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Vieira toast of France after win
YOKOHAMA (Reuters) -- Arsenal's Patrick Vieira continued his recent transformation from midfield enforcer to goalscorer on Sunday, grabbing the winner in France's 1-0 win over Japan in the Confederations Cup final. "I think my confidence is really high at the moment. The spirit amongst the players has been fantastic all through the tournament," said Vieira, who scored the winner with a looping header in the 29th minute at Yokohama's International Stadium. Vieira, who had failed to score in 39 international appearances before the Confederations Cup, scored the first and last of France's 12 goals in the competition, opening his account in the 5-0 thrashing of co-hosts South Korea on May 30. In Sunday's final, Vieira was the best player on the pitch in a one-sided game that underlined France's position at the top of the FIFA world rankings. "We are winners and we are professional. We want to win every tournament. The new players have real quality and the competition for places now is fantastic," said Vieira. Vieira said France had not missed a beat during the Confederations Cup, despite missing key players such as Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and Emmanuel Petit. "The atmosphere has been great and we have a wonderful balance of experienced players and new young players coming in," he said. Another English-based player, Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf, agreed that the current French side has the strength in depth that many of their predecessors lacked. "We have proved that we can still win big tournaments without two or three star players, like Zidane for example. That has given us even more confidence," he said. "We have the culture of winning. We are always tuned in to our jobs and we always play with heart and passion. We want to prove we deserve FIFA's number one ranking," said Leboeuf.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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