Black_Ned
03-07-2000, 05:57:AM
France's Golden Victory
France have beaten Italy 2-1 in the Euro 2000 final in Rotterdam. Marco Delvecchio gave Italy the lead before Sylvain Wiltord equalised in injury-time.
David Trezeguet scored the 'Golden Goal' for France after a magnificent run by Robert Pires.
It was heartbreak for the Italians who had one hand on the trophy before the French proved themselves to be the champions they are with an amazing comeback.
France can now add the European Championships to the World Cup they won in 1998 for an unprecendented double.
Thierry Henry signalled his intent to give the Italian defence a rough ride when he broke down the French left in the first minute and played in a dangerous cross that was well cleared.
Straight away, Italy broke at the other end and Delvecchio - a surprise member of the Italian starting line-up - almost beat French keeper Fabien Barthez to a through ball.
On four minutes, Francesco Totti found himself unmarked in the penalty area from a Stefano Fiore corner but he brushed his header well wide.
Soon after, Henry fired in a speculative effort that hit the outside of Toldo's left-hand post with the keeper surprised by the proximity of the ball to his goal.
After eight minutes Fiore broke after a well constructed Italian move to send in a cross that Delvecchio could only slice wide on the volley.
The first ten minutes produced a more open start than predicted, but the chances largely dried up for the rest of the half as the Italians settled.
The Italian defence displayed all of the qualities that had allowed them to keep Holland at bay in their semi-final - a mixture of dogged defending, intelligent positioning and cynicism.
The first yellow card came on the half-hour when Luigi Di Biagio dragged down Henry as he set off on another galloping run.
The lively Henry fired in a shot on 39 minutes that fell to Youri Djorkaeff in the penalty area, but the 32-year-old shot weakly when well placed.
As the game degenerated towards the end of the half, Cannavaro followed Di Biagio into the book when he brought down Henry as the Arsenal forward charged into the area.
From the free-kick, Desailly sought retribution for his colleague when he elbowed Cannavaro - out of sight of Swedish referee Anders Frisk.
The second-half began brightly for the French, with Henry continuing to drift out to the left to free himself from his markers.
After 49 minutes, Henry's dribble took him to the byline but his cut-back could not be touched in by a French attacker.
Italy then made a substitution, with Fiore being replaced by Alessandro Del Piero - leaving both Totti and Del Piero on the field to support Delvecchio.
The attacking move from Italian coach Dino Zoff was to pay off almost instantly when his side took the lead on 55 minutes.
Delvecchio sidefooted home from Pessotto's cross after the wing-back had been fed down the line by Totti.
Del Piero then had a chance to finish the French off when he was played through by Delvecchio. The Juventus man scuffed his shot wide of Barthez's left-hand post with the goal at his mercy.
Just after the hour substitute Wiltord found himself with space in the Italian penalty area but he shot straight at Toldo's legs when a pass to Djorkaeff would have proved more profitable.
After 68 minutes, a free-kick came all the way through to Henry but once again Toldo blocked the French effort with his legs.
The French continued to find joy down their left, but time and again their final ball was found wanting. As the game drew into its final quarter the likelihood of a France equaliser grew increasingly unlikely.
With six minutes remaining, Del Piero again had a chance to end all doubt but his sidefooted effort was saved by Barthez.
It seemed it would not matter in the final equation, however, as the Italian defence remained resolute to - almost - the last.
An Italian side, fancied at the outset by few, had seemingly provided the French back-four of Thuram, Desailly, Blanc and Lizarazu with their first ever international defeat as a unit - in their final outing together.
It would have been fitting that one great defence should end their reign defeated by another defence of such magnitude.
Then, in the 94th minute, France finally broke the Italian resistance when it seemed Italy had done all the hard work.
Wiltord lost his marker down the French left - that side again - and this time Toldo was unequal to the shot which squirmed under his body.
Extra-time and the prospect of a 'Golden Goal' loomed again with France now with the initiative for the first time.
Henry's pace showed no sign of diminishing in the extra 30 minutes and it was again the former Juventus man who created havoc in the Italian defence.
The France forward's cut-back eventually found its way to substitute Pires who fired in a shot that Toldo grabbed at the second attempt.
With France having gambled by throwing on three strikers in the closing stages of normal time they now had little choice but to take the game to Italy in extra-time.
There extra forward paid off after 103 minutes when Pires weaved his way down the Italian right and he cut the ball back for David Trezeguet to fire home on the turn.
