Paris Saint-Germain players at the World Cup: Act 3, the 2000s
A few days before the start of the Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022, we take a look back at the history of Paris Saint-Germain's players during the World Cup finals. Third step, the 2000s.
In 2002, four years after Les Bleus' historic victory, a Parisian was to be crowned World Champion during the World Cup in Japan and South Korea: the Brazilian Ronaldinho.
The Parisian number 10 played five matches and scored two goals during the competition, including a sublime free kick and then a red card against England in the quarter-finals (2-1, 21/06/2002) before winning the final against Germany (2-0, 30/06/2002).
Ronaldinho went through every emotion at the World Cup in Asia: "It's every player's dream to pull on the national team shirt and play in the World Cup. When the final was over, I didn't realise what had just happened. I celebrated, but I didn't really realise that we were world champions. I didn't really realise it until I got back to Brazil, and then I started travelling. That's when I realised the impact of the title."
The other four Paris Saint-Germain players who played alongside Ronaldinho at the World Cup all suffered similar fates, with Mauricio Pochettino's Argentina, Jay-Jay Okocha and Bartholomew Ogbeche's Nigeria, and Selim Benachour's Tunisia all going out in the first round.
In 2006 in Germany, four Parisians were selected: the Czech David Rozehnal, the Ivorian Bonaventure Kalou, the French Vikash Dhorasoo and the Portuguese Pedro Miguel Pauleta.
The first two will not have fond memories of this World Cup, with an early elimination. Pauleta failed with Portugal in the semi-finals against France (0-1, 05/07/2006), with only one goal scored in five games played. At the age of 33, it was the end of the Azores Eagle's international career: "I spent ten great years with the Portuguese national team but my time had come. With Portugal, I tell myself that we were always very close to something exceptional... But it will always be good memories, because I was lucky enough to be part of it."
Vikash Dhorasoo only played a few minutes during this competition where Les Bleus were beaten in the final by Italy (1-1 a.p., 3 penalties to 5, on 09/07/2006), a tournament that made him famous for his film on the life of Les Bleus: "I have lived through great moments in my career but this World Cup is a real icing on my cake, a global event where all eyes were on us. I was selected among the best players in my country, and that is already a privilege."
