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Updated Thursday July 13, 2000, 10:03 PM GMT Zinedine Zidane
The Invisible Man of the Final had domne as much as anybody to get the French to the last game of Euro 2000, so he probably owed France an off-day, even though they would have preferred it to come in a less important game. Display of sheer quality against Denmark. Zidane started the tournament looking back to his best. His passing and strength marked him out as one the greats. Quieter against the Czech Republic but still showed his class. Became a French hero after scoring two headed goals in the 1998 World Cup final and was undoubtedly the star of that competition, later winning the European and World Footballer of the Year honours. An attacking midfielder, he has wonderful dribbling skills, a superb passing range, eye for goal, sublime touch and aerial ability. He is also a major threat from free-kicks. He has won two Italian league titles and one UEFA Super Cup with Juventus FC. Sparkling again against Spain in the quarter-finals, scoring a superb free-kick in the first half and then electrifying France's attacking opportunities with some spectacular skill. As usual only superlatives would do to describe his performance against the Spanish. Powerful run cut a swathe through their defence and reminded them, as they pushed for an equaliser, that they can't afford to let the great man carry the ball. Did much more than just waste time, it put the seed of hesitation into the Spaniards. One black mark came in the form of a scuffed shot from just six yards after Dugarry had unlocked the Spanish offside trap. France will forgive him.
Scored France's 'Golden Goal' with a penalty in the 117th minute against Portugal in a game where he got stronger and stronger as time went on.
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