Trezeguet - the man who will join Juventus next season - was able to find the net where Del Piero, his Juventus team-mate to be could not.
"This is a joy, once again two years on," Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said live on French television from the Dutch town of Rotterdam.
"What a start to the French presidency of the European Union," he added. France's took over the presidency of the 15-nation European Union for six months on Saturday.
President Jacques Chirac rushed to the TV cameras too to join in the celebrations.
"We've lived an incredible, unique, adventure with the French team. I'm proud for France and proud for the French," Chirac told TF1 television.
Some 12,000 spectators braved flash floods in Paris ahead of the final to watch the nail-biting contest live on giant outdoor TV screens in front of the Paris town hall on the banks of the River Seine.
Several were carried away after fainting in the heat of the crowd, after a match for which most of the time had passed in anguished silence before a goal in the 93rd minute, in injury time, allowed France to draw even at 1-1, on the way to a winner in extra time.
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Italy sinks into sorrowful stupor
Like their players who sat in tears on the Rotterdam soccer field, Italians sank into a sorrowful stupor tonight after watching the Euro 2000 championship slip away only seconds from the end of injury time.
During the game, Italians whooped and honked, setting dogs barking, as the Italian team scored the first goal of the match and for more than 90 minutes kept France from scoring.
But the cobblestone streets of the capital, where hours before Italians drove around on motorbikes waving red-white-and-green flags, were silent after France scored the "golden goal" and won 2-1 in extra time.
In Milan's main square in front of the city's duomo, or cathedral, a few fans hurled bottles to vent their anger.
Police quickly intervened and the square emptied out in a few minutes with no injuries reported.
Even before the game ended, Italians seemed to realise quickly that time - too much time - could be their doom.
"Two more minutes of suffering. Mamma mia!" cried out a commentator on TMC tv halfway into the recoup time which saw France tie the score seconds before the clock was to run out.
Commentators concentrated their finger-pointing mainly at striker Alessandro Del Piero's disappointing performance.
"One of those two goals he should have made," said veteran commentator, Giampiero Galeazzi.
Said another state TV sports commentator, Marco Marzocchi immediately after the game: "Paradoxically, Italy played one of its better games and game out the loser."
[This message has been edited by Black_Ned (edited 07-03-2000).]
France have beaten Italy 2-1 in the Euro 2000 final in Rotterdam. Marco Delvecchio gave Italy the lead before Sylvain Wiltord equalised in injury-time.
David Trezeguet scored the 'Golden Goal' for France after a magnificent run by Robert Pires.
It was heartbreak for the Italians who had one hand on the trophy before the French proved themselves to be the champions they are with an amazing comeback.
France can now add the European Championships to the World Cup they won in 1998 for an unprecendented double.
Thierry Henry signalled his intent to give the Italian defence a rough ride when he broke down the French left in the first minute and played in a dangerous cross that was well cleared.
Straight away, Italy broke at the other end and Delvecchio - a surprise member of the Italian starting line-up - almost beat French keeper Fabien Barthez to a through ball.
On four minutes, Francesco Totti found himself unmarked in the penalty area from a Stefano Fiore corner but he brushed his header well wide.
Soon after, Henry fired in a speculative effort that hit the outside of Toldo's left-hand post with the keeper surprised by the proximity of the ball to his goal.
After eight minutes Fiore broke after a well constructed Italian move to send in a cross that Delvecchio could only slice wide on the volley.
The first ten minutes produced a more open start than predicted, but the chances largely dried up for the rest of the half as the Italians settled.
The Italian defence displayed all of the qualities that had allowed them to keep Holland at bay in their semi-final - a mixture of dogged defending, intelligent positioning and cynicism.
The first yellow card came on the half-hour when Luigi Di Biagio dragged down Henry as he set off on another galloping run.
The lively Henry fired in a shot on 39 minutes that fell to Youri Djorkaeff in the penalty area, but the 32-year-old shot weakly when well placed.
As the game degenerated towards the end of the half, Cannavaro followed Di Biagio into the book when he brought down Henry as the Arsenal forward charged into the area.
From the free-kick, Desailly sought retribution for his colleague when he elbowed Cannavaro - out of sight of Swedish referee Anders Frisk.
The second-half began brightly for the French, with Henry continuing to drift out to the left to free himself from his markers.
After 49 minutes, Henry's dribble took him to the byline but his cut-back could not be touched in by a French attacker.
