One of the most hyped World Cups ever is finally over. There was a lot of celebration during the World Cup, but there was also a lot of tragedy.

There were riots all over the world because of what was going on in France. Riots in Cameroon because the head of the soccer federation said that, “The referees are ‘easier on the European teams ‘than the African teams.” People in Cameroon were look- ing for people who appeared to be

European to beat them up.

There were a lot of surprises and isappointments in this year’s version f the World Cup.

The two biggest surprises were that he host nation, France, actually won he tournament, and another, even big- er surprise, was that Croatia, playing n its first World Cup, finished third. roatia won third place by beating werhouses like Germany and the etherlands.

Denmark, in its second World Cup ver, made it to the quarter-final giving razil a huge scare only losing by 3-2. There were a lot more big disap- intments in the World Cup. For nstance, Spain was supposed to chal- enge for the World Cup but didn't

ven make it out of the first round.

England was another big disappoint- ent. They were also supposed to chal- nge for the title but lost to Argentina n penalty kicks in the second round. Germany, who were favored to win e World Cup, never really got going. hey were lucky in all their games, but eir luck ran out after losing to roatia in the quarter-final 3-0, That atked the last games for Lothar atthaus and Jurgen Klinsmann.

elebration and Tragedy

The rioting that happened in France was a lot worse. English fans in Marseille fought with Tunisian fans before and after the game. Over fifty people were arrested. By the way, England won the game 2-0.

In Lens, a German fan beat a French police officer over the head with a- metal bar. The police officer is still in coma.

Also, an English fan killed a French man just because he thought the man was from Argentina. He killed the man

World Cup Surprises and. Disappointments

But the biggest disappointment in the World Cup was the Brazilian team. Brazil was supposed to win the World Cup with ease and although Brazil made it to the final, they didn’t domi- nate their opponents like they should have. They lost to Norway in the first round, barely beat Denmark in the quarters, and had to beat the Netherlands in a penalty shoot-out. In the final they were severely out-played, losing to France 3-0.

because he was upset that Argentina had defeated England in the second round by a penalty shoot-out.

The much anticipated game between Iran and the United States that most people thought would get violent was very peaceful. Many people thought the streets of Lyon would be like the streets of Marseille or Lens, but FIFA decided that the day Iran played the United States (June 21) would be FIFA Fair Play Day. Before the game both teams carne together for one team pic- ture. The game was very well-played by both teams and Iran defeated the United States 2—1. Fans from both nations celebrated before and after the game.

Altogether there were over 200 arrests made in France during the

World Cup.

Player Country Goals Davor Suker Croatia Gabriel Batistuta Argentina 5 Christian Vieri Italy Luis Hernandez — Mexico Marcelo Salas = Chile Ronaldo Brazil 4

Golden Boot Award

The Golden Boot Award goes to the player who has scored the most goals in the World Cup. This year’s winner of the Golden Boot award is Davor Suker, of Croatia, who scored six goals in the tournament, Here

are the top six goal scorers of the 1998 World Cup:

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Cup du Monde — August 1998