***1998 was an exciting year for world football. The game saw a refreshing change in attitude, and a high-scoring World Cup proved that FIFA’s slogan ‘Go for goals’ was finally being put into effect by coaches and players. France rode on the brilliance of Zinedine Zidane whose two headed goals buried the hopes of Brazil in the World Cup final and decorated ‘Les Blues’ as champions for the very first time. There was high drama both on and off the field. The allegations of doping in the Italian Serie A rattled the image of one of the top-most leagues in the world. Superstar Ronaldo of Brazil was the man making headlines almost every day during the past 12 months— for his phenomenal scoring prowess in the first half of the year, and for his chronic let-downs in the second. There was a shift in the FIFA presidency with the long-standing Brazilian Joao Havelange finally stepping down in favour of a new leadership under Swiss Joseph Blatter. Following is a chronology of important events that shaped the world of football in 1998.

JANUARY

JAN 12: Ronaldo voted FIFA’s world player of the year for 1997. The Inter Milan and Brazil super striker received 480 points from a panel of judges consisting of 121 national coaches. Fellow Brazilian Roberto Carlos came second with 65 points while Dutch ace Dennis Bergkamp was third with 62 points.

JAN 14: Walter Zenga (38).the former Italy and Inter Milan custodian, retires from the game. Zenga finished his career with New England Revolution of the Major League soccer.

JAN 17: UEFA boss Lennart Johansson officially declares his candidature for FIFA presidency.

JAN 29: French president Jacques Chirac opens the 80,000-seat Stade de France in Saint-Denis, venue-for the final of World Cup 98.

FEBRUARY

FEB 5: Tiny Jamaica rock world champions Brazil with a 0-0 draw in a CONCACAF Gold Cup fixture.

FEB 10: The United States throw Brazil out of the CONCACAF Gold Cup after winning 1-0 in a semifinal.

FEB 11: Michael Owen makes history when at the age of 18 years and 59 days, he becomes the youngest booter this century to make an international debut for England in a friendly against Chile at Wembley, England lose 0-2.

FEB 12: Ruud Gullit, the former Dutch superstar, is sacked as Chelsea player-manager. Gullit's replacement is former Italy international Gianluca ViaUi.

FEB 14: Mexico win CONCA-CAF Gold Cup after beating USA 1-0 in Los Angeles in the final.

FEB 15: Chile's brilliant marksman Marcelo Salas and Argentina's national coach Daniel Passarella voted by journalists as America's best player and coach respectively at Montevideo, Uruguay.

FEB 30: Egypt win African Nation's Cup. They beat South

APRIL

APR 18: Former Spain international striker Emilio Bu-tragueno (35) retires after playing the last match for his club Celaya of Mexico.

APR 19: Barcelona crowned Spanish Premier League champions for the 15th tima.after 1-0 win over Real Zaragoza.

APR 30: Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 in a World Cup warmup match at Rio de Janeiro.

Barcelona clinch League Cup after victory over Mallorca 1 -1 (5-4 on penalties) at Valencia. This is their first league and cup double in 39 years.

Italian League Cup goes to

Africa 2-0 in the final at Ouagadougou. Burkina Faso.

MARCH

MAR 1: Opinion polls say AC Milan's French star Ibrahim Ba is the sexiest foreigner playing in the Serie A.

MAR 3: Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) appoints former superstar Zico as assistant to national coach Mario Zagallo.

MAR 10: Barcelona lift UEFA Super Cup after 1-1 (3-1 on aggregate) draw with Borussia Dortmund.

MAR 12: Barcelona sacks temperamental Bulgarian striker Hristo Stoichkov.

MAR 14: Inter Milan celebrates 90th anniversary with a 4-0 drubbing of AS Roma in a Serie A match at the San Siro Stadium in Milan.

MAR 25: Brazil beat Germany 2-1 in a world Cup warmup match at Stuttgart. Ronaldo scores the winner two minutes from time.

Lazio after 40 years with a 2-0 win against AC Milan at Rome. MAY

MAY 1: Dennis Bergkamp voted English 'footballer of the year'.

MAY 2: Kaiserslautern become the first side to win the German Bundesliga after rising from the second division. They win 4-0 at VFL Wolfsburg.

French Cup is Paris Saint Germain's after 2-1 win over RC lens.

MAY 3: Arsene Wenger becomes the first foreign coach i lead an English side to championship and Arsenal secure i! ■ Premier League with a 4-0 thrashing of Everton.

