France are living in their golden age

All France's dreams came true at once as they poured on the pressure against Brazil in the World Cup Final.

That France were the better side on the night of the Final is beyond question but they were also a side who overcame deficiencies in attack to hit 15 goals in their World Cup matches. The defence was by far the strongest part of the team that took France to glory but their attack was able to do what is by far the most important thing in tournament football - win matches. By not giving goals away they were always able to give the forwards a chance to make something of the game. That space allowed the French challenge to flourish but they still needed three crucial goals by defenders Lillian Thuram and Laurent Blanc to see them into the Final.

Only Paraguay and Italy were able to put the French progress in doubt but the semi-final against Croatia almost saw the team fold at the start of the second half. It took them less than a minute to recover and facts like that tell in a game where winning is everything. Now winning coach Aime Jacquet has moved to become the technical director and a replacement has yet to be announced. France play in Vienna in a friendly against Austria before entering the the qualifying round for the European Championships in the summer of the year 2000 which will dominate the coming season.

This is the golden age of French football then but it ends very soon as all these things do.