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France's Lizarazu completes sweep
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) -- It's been a good season for many of France's world champion soccer players. For Bixente Lizarazu, it's been perfect. The Bayern Munich defender is finishing a season players dream of. In barely a month, he has won championship in the German league in injury time of the final game, the Champions league in a penalty shootout and the Confederations Cup Sunday. "The season was great for me," said an exhausted Lizarazu after yet another title on Sunday. "In the end I won all the competitions, so this is perfection." The third crown came at the expense of host Japan, which battled gamely but was no match for the defending World Cup champions. A 1-0 victory did not reflect France's superiority in the contest. "We finished off a great job," he said. "It wasn't easy, but we were motivated and had fun playing." The veteran defender was on the French side that made history in 1998, winning its first World Cup title in grand style with a 3-0 win in the final against four-time World Cup winner Brazil. While the back line is still among the most effective in soccer, the average age is high for World Cup play. Lizarazu, captain Marcel Desailly and Frank Leboeuf all are over 30. Laurent Blanc, a key defender in the 1998 campaign, already has retired from the national squad. Still, Lizarazu isn't thinking of retirement. "It's always easier to continue running if you can win," he said. And the French showed at the Confederations Cup that they deserve the No. 1 ranking and should be a strong contender to repeat as champions in next year's Cup, to be held jointly in Japan and South Korea. France wasn't unbeatable -- a stunning 1-0 loss of its B-team to Australia raised questions whether they still were on top. But even without stars like Zinedine Zidane and other heroes of '98, the team rose to the challenge and showed they're not through yet. "Now we have one year," Lizarazu said. "Even without Zidane, we showed we have a strong spirit." What's next for a triple champion? A repeat as world champions -- but for now, a rest. "Now I will take a deserved break," he said. "With the World Cup, next season will be even tougher."
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