
Friday, July 10, 1998
Leander Paes stuns Draper, in quarter-finals
Leander Paes and Italy's Lawrence Tieleman each upset seeded Australians on a bad Wednesday for favourities at the rain-halted Hall of Fame Championships. Paes beat Queen's champion Scott Draper 7-5, 6-4 while Italy's Lawrence Tieleman ousted second-seed Mark Woodforde 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, in second-round matches at the $275,000 event.

Lilian Thuram leads French revelation
Defender Lilian Thuram was France's World Cup hero after scoring two second-half goals to take the host nation past Croatia and into their first World Cup final. France, who won 2-1, now meet four times champions Brazil at the Stade de France on Sunday. It will be the first World Cup final between a host nation and the reigning champions.

It's passion personified in Paris
I watched the semi-final between France and Croatia in Paris. Believe me, the hosts are becoming more and more passionate about this World Cup. When Lilian Thuram equalised within seconds of Croatia taking the lead, you could sense the whole country just willing them on to victory. The goal could have not come at a better time as it made the atmosphere within the ground electric and left the Croatians absolutely shell-shocked.

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