MAY 5: PSV Eindhoven's butch international Jaap Stam is the most expensive defender in the world after striking a 17.9 million dollar deal with English giants Manchester United.

MAY 6: No room for Rai and Juninho in Mario Zagallo's 22-man World Cup squad.

Inter Milan lift the UEFA Cup after winning 3-0 against Lazio. Ronaldo declared player of the match.

MAY 11: Juventus Serie A champions after 3-2 victory against Bologna. 37-year old Lothar Matthaeus forces his way into Germany's World Cup squad after three-and-a-hall years in international wilderness.

MAY 14: Gianfranco Zola scores within seconds after coming on as a substitute against Stuttgart to give Chelsea the European Cup Winners' Cup.

Bellmare Hiratsuka's Japan international Hidetoshi Nakata named Asian ■footballer of the year’.

MAY 17: FA Cup Arsenal's. They win 2-0 against Newcastle United in the final to complete a brilliant double. Bayern Munich beat MSV Duisberg 2-1 to win the German League Cup.

MAY 20: Real Madrid European champions. A goal by Yugoslav international Predrag Mijatovic against Juventus is enough for Real to reign supreme in Europe after 32 years. Ajax Amsterdam's Arena stadium hosted the champions league final.

MAY 22: Gianfranco Zola controversially left out of Italy's world Cup squad. Guiseppe Bergomi and Roberto Baggio gets the nod.

MAY 28: Owen becomes the youngest international to score a goal for England in a 1-0 win over Morocco. JUNE

JUNE 1: England coach Glenn Hoddle drops mercurial playmaker Paul Gascoigne from World Cup rooster.

JUNE 2: Injury forces Ro-mario out of the World Cup.

JUNE 5: Roberto Baggio strikes two-year deal with Inter Milan.

JUNE 8: Joseph Blatter (62) gets the'better of Lennart Johansson in the polls for’FIFA presidency. Legendary 82-year old FIFA boss Joao Havelange steps down after a staggering 24 years in the office.

JUNE 10: Century's last World Cup opens at the Stade de France. Brazil win 2-1 against Scotland in the opening match of the tournament.

JUNE 11: Baggio's 85th minute penalty saves Italy against Chile. Match ends 2-2.

JUNE 12: Hosts France start off with a 3-0 demolition of South Africa.

JUNE 13: Fernand Sastre (74). co-president of French World Cup organizing committee (CFO), dies in Paris.

Nigeria shock Spain 3-2.

JUNE 14: English hooligans clash with police and rival fans at Marseille ahead of England's World Cup opener with Tunisia. The incident leaves 43 injured and 30 hospitalised.

JUNE 17: Colombia's coach Hernan Dario Gomez sends superstar Faustino Asprilla back home on disciplinary ground.

JUNE 19: France's play-maker-supreme Zinedine Zidane sent off in the match against Saudi Arabia.

JUNE 20: Saudis sack coach Carlos Alberto Parreira.

JUNE 21: German fans go on rampage at Lens, attack policemen. One officer seriously hurt and fighting for life.

Gabriel Batistuta scores the first hattrick of the World Cup as Argentina blank Jamaica 5-0.

Lothar Matthaeus makes record 22nd appearance in a World Cup match (against Yugoslavia).

JUNE 22: Iran edge USA 2-1 in the 'battle of France 98'.

JUNE 24: Norway shock Brazil 2-1. qualify for second round.

JUNE 28: Laurent Blanc scores the first 'golden goal' of the World Cup in the second round fixture against Paraguay. JULY

JULY 1: David Beckham becomes scapegoat as England loses World Cap quarterfinal against bitter rivals Argentina. Beckham red-carded in the second half for 'kicking' Diego Simeone.

JULY 3: France reach last four of the World Cup after winning 4-3 (0-0 normal time) on penalties against Italy.

JULY 4: Michael Laudrup (34), Denmark’s greatest footballer ever, says goodbye to soccer after 2-3 quarterfinal loss against Brazil.

JULY 5: Croatia stun Germany 3-0 to move into the semis.

JULY 7: Brian Laudrup (28) follows brother’s path and retires from international football.

Brazil reach World Cup final for the sixth time following 4-2 (1-1 in normal time) tiebreaker win against Holland.

JULY 8: France in final for the first time after 2-1 win against Croatia.

JULY 11: Croatia becomes third after 2-1 victory over Holland.

JULY 12: France World Champions. Brazil surrenders 0-3. Zinedine Zidane scores twice.