Italy then made a substitution, with Fiore being replaced by Alessandro Del Piero - leaving both Totti and Del Piero on the field to support Delvecchio.
The attacking move from Italian coach Dino Zoff was to pay off almost instantly when his side took the lead on 55 minutes.
Delvecchio sidefooted home from Pessotto's cross after the wing-back had been fed down the line by Totti.
Del Piero then had a chance to finish the French off when he was played through by Delvecchio. The Juventus man scuffed his shot wide of Barthez's left-hand post with the goal at his mercy.
Just after the hour substitute Wiltord found himself with space in the Italian penalty area but he shot straight at Toldo's legs when a pass to Djorkaeff would have proved more profitable.
After 68 minutes, a free-kick came all the way through to Henry but once again Toldo blocked the French effort with his legs.
The French continued to find joy down their left, but time and again their final ball was found wanting. As the game drew into its final quarter the likelihood of a France equaliser grew increasingly unlikely.
With six minutes remaining, Del Piero again had a chance to end all doubt but his sidefooted effort was saved by Barthez.
It seemed it would not matter in the final equation, however, as the Italian defence remained resolute to - almost - the last.
An Italian side, fancied at the outset by few, had seemingly provided the French back-four of Thuram, Desailly, Blanc and Lizarazu with their first ever international defeat as a unit - in their final outing together.
It would have been fitting that one great defence should end their reign defeated by another defence of such magnitude.
Then, in the 94th minute, France finally broke the Italian resistance when it seemed Italy had done all the hard work.
Wiltord lost his marker down the French left - that side again - and this time Toldo was unequal to the shot which squirmed under his body.
Extra-time and the prospect of a 'Golden Goal' loomed again with France now with the initiative for the first time.
Henry's pace showed no sign of diminishing in the extra 30 minutes and it was again the former Juventus man who created havoc in the Italian defence.
The France forward's cut-back eventually found its way to substitute Pires who fired in a shot that Toldo grabbed at the second attempt.
With France having gambled by throwing on three strikers in the closing stages of normal time they now had little choice but to take the game to Italy in extra-time.
There extra forward paid off after 103 minutes when Pires weaved his way down the Italian right and he cut the ball back for David Trezeguet to fire home on the turn.
Trezeguet - the man who will join Juventus next season - was able to find the net where Del Piero, his Juventus team-mate to be could not.
"This is a joy, once again two years on," Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said live on French television from the Dutch town of Rotterdam.
"What a start to the French presidency of the European Union," he added. France's took over the presidency of the 15-nation European Union for six months on Saturday.
President Jacques Chirac rushed to the TV cameras too to join in the celebrations.
"We've lived an incredible, unique, adventure with the French team. I'm proud for France and proud for the French," Chirac told TF1 television.
Some 12,000 spectators braved flash floods in Paris ahead of the final to watch the nail-biting contest live on giant outdoor TV screens in front of the Paris town hall on the banks of the River Seine.
Several were carried away after fainting in the heat of the crowd, after a match for which most of the time had passed in anguished silence before a goal in the 93rd minute, in injury time, allowed France to draw even at 1-1, on the way to a winner in extra time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Italy sinks into sorrowful stupor
Like their players who sat in tears on the Rotterdam soccer field, Italians sank into a sorrowful stupor tonight after watching the Euro 2000 championship slip away only seconds from the end of injury time.
During the game, Italians whooped and honked, setting dogs barking, as the Italian team scored the first goal of the match and for more than 90 minutes kept France from scoring.
But the cobblestone streets of the capital, where hours before Italians drove around on motorbikes waving red-white-and-green flags, were silent after France scored the "golden goal" and won 2-1 in extra time.
In Milan's main square in front of the city's duomo, or cathedral, a few fans hurled bottles to vent their anger.
Police quickly intervened and the square emptied out in a few minutes with no injuries reported.
Even before the game ended, Italians seemed to realise quickly that time - too much time - could be their doom.
"Two more minutes of suffering. Mamma mia!" cried out a commentator on TMC tv halfway into the recoup time which saw France tie the score seconds before the clock was to run out.
Commentators concentrated their finger-pointing mainly at striker Alessandro Del Piero's disappointing performance.
"One of those two goals he should have made," said veteran commentator, Giampiero Galeazzi.
Said another state TV sports commentator, Marco Marzocchi immediately after the game: "Paradoxically, Italy played one of its better games and game out the loser."
[This message has been edited by Black_Ned (edited 07-03-2000).]