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- 6 weeks ago
World Champions France open their Euro 2000 campaign.
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00:00there's not a lot you need to be told about this lot 18 of the World Cup 22
00:04report for tournament duty again now eight of these 11 appeared in the World
00:08Cup finals the exceptions Blanc, Henri and Anelka
00:14this is the best of a Denmark squad which has the right to consider itself
00:18the unluckiest nation in the finals unlucky in the first instance to have
00:22been drawn into this group also to have run into an injury crisis at the wrong
00:27time at one point this week nine of the 22 there they all are again were
00:33undergoing treatment that list has shrunk now but still missing among others
00:37Chelsea's Jesherg and Martin Jürgensen of Udinese
00:42that's become part of the routine Messers Blanc and Vartes
00:47well history offers a hint that you are about to watch the side which will lift
00:52the trophy in Rotterdam three weeks today three times Denmark and France have
00:57met in tournament football three times the winner of the match has gone on to
01:02be the winner of the tournament 84 92 98 France you advancing here out of a group
01:09which is fearsomely strong that is tufting in midfield helping it up on its way in
01:15the absence of a steam Nielsen one of several who have been struggling for
01:19fitness in the Danish side and this is Gronkjaer of Ajax who comes with a hefty
01:24reputation for a young man and is attacking Thuram who is forced to sit behind for the first corner and
01:31this is the
01:31first word from David Cleese that should be a good afternoon's work for Gronkjaer if
01:36he can really get at Thuram one of the greatest defenders in the world
01:41he'll be pleased with that corner kick forced in the first few seconds
01:55forward for it is Michael Schoenberg wearing two there and at the near post Alan Nielsen of Spurs is
02:00also trying to get a flick on and it's seen behind by a Laurent Blanc last touch from Schoenberg or
02:06so
02:07Gunterbenko believed although the big Kaiserslautern setter half saw it rather differently
02:18want to succeed this time he has also of course over the last couple of days announced his
02:23retirement from international football after this tournament flick onwards by Djorkaev is chased by
02:28Anelka and seen away by Renny Henriksen this is Sam and Thomason is on the side for Denmark it's
02:36John Dahl Thomason and Barthes has stayed to his legs and Denmark have missed a golden opportunity
02:42Bisgaard and they may not get so many
02:47Bisgaard again faced by Lizarazu it's a corner and it is a compelling start from Denmark though Thomason will
02:53feel that he should have given them the lead well probably had too great an opportunity Israel in the
02:58playoffs to make this tournament
03:05Schoenberg
03:07up by Turan but uh none too convincingly Thomason
03:10sand every sand Bartes has swallowed and uh Thomason
03:15slipped the follow-up
03:17but uh Francis goalkeeper gathered second side
03:22that is a good save by Bartes but you saw there once again the nervousness in the French defense
03:27and on Didier Deschamps
03:32Djorkaev
03:34Zidane
03:35Anelka onside flagged down Nicholas Anelka away from Schmeichel Anelka side netting
03:45that was a bad miss because Henri had followed up a couple of yards from the line the ball could
03:50have
03:50been squared tremendous play by Zidane I think there might have been a case for the Danes there they
03:55were absolutely livid with the linesman there
04:00he did tremendously well did Schoenberg to get back he was the one that was caught with the offside
04:05but I think on reflection with Anelka might have been just half a yard off
04:11well Schmeichel did make himself vast as we remember he always did
04:19Zidane Fadi was bought Punta Benko has let that go
04:22the answer deemed innocent it's Laurent Blanc
04:27Deschamps Blanc
04:29Henri Anelka and Schmeichel out he hasn't got hold of it it's Laurent Blanc the world champions league
04:36the man who missed the world cup final who scored their golden goal in France has France ahead on the
04:45european stage
04:48Schmeichel complaining to the referee
04:52but in truth he came and he made a great save
04:55for a second I thought Anelka might just nick the ball but Schmeichel did superbly well there you
05:00can see the annoyance the bottom of the picture you see possibly in an offside position was Schmeichel
05:08complaining about that then when he grabbed the ball and the ball ran loose
05:13Blanc showed up to side foot the ball into the net it was the pace of Anelka really that put
05:18the Danes into trouble
05:50amazing man Blanc
05:54with a game to chase a game in which the Danes quite easily might have taken the lead early on
06:09very quickly
06:16and he's going to be the guy
06:20and he's going to be the man who's missing him
06:26and the man who's missing him
06:27and he's going to be the man who's missing him
06:31in the way Deschamps had another crack Henri this is wonderful from France the flag is up against
06:37Annelka the Danes are playing a dangerous game they're trying to hold the line there's too much