Drama before the start off the match. Ronaldo taken to hospital for 'mystery' illness. Plays full 90 minutes but remains lethargic.

Brazil captain Dunga (34) retires from international football.

JULY 13: Brazil team doctor says Ronaldo suffered a 30-sec-ond 'convulsive fit' before the final.

JULY 16: Dutch national coach Guus Hiddink signs two-year contract with Real Madrid.

JULY 17: Hristo Stoichkov joins J-League side Kashiwa Reysol.

JULY 22: Italy's legendary goalkeeper Dino Zoff (56) becomes coach of the national team replacing Cesare Maldini.

JULY 27: Roger Lemerre (57) replaces Aime Jacquet as French national team coach.

JULY 28: CBF sacks Mario Zagallo and the entire coaching staff of Brazil's World Cup squad.

JULY 29: Argentina's Ariel Ortega joins Serie A side Samp-doria for 12 million dollars from Spain's Valencia.

AUGUST

AUG 2 : Ronaldo FIFA's choice as the best player of France '98.

AUG 6: As Roma coach Zdenek Zeman sparks off controversy by claiming 'there is drug in use in the Italian Serie A. notably among big teams’. Zeman points finger at current and former Juventus players Alessandro del Piero and Gianluca Vialli.

AUG 7: Del Piero takes legal action against Zeman.

AUG 12: Zeman questioned by Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) officials.

AUG 11: Vanderly Luxem-

burgo appointed coach of Brazil.

AUG 27: Brazil's Vasco da Gama win Copa Libertadores after beating Barcelona of Ecuador 2-1. Ruud Gullit replaces Kenny Dalglish as Newcastle United manager.

AUG 28: Atletico Madrid frees Christian Vieri for 28 million dollars to Lazio.

Patrick Kluivert Joins Barcelona from AC Milan for 13 million dollars.

AUG 29 : Chelsea win UEFA Super Cup after beating Real Madrid 1-0.

AUG 31: Frank Rijkaard be-comes Dutch national coach. SEPTEMBER

SEPT 1: Oliver Bierhoff succeeds Juergen Klinsmann as Germany captain.

SEPT 7: Berti Vogts steps down as German national coach.

SEPT 9: Media-moghul Rupert Murdoch's BskyB splashes out a 1.02 billion dollar bid to take over English powerhouse Manchester United.

SEPT 10: 61-year old Erich Ribbeck becomes German national team coach.

SEPT 11: Brothers Frank and Ronald de Boer patch up differences with Ajax Amsterdam regarding their transfer abroad. The Dutch internationals decides to stay with the club, Asian Football Confederation bans Thailand and Indonesia from international football for playing a fixed match.

OCTOBER

OCT 7: Former German international Andreas Brehme plays his farewell game.

OCT 11: Prolific striker Hakan Sukur scores as Turkey celebrates their most memo-* rable victory ever -- 1-0 over Germany in an Euro 2000 qualifier at Bursa.

NOVEMBER

NOV 10: England officially launches bid for 2006 World Cup.

Juventus star Alessandro del

Piero’s season terminated due to knee injury.

NOV 12: Manchester United’s Danish custodian Peter Schmeichel says he would leave the club at the end of the current season.

. NOV 18: Former French international Jean Pierre Papin (35) announces his retirement.

NOV 24: UEFA postpones until December 2 today's Champions' League match between Juventus and Galatasaray sheduled to be held in Istanbul in light of the on-going diplomatic row between Turkey and Italy.

DECEMBER

DEC 13: UEFA formally announces plans for a new-look continental club format tournaments. under which the Champions' League will be expanded into a 32-team competition from the present 24 while in the UEFA Cup will have 121 teams. The Cup Winners' Cup is discontinued.

DEC 17: Enrico Chiesa scores a hattrick as Italy thrash Rest of the World 6-2 in an exhibition match commemorating the centenary of the Italian football federation(ITF).

DEC 18: Ex-England international David Platt becomes coach of his former club Samp-doria.

DEC 22: Zinedine Zidane wins the European 'footballer of the year' award.

Germany to replace France as European representative at the FIFA Confederations Cup, scheduled to be held in Mexico in July 1999.

DEC 23: Brazil finish 1998 as FIFA's number 1 ranked team for the second year running.

DEC 28: Oleg Romantsev new Russian national coach, taking over from Anatoly Byshovets.

DEC 29: Brazil’s former national team boss Mario Zagallo becomes coach of Sao Paulo based club Portguesa.