayi, Vieira, Petit, Givash soon.
07:28No scenes to be repeated all across France this evening into the next couple of days, I would imagine.
07:35Zico.
07:39Fatini.
07:40Two of the greats of the past, at strange glances.
07:47They didn't have the pleasure, perhaps, of this supreme moment.
07:54Certainly, Fatini never got to the final of the World Cup with France.
08:02But those that have, know that it will be on their CV for the rest of their lives.
08:13And that's the trophy.
08:16The FIFA World Cup.
08:18Remember that the original Jules Rimei trophy was won outright.
08:23By Brazil in 1970.
08:31Nice moment, that.
08:33The two Inter Milan players.
08:37Ronaldo and Jurkayev.
08:39Now this is the crowning moment.
08:41The climax of the last five weeks.
08:44If you want to be more precise, the climax of the last four years in football.
09:00The trophy itself, made of 18 karat gold, is 20 inches high, and the base has space for 17 small
09:07flats, bearing the names of the winners.
09:10Spacing up, in fact, for the world champions right through to 2038.
09:15But he's only concerned about 1998.
09:18Aimei, Jacquet's France are the new champions.
09:21The seventh nation to win the World Cup since it started.
09:32Desailles has gone up with them.
09:34The player sent off.
09:36The leader of the pack, Didier Deschamps.
09:49Well, what a moment for him and for Platini.
09:55Great pictures, great scenes.
09:58And you have to feel pleased for them.
10:02The host nation, who many thought didn't quite have it, have proved them wrong.
10:09Laurent Blanc, suspended tonight, is also there, second in fact behind Deschamps.
10:17As the medals are handed out, and if my memory serves me right, the medals have usually been given to
10:22the players before the actual presentation of the trophy.
10:26Which is going to be the climactic moment.
10:37Deschamps have to hang around a little longer to get his hands on that cup.
10:48Well, it's a tremendous achievement for the whole country.
10:55The French who, unkindly, some people used to say, always finish second or third or fourth in the major competitions,
11:02no longer.
11:11Perhaps a word from you about the qualities that they showed, Trevor.
11:14Well, an additional bonus is they won't have to qualify, of course, for the next World Cup.
11:18Brazil will have to go through the rich of themselves.
11:21But I think the defence was always very strong, solid.
11:24They were a counter-attacking team.
11:26Still struggled to find that striker, but they had enough talent in other positions.
11:30Particularly in midfield, I thought they totally dominated this evening.
11:33And Petit, what a season he's had for Arsenal.
11:36And then to score the third goal in the World Cup Final.
11:40Fantastic season for him.
11:43Yes, the three goals, if you think about it, came from midfield players, Zidane 2 and Petit.
11:48So maybe in the end they compensated for not having the out-and-out goalscorer in their attack.
11:58A welcome change in many ways from the last two World Cup Finals.
12:06And it's all happened in this huge arena that they designed and built,
12:12knowing that they had been allocated the hosting of the World Cup for the second time.
12:24And still Deshaun waits.
12:26He hasn't moved from that position.
12:28They don't want anybody else to get their hands on the trophy before him.
12:31And they won't.
12:47And the Jacquet was so heavily criticized by a section of the French press who didn't think his tactics would
12:55work.
12:55but when he retires as he does now as national coach
12:58they'll look back
12:59on only three defeats in 53 games
13:02but the most important one of all
13:04was the one he won tonight
13:14Saint-Denis
13:17the suburb where the stadium was built
13:24is there anybody else who hasn't had a medal yet
13:26one more I think
13:35are they going to lift him up
13:40the French are standing tall
13:42the country
13:44that invented the World Cup
13:47get their hands on the trophy
13:48for the first time
13:54France
13:55are the 1998
13:57world champions
13:59the National Championship
14:11The National Championship
14:27is the National Championship
15:11No greater moments in the career of any footballer, surely.
15:17And good to see those who play in the English Premier League having a say, or some of them, at
15:22the end of this World Cup, which earlier, of course, brought disappointment to England themselves.
15:35Not just a triumph for France, but I think, reflecting the competition, a triumph for football, because they've hosted the
15:44tournament so well.
15:48The Stade de France able to stage the competition and the final with the finish that every Frenchman dreamed about.
16:03They're standing on the winning balcony.
16:07And when they look back at the score, they'll know that they won it convincingly.
16:13As President Chirac continues to join in the fun, the 1998 World Cup final finished.
16:21France 3, Brazil 0.
16:23France 3, Brazil 0.
16:24France 3, Brazil 0.
16:24France 3, Brazil 0.
16:24France 3, Brazil 0.
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