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Cat-and-mouse game France can light up gloomy Rotterdam vs. Italy in final
Posted: Saturday July 01, 2000 05:09 PM
It rained in Rotterdam today. The dark clouds that hovered over Feyenoord's de Kuip stadium, home to Sunday's European Championship final between France and Italy, were symbolic of the way the Dutch hosts are feeling at the moment. The climax of the Euro 2000 championship was supposed to be Holland's finest hour since its one and only major championship victory back in 1988. Instead, the rain-soaked billboards featuring the likes of Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars and Ronald de Boer, which dot the stadium perimeter, could just as easily be spattered with tears. The images serve as a stark reminder that the party-givers will not be invited to the finale. So, with so much gloom and despondency in the air in Rotterdam, what can the finalists do to restore the mood of what has been a largely upbeat championship? Well the onus is on France, of course. Call it Gallic flair. Call it a cavalier spirit, or just call it Zinedine Zidane. Whatever description you give to the qualities that characterize the French, the obligation is without doubt theirs to carry the game to the Italians in their own inimitable style. Whichever combination of players coach Roger Lemerre uses, (and with all but mmanuel Petit, who's fighting a cold, fully fit, Lemerre has an embarrassment of riches), it's important for French success and the spectacle of the game that France continue in the same attacking vein that's brought them to the Final.
Certainly, France has a great defense, with the back line of Lilian Thuram, Laurent Blanc, Marcel Desailly and Bixente Lizarazu not having lost when they've all been selected together in 25 matches. But a great defense should only the French springboard, from which their midfield, led by the incomparable Zidane, and their attack, spearheaded by Thierry Henry, must express themselves in order to triumph and entertain. That, of course, will take self-belief and courage against an Italian side that knows how to stifle a game, and which is prepared, as they showed against Holland, to defend doggedly for however long it takes in the hope of catching the aggressors on the break.
Not pretty, grant you, but as coach Dino Zoff said after the semifinal, he tailors his tactics according to the strengths of the players available. And, as winning is ultimately all that matters to him, it is a valid gameplan. What kind of spectacle will that make for the final? Well, it won't be a gunfight at the OK Corral, that's for sure. But it may still be an absorbing game of cat and mouse, with a contrast of styles that will light up the stadium. I can but hope, anyway, because after a tournament as bright as any in recent memory, it would be a shame to have a gloomy finish. Terry Baddoo is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International. Baddoo is part of the World Sport crew that is in the Netherlands and Belgium covering Euro 2000.
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