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Euro 2000 soccer :Is France unbeatable ? |
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June 13, 2000
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, JUNE 12 (AP) - France is now the team to beat in Euro 2000.
The Dutch and Italians scraped to victories on contested penalties. Monday, two more European-soccer aristocrats stake their claims, as Germany faces Romania and England takes on Portugal.
Germany kicks off first in Liege in a battle of the oldies when Lothar Matthaeus, 39, leads the German defense against Romanian veterans led by Gheorge Hagi, 35, in the opening match of a finely balanced Group A.
England's clash with Portugal pits the ingenuity of Luis Figo, Rui Costa and Joao Pinto against the fighting spirit of Tony Adams, Paul Scholes, and Alan Shearer, although David Beckham will be on hand to inject finesse into the English midfield.
The two Group A games will also mark the debuts of the German and English fans, with police in Liege and Eindhoven on alert to ensure both country's notorious hooligans don't get out of control.
Euro 2000 started anxiously Sunday for Dutch supporters, when their team were held scoreless for 88 minutes by the impressive Czechs. The deadlock was broken when Ronald de Boer was pulled down in the area and his twin Frank drove home the kick to give the co-host the luckiest of victories in the Amsterdam ArenA.
"This time luck was on our side," said striker Dennis Bergkamp.
Defeat was doubly bitter for the Czechs who twice hit the woodwork through Pavel Nedved and Jan Koller in a furious burst of second-half pressure which had the home-team on the ropes.
Nedved was crying after the game. "The whole wide world saw that we were better than the Dutch. Now they have three points and we have none," he said.
Dutch relief was tempered by the ease by which their main rival, France moved to the top of Group D with a 3-0 thumping of Denmark, to take the lead in the so-called "Group of Death.
Peter Schmeichel's Danes were brushed aside by a French performance reminiscent of 1998.
Zinedine Zidane was majestic in midfield, recalling the form that made him the star of the World Cup two years ago. The strike partnership of Nicolas Anelka and Thierry Henry was razor sharp with Anelka setting up the first goal and Henry scoring the second.
Laurent Blanc was a rock in defense and surged forward to tap home the opening goal.
Even luck was with the French, as substitute Sylvain Wiltord's goal was allowed to stand despite looking clearly offside. Coach Roger Lemerre was not letting it go to his head.
"We needed to be very strong mentally to go through," he said after the game. "Even if we are world champions we have to begin again here."
For the hapless Danes the future in the so-called Group of Death looks bleak, while the Czech's now face the daunting task of overcoming France to reach the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile Italy edged Turkey 2-1 to draw level at the top of Group B with co-host Belgium, which downed Sweden by the same score in the opening game Saturday.
Reigning champions Germany have failed to impress recently and face criticism that they are just too old to be contenders this time around. An injury to Bayer Leverkusen striker Ulf Kirsten has added to their concerns.
Romania also has an aging team, and although they remain the dark horses of Group A, they finished ahead of Portugal in qualifying and in Hagi have one of the tournament's true stars as he slick UEFA Cup-winning performance with Turkey's Galatasaray showed last month.
"Every game is going to be difficult," Hagi said. "With Germany, both teams will be wanting to make a good start."
England's game with Portugal in Eindhoven sets up a contest between two teams desperate to do well in Euro 2000 after years of failing to life up to their promise. It promises to be a tense game, with Portugal hoping to give Figo a free reign behind the fowards to open up the English defense, while Kevin Keegan is likely to give Real Madrid winger Steve McManaman a chance to repeat his Champions League winning form in the white shirt of England.
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