10 Famous World Cup Moments Involving Newcastle Players
6. Stephane Guivarch - Unlikely World Cup Winner (1998)
Arguably the most serendipitous World Cup winner in recorded history. Despite Guivarch drawing blank after blank in front of goal en route to the final in Paris he still retained the faith of manager Aime Jacquet and lead the line for Les Bleus against Brazil. He played for 66 minutes of the 3-0 victory before being substituted for Christophe Dugarry. Luck is apportioned to all the wrong people. Newcastle, or more to the point Kenny Dalglish, had already splashed out £3.5 milllion to extract the Frenchman from Auxerre where he scored goals for fun - before the finals and the aim was for Guivarch to drum up a deadly attacking alliance with Alan Shearer. We can only imagine that every sane person connected to the Magpies engaged in a collective wince as they watched Guivarch flounder at the apex a dazzling French team. Luckily we recouped our money on the goal-shy forward when he was packed off to Rangers just five months after having a World Cup winners medal placed around his neck. Guivarch was later voted as number one in the Daily Mails rundown of the 50 worst strikers ever to play in the Premier League. He attacked the paper calling it crap while Jacquet incredulously continued to defend the forward and praised his contributions as a crucial pivot in Frances forward line.