06:42pace for them there with the Annelka and Henri he's level he's onside aren't they good to watch though
06:53I'm searching for the craft at the moment in the Danish side and it's uh it's not easy to find
06:59where
06:59that subtlety is coming from Zidane who is chock-a-block full of subtlety Zidane's hit
07:07he's chock-a-block full of so much more
07:17and the Schmeichel stare suggests he wasn't entirely satisfied with the way his defense stood off
07:24Henriksen's definitely have closed down such a strong defender so upstanding
07:39Sands ball infield Nielsen onto it Nielsen had a shot and was less than venomous
07:46just got a little too close to his left boot for him to get a finger on the trigger comfortably
07:53and marks through Nielsen
07:56did it run and Annelka had come deep together
07:59Henri was inside his own half and therefore onside
08:03and can now run at Henriksen and beyond Henriksen this is a great run from Henri
08:13well he went it alone and Nielka was trying to get there with it up the middle there we see
08:17a rather poor
08:18challenge there it was Schoenberg that just did enough to put him off as Schmeichel approached
08:28Tuftig's corner Barthes with the punch just enough on it they sure
08:32kept it going and Nielka's turn
08:36I didn't fancy the punch there Peter
08:39thought it was one that he could have held comfortably
08:43Tuftig in a hurry
08:45half-tied very very watchable first half in the early stages of which there could have been bundles of
08:52goals at either end it's settled down funny enough really only after Laurent Blanc got the goal for France
08:58and no one has derived more sympathy from the French public over the two years since their World Cup success
09:04than Laurent Blanc it is his goal which separates them at half time in Bruges it is France one Denmark
09:11nil a classic semi-final I'm sure many will remember it against Portugal in Marseille and then a final against
09:17Spain
09:20and when Denmark won the European Championships in 92 they began with a 2-1 win against France
09:29it's a fixture that has history what about its future David Pleat what do you think
09:37well I think in this second half the most important thing for the Danes really is to try and give
09:44a little
09:45bit more support but the difficulty they've got is how much space do they leave as the game progresses
09:51for this extra pace they can't cope with easily particularly when they're holding the line
09:56the pace of Henri and Elke from the clever passes of Zidane super bowl from Turam to Zidane and Elke
10:02tried to turn Schoenberg had a piece of his shirt in actual fact and if an Elke had gone to
10:07earth there might have been cries for a penalty
10:15I think if you're talking about the future of this competition I think many judges good or bad looked
10:21at this group and saw potential champions many people looking at the Dutch
10:29that the French that the French I think man for man have his most talented squad in the tournament
10:38that was so clever he got himself out of a self-dug hole and he picked out Henri who's terrorizing
10:45Hedrickson it's Thierry Henri just had to pick one more trick out of the big black top hat
10:54Schoenberg saw him away Petit
11:01a rare slack ball Blanchard
11:04Sam ahead of him and Thomason ahead of him
11:10taking on Turam for a raw pace if anything and losing control as he did so
11:15Deshawn is deep together that's the work rate that the guys were talking about at half time he's
11:20always available if not always spectacular Jorkaj
11:34Schoenberg with the slice
11:38I'm fascinated to see how Jorgensen copes with the we call it the Zidane problem or the Zidane position
11:47here's Bisca
11:56goes down by Ulrich
11:59here that earned the free kick for Denmark didn't have to follow through with his second leg
12:12Schoenberg again is a favorite to have a crack from here
12:15Tufting is up to it though and has hit it well and Bartes hasn't held it and Thomason was following
12:21up
12:23and fell over the ball another chance for Thomason
12:28not a convincing take by Bartes
12:33I've got to ask a basic question David why doesn't he put a cap on because he's clearly inconvenienced by
12:39his son
12:40I'm not sure exactly from our commentary position here exactly where the the sun is setting at this moment but
12:46a couple of times he's
12:48I wouldn't like to say it was a defensive mechanism, but he has put his
12:52there he goes again. He's putting his hands up here. We see the free kick coming in
12:56not the most wicked bend on the ball and one would have thought he should have held that quite comfortably
13:05Petit
13:07Zidane
13:08Ari and Melka pulling away towards the back post
13:12Ari's ball in and Melka
13:17One headed goal in his career still in Munich for Real Madrid
13:24Lovely ball by Henry wasn't it perfectly placed good chance
13:31against the small Heinzer at the back post
13:35Kolding
13:40Nilsson's got three
13:44Gronkjaer
13:47Decent cross from Gronkjaer
13:53Bizarre shot from Bisgard
13:55Zidane
13:56Henri
13:58and Melka free again. It's a carbon copy and Melka all on his own. Henri's going himself. Thierry Henry
14:06Fantastic
14:10A blur of speed which just passed Peter Schmeichel by
14:19Is he the hottest striker around right now?
