ROTTERDAM, July 2 (Reuters) - Italian coach Dino Zoff was philosophical in defeat after world champions France came back from the dead to snatch the European title away from his team with a 2-1 victory on Sunday.

	Champions! Shirtless Trezeguet and team rejoice in Rotterdam (BenRadford/Allsport)

'I feel very bad. This is an important event in my life and it's a defeat,' he said. 'The French were stronger tonight. We also had quite a lot of opportunities to score. We lost in extra time but you can't say we didn't put up a fight.'

Asked if the Italians were the moral champions, the former Italian goalkeeper said: 'It's the reality that counts. Some matches can go the full 120 minutes and be affected by a small matter of luck. It's the nature of the game.

'It was great that the Italians could put up a fight against anyone.'

Zoff's counterpart in Rotterdam, Roger Lemerre, said his team's triumph was 'a victory for attacking football.' The French coach said: 'I am not going to hide that. We have young players who are quality players... I picked them and I am happy that they won the title for us.

'But Italy, offering another kind of football, went very close to being successful. They also played attacking football.'

A golden goal from substitute David Trezeguet clinched the victory after the French had scored a dramatic equaliser from substitute striker Sylvain Wiltord just seconds from the end of normal time.

'The miracle happened. We managed to bring it about,' Lemerre said.

Asked if the victory could be compared with France's 1998 World Cup win, he added: 'You have to take these happy moments when you can. You can't compare it with 1998. That was magical because it was in France.

'It has just happened. Let me enjoy it before I have to analyse it.'