Paraguay vs. France

WORLD CUP UPDATE

      PARAGUAY           0
      FRANCE             1   FINAL IN 2ND OT

      SCORING: PAR: NONE
               FRA: LAURENT BLANC (1) IN THE 113TH MINUTE
                                                                        

Extended Box

WORLD CUP - BOXSCORE

    PARAGUAY 0                        FRANCE 1

G   JOSE LUIS CHILAVERT           G   FABIEN BARTHEZ
D   FRANCISCO ARCE                D   BIXENTE LIZARAZU
D   CARLOS GAMARRA                D   LAURENT BLANC
D   CELSO AYALA                   D   MARCEL DESAILLY
D   PEDRO SARABIA                 D   LILIAN THURAM
M   ROBERTO ACUNA                 M   YOURI DJORKAEFF
M   CARLOS PAREDES                M   DIDIER DESCHAMPS
M    DENIS CANIZA (74TH)          M   EMMANUEL PETIT
M   JULIO CESAR ENCISO            M    ALAIN BOGHOSSIAN (69TH)
F   MIGUEL BENITEZ                M   THIERRY HENRY
F   JOSE CARDOZO                  M    ROBERT PIRES (64TH)
F    ARISTIDES ROJAS (91ST)       F   BERNARD DIOMEDE
F   JORGE CAMPOS                  F    STEPHANE GUIVARC'H (76TH)
F    JUAN CARLOS YEGROS (55TH)    F   DAVID TREZEGUET

                     PAR               FRA

SHOTS                 12                35
FOULS                 21                13
OFFSIDES               2                 1
CORNER KICKS           5                14

      SCORING: PAR: NONE
               FRA: LAURENT BLANC (1) IN THE 11TH MINUTE

REFEREE: MOHAMED ALI BUJSAIM (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES)

CAUTIONS: PAR: JOSE LUIS CHILAVERT (19TH)
               MIGUEL BENITEZ (23RD)
               JULIO CESAR ENCISO (32ND)
               FRANCISCO ARCE (84TH)
               ARISTIDES ROJAS (99TH)
          FRA: NONE

EJECTIONS: PAR: NONE
           FRA: NONE

ATTENDANCE: 00000
                                                                        

Game Story

Defender Laurent Blanc scored a golden goal in the ninth minute
of the second half of overtime, the 113th minute of play, to put
host nation France through to the quarterfinals with a 1-0
victory over Paraguay today at Lens.

After 90 minutes of regulation and a frantic first overtime of
15 minutes, France avoided penalty shots with a chip in the
penalty area to forward David Trezeguet, who headed the ball to
Blanc alone with time to set himself for the low blast from
seven yards that beat goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert.

France constantly pushed forward with many shots attempted but
frustratingly was unable to convert any chances, or its shots
were all either blocked by Paraguayan defenders sacrificing
their bodies or saved by Chilavert.

Eventually the efforts were rewarded with the late goal to set
up a classic quarterfinal match-up between France and Italy on
Friday at 10:30 a.m. EDT at Saint-Denis.

France recorded its 20th World Cup win in its 10th appearance.
France has lost 15 times and has three ties, scoring 84 goals
and giving up 57.

Trezeguet had the first scoring chance for France in the 15th
minute, taking advantage of a mix-up by the Paraguayan backs,
but his shot brazed the outside of the net.  A minute later,
forward Bernard Diomede took a shot that Chilavert had to
stretch to make the save.

Midfielder Youri Djorkaeff, who was at the center of France's
many attacks, found some open space in the 19th minute outside
the left side of the penalty area and finished with a good shot
that missed the far post by inches.

Thierry Henry had the best scoring chance in the 39th minute
when on a breakaway on the right, Chilavert came out to close
the angle and Henry's well-placed shot denied France the opening
goal by hitting the post.

France created 12 chances in the first 45 minutes, while
Paraguay had seven. Shots were 9-3 in favor of France, with just
3-1 on goal.

Miguel Benitez had a good opportunity for Paraguay in the 47th
minute, but before finishing his shot, the French defense was
there to clear the danger.

In the 79th minute, Trezeguet turned a defender in the box and
faced open space toward the goal, but missed the target slightly
to the left from 13 yards out.

Three minutes later, Djorkaeff missed another chance all alone
at the top of the keeper's box when he took too much time to set
for a shot and a defender cleared it away.

In overtime, chances kept coming as Djorkaeff executed a 25-yard
free kick which Chilavert made an acrobatic dive to save into a
corner kick.

Four minutes before the goal, substitute Robert Pires had an
individual effort concluded with a solid shot stopped by
Chilavert.

France outshot Paraguay, 35-12, with 25 on target to the
opponent's five.  The French also dominated corner kicks, 14-5.
Paraguay's defensive style resulted in 21 fouls.

Referee Ali Mohamed Bujsaim of the United Arab Emirates issued
yellow cards to Chilavert, Benitez, Julio Cesar Enciso,
Francisco Arce and Aristides Rojas.

In its fifth World Cup appearance, Paraguay leaves with a 4-5-6
record and a 19-27 goal differential.  The teams met once before
in World Cup group play in 1958 Sweden, when France won 7-3.