14:22It's hard to say that Thierry Henry is not
14:26Well, they just couldn't catch him
14:29poor old Soren Kolding was trying to chase look at him striving striving striving never getting near him
14:36As Schoenberg came across slid it with a right foot placed it into the far corner
14:41No chance Schmeichel
14:43done and dusted
14:44Perfect positioning by Schmeichel even better positioning or placing of the shot
14:50And it was a break. It was a simple break
14:53Fierce pace after Denmark had had their best spell of the game
14:57Well, they really do have it to chase now
15:02Lizarrazu has conceded a corner to Gronkjaer
15:0825 minutes to play and France are in charge
15:18Nielsen's out swinger
15:22Vieira
15:24and Melka pace for pace how much speed has he got he's running at Henriksen
15:30He's run into Henriksen. He wants a free kick. He's not getting
15:41Very good kicker is Bartos
15:44He's found Sedan and it's through for Wiltord and Schmeichel has said well with his legs Sedan follows up
15:51and actually found the upper tier
15:53Not quite as quick Schmeichel off his line as he used to be and that's a very harsh and some
15:58people might say
15:59Unfair criticism but there once again
16:02Wiltord just stole a little bit of ground on him and it was a last real last-ditch job
16:10He has one here and he has the ball here
16:14And he's got away from Schoenberg and he's fed Sedan and Sedan has had a shot and Schmeichel has
16:22stood up strongly and with
16:25strong wrists to beat it away with his lesser foot
16:29his left isn't as powerful as his right
16:32Schmeichel knows when to parry and when to catch and he certainly couldn't catch his new light balls must be
16:38a factor here. I'm sure
16:40I'm told by goalkeepers that they whizz all over the place and fade and swerve
16:48Goalkeepers practice with them of course as well
16:51It was a good decision by Schmeichel
16:59It's a shame for the danes such an uphill battle they needed to score first in this game
17:03They needed to bring the french out and we could have perhaps seen a magnificent game
17:08As it is you've always felt that the french have had the game well under wraps once they'd scored that
17:14initial goal
17:16But thomason will reflect that he he could have put them behind
17:26Well after today it will be a total of 13 tournament matches unbeaten for france penalty shootouts aside
17:36Seven through the world cup five through euro 96 they weren't at the world cup in 1994
17:42They haven't lost in a tournament since denmark beat them
17:46in 1992
17:56Graveson
17:58Jürgensen
18:00Tackled by petit they don't stop they show
18:02Will talk
18:03Zidane has he got one more defense splitter
18:05Henri
18:08Vieira
18:10Wiltor
18:11Yes
18:14France are hot
18:16France are very very hot
18:20It'll be a good side that stops france from winning this
18:25They lead 3-0
18:28And sylvan Wiltor the last man on
18:33Though very much offside where Vieira was released
18:38Is the man who finishes off the exhibition
18:41Well, I don't think that goal should have been allowed because
18:44You know, Wilcoz the man that's put it in was in a
18:47An offside position a central offside position
18:50Not a secondary offside position
18:52And he just kept his run going although the ball was played by Vieira
18:56If Vieira would have gone on and scored himself then the referee may be and should have allowed the goal
19:00Once he squares it and he puts it in and as far as i'm concerned that the danes have been
19:05treated the harshly
19:09But they're so tired the danes and you say that it will take a good side to beat france of
19:13course it will
19:14But the danes have been a very ordinary team on today's performance
19:18They've done their best, but they're just not in the same quality or class of these frenchmen
19:25No sign of a let up from the world champions then
19:29They have put away a danish side which with holland to come
19:34In rotterdam on friday faces a monumental task to progress
19:39Barthes the winner of the two big-name goalkeepers
19:43Blanc the initial scorer then henry then will toward the feel good factor just keeps going on and on and
19:51on for
19:51Le Bleu will reflect on their exhibition with theirs and we will have the latest news from the england camp
19:58all of that after this break