Next up in our ‘Story of the UEFA European Championships’ series in association with Heineken - official beer partner of UEFA Euro 2020, it is France's win in UEFA Euro 2000.
As is often the way with international football, France were the country in a particular purple patch, having won the World Cup at home in 1998.
"That team, in 2000, doesn't need a manager. You or I could have been there. Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet, Robert Pires... two years down the line, you are a better player playing in a more experienced team," says journalist Julien Laurens.
Jean Philippe Leclaire of L'Equipe concurs.
"If we talk about Zinedine Zidane, for example, he was a better and more consistent player than the one he was in 1998. If you add the defence, I think that defence was the best defence in the world at that time."
Journalist Philippe Auclair, biographer of Thierry Henry, remembers the period well.
"The Patrick Vieira of 2000 is simply one of the greatest midfielders on the planet. So there had been an evolution, and people were very confident going into it, absolutely.
"We started with the two weakest teams in the group, so we avoided an all-or-nothing confrontation with the team who I think were the best team at the Euros, I still cannot believe they didn't win that - the Dutch."
France v Spain: shenanigans?
When France played Spain in the last eight, a penalty for the Spanish led to an... unusual coming-together.
"That penalty for Raúl, all of the French think that it's not a pen. Barthez is still arguing that it is not a pen when [Youri] Djorkaeff curses him.
"If you watch again, when everybody is outside of the box apart from Barthez and Raúl, Djorkaeff walks past the ball and you can see he talks at the ball, then walks past Raúl and says something to Raúl that even to this day neither Djorkaeff or Raúl has said what it was.
"Djorkaeff says 'I know he's going to miss,' and Raúl blasted the ball over the bar."
Against Luis Figo's Portugal in the semis, Laurens believes Zidane was at his imperious best.
"This is maybe the best individual performance that Zinedine Zidane has put together - with any team, at any level or any competition. In the semi-final against Portugal, he is unplayable - untouchable."
Italy: went early
Then comes the final, against Italy.
"The mistakes that they make are: they believe too early that they've won it, and the French would say they could see them on the bench celebrating already," Laurens said.
Auclair recalls the fury of the French at such a spectacle of disrespect.
"They were absolutely incense. I remember talking to Thierry about it and he perceived it as Italian arrogance in that game. The French were completely irate with the Italians, with some of the comments that were overheard. They thought: we're going to show them. And they did."
A triple substitution from Roger Lemerre brought on David Trezeguet, Sylvain Wiltord and Robert Pires and turned the game on its head.
"For us, it was over because we had never been that team, like the Germans, coming back from nowhere. This is not us, this is not in the French DNA - we do not fight until the end, we don't always believe. That's not us," said Laurens.
"The Wiltord goal is like: 'How? How have they allowed this? How have we come back from the dead?"
There was better to come.
"Every French person will remember where they were when David Trezeguet scored that goal. It was a golden goal, so we already know that we're going to go on the Champs-Élysées.
"In your wildest dreams, you don't think it could be such a beautiful, pure, perfect goal."
The story of the UEFA European Championships on OTB Sports with Heineken – official beer partner of UEFA Euro 2020. Finally together to be rivals again. Drink responsibly, visit drinkaware.ie
Download the brand new OTB Sports App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to Off The Ball's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
