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Six French players in All-Star team
Posted: Sunday July 02, 2000 01:42 PM
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- France dominated the choice of top Euro 2000 players with six of Roger Lemerre's side in the 16 picked out by UEFA's technical study group. Goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, defenders Laurent Blanc and Marcel Desailly, midfielders Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane and striker Thierry Henry were all in the squad selected by the six-man committee. Liverpool's French coach Gerard Houllier, one of the committee members, praised the performances of his countrymen. "Blanc is a good leader, passer and scorer," Houllier said. "Henry has shown great touch and pace. Defenders couldn't cope with his speed and you always felt he would score." UEFA's 16-player list is picked only from countries that qualified for the knockout stages of Euro 2000. UEFA will add six more names to the list after Sunday's final between France and Italy in Rotterdam. Speaking at the announcement of the All-Star team, soccer legend Pele didn't surprise anyone when he named his own player of the competition. "There is no doubt Zidane was the best player through the whole tournament," Pele said. "Sometimes you have players who appear for one tournament and disappear, but Zidane has shown for three or four years he is at the top level." Pele, who thinks Turkey's Hakan Sukur and Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp were unlucky not to make the list, also believes Euro 2000 was one of the best international tournaments in recent years. "There were more good players, more goals and a very high level of play," said the former Brazil star. Pele is at the Euros as spokesman for MasterCard which has donated US$40,000 to charities chosen by the 16 players. He offered one suggestion that could make the next European Championship even better. "The speed of the game is now so fast that the referees can't follow it," he said. "Maybe we should try having two referees." Zidane was sent to earth by God, a leading UEFA official said on Sunday. "I am quite certain he has printed on his head somewhere: 'made in heaven'," the director of UEFA's technical study group, Andy Roxburgh, told the news conference. "Like our friend Pele, he is one of those players who has come from God. His performance against Spain in the quarterfinals was one of the most sublime I have ever seen." All-star list: Goalkeepers: Francesco Toldo (Italy), Fabien Barthez (France). Defenders: Laurent Blanc (France), Marcel Desailly (France), Alessandro Nesta (Italy), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Frank de Boer (Netherlands). Midfield: Patrick Vieira (France), Zinedine Zidane (France), Luis Figo (Portugal), Josep Guardiola (Spain), Edgar Davids (Netherlands). Forwards: Thierry Henry (France), Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands), Nuno Gomes (Portugal), Raul (Spain).
Reuters contributed to this report.
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