France

From the evidence of the first 89 and a bit minutes against England, it looked as thought France were going to make another disastrous start to a major Championship. After losing their opening game of the 2002 World Cup, 1-0 to Senegal, they looked set to repeat their feat. Only two last gasp goals from none other than Zinedine Zidane, sealed victory. The French have showed that they are one of the best sides in the world, as they were still capable of pulling a win out of the bag. The side didn't really seem to gel as much as many people had predicted. There were no poor individual ... more

Possibley the greatest team EVER. I know this is a big statement but they have quality at every position and depth in some. I always thought of Barthez as a bit of a clown, and I still think he punches too much, but at Euro 2000 he had a great tournament and with Toldo was the best keeper there. At the back they have three of the best defenders in the world at the moment and one who used to be. Blanc is that man and would still walk into most teams. The other three at at the top of their game. In midfield they are awesome and have been led by the workrate of Deschamps and the genius of Zidane ... more

Many people may now be asking after frances success in euro 2000 and the world cup 2 years ago, that why they have become such a world force? Well it is because they recognised around ten years ago the need for investing in the footballing talent in the country. Many footballing academys were set up to spot talent at a young age and nurture them through the ranks together and only now a decade later are the benefits been rieped. I feel that england should do this now if we are to stop our trend over recent years of underperforming and not achieving success, to build a bright future for the ... more

If a lot of people (like me)believed in a 'lucky France' winning the world cup,they definitely proved us that it wasn't only luck by winning the euro2000. To tell you the truth, I think the euro2000 was of a far best quality than the last world cup, all (well...denmark?sweden?) the teams were great they mostly had a good and quiet enjoyable football so if france came out winner once more, it's nothing but their game! they got great players over-skilled (zidane, henry(youngest player of the final!but not the least...), dessailly, anelka(though he wasn't at it best in this competition)...) ... more

what can i say? kings of europe,kings of the world,do these guys know what it is like to lose. the answer is probably no and i cant think of many teams that would show them how to. the french have gone from also-rans to dominators of world football in just two years. before the world cup that they hosted, french football was not of a very high standard or status, not setting the world alight in euro 96. in the two years between them france have dramatically improved and i am just hoping that england can do the same in time for 2002. ... more