1998 FIFA World Cup in France
Today again, I’m going to talk about soccer. The France World Cup was held 25 years ago.
It was the tournament where Japan qualified for the World Cup for the first time in its history.
During that tournament, global superstar David Beckham got into an altercation with Argentina’s Diego Simeone and received a red card, resulting in an immediate ejection.
Here is the play in question. Beckham is in white, Simeone in blue.
Simeone’s actions were more cynical and deliberate, yet it was Beckham in white who was sent off. Simeone was crafty, while Beckham was too honest for his own good.
In the 20th century, Argentina and England had remained tense for some time after the Falklands War in 1982.
By 1998 things had calmed somewhat, but in the 1986 Mexico World Cup, Diego Maradona produced what are often called the most famous goal and the second most famous goal in World Cup history: the “five-man dribble” and the “Hand of God.” That match was Argentina vs. England, and many English fans were furious at the time.
Simeone was a defensive midfielder renowned for man-marking. Now 52 years old, he is in his 13th season as manager of Atlético Madrid in Spain.
As a player, Simeone played in Italy and Spain, where he built a reputation as an “ace killer,” shutting down star players such as Zidane, Nakata, Raúl, and Figo.
1994 World Cup in the United States
Now then, four years before the France World Cup where Simeone marked Beckham, the top scorer and MVP of the U.S. World Cup was Brazil’s Romário.
Romário was a striker who later surpassed Pelé with a claimed career total of 1,000 goals. A pure scoring machine.
And part of what made Romário Romário was that he was one of the wildest bad boys in football history. Compared with him, most other troublemakers looked tame.
First of all, on cold days, Romário simply wouldn’t come to training.
And on hot days, he wouldn’t leave the shade.
Soccer stadiums have sunny areas and shaded areas. On hot days, Romário stayed in the shade and played only there—then scored a hat trick.
His nightlife was just as legendary.
“If I have free time, I’d rather drink and sleep with women than train.
A hardworking guy might achieve more than me, but I don’t want that kind of miserable life.”
When Romário was 18 and selected for Brazil’s youth national team, he allegedly had an affair with the coach’s wife and was kicked off the squad.
During the 1993 World Cup qualifiers, shocks happened everywhere. Japan suffered the “Agony of Doha.” England failed to qualify. France failed to qualify.
And Brazil, incredibly, was also on the verge of elimination in South American qualifying. For the first time in 60 years of World Cup history, Brazil had lost a qualifier. One more defeat and they might miss the World Cup entirely.
The man called back at that moment was Romário—the same Romário who had refused national team duty after fighting with the manager.
In the decisive final match against Uruguay, he scored twice and secured qualification.
Then, one month later, an astonishing incident occurred: Romário’s father was kidnapped in Brazil.
The kidnappers demanded a ransom of 700 million yen.
What do you think the bad boy Romário did? It was unbelievable.
He went on television and said to the kidnappers:
“If you don’t return my father…”
“I won’t play in the World Cup!”
What a line. A reverse threat.
Brazilians, who adore soccer, desperately needed their savior Romário to play in the World Cup.
And everyone in the country knew Romário was exactly the kind of man who might genuinely skip matches over something like that.
A few days later, Romário’s father was released safely. This was reported as a true story.
There are different versions of the tale, and some say the Japanese media exaggerated it, but personally, I hope Brazil and Romário remain larger than life forever.
That same Romário later faced Simeone while playing for Barcelona against Atlético Madrid.
Simeone marked him relentlessly.
What do you think the bad boy Romário did?
Shocking again.
He threw a left straight punch into Simeone’s face. Naturally, it was an instant red card and Romário was sent off.
The crafty Simeone had a habit of quietly kicking and provoking opponents in order to get them dismissed. Young Beckham took the bait and was sent off. Bad boy Romário skipped the bait entirely and just punched him directly—so he too was sent off.