France

If France had been awarded that 2nd penalty it all would have been so much different. Italy didn’t really deserve to win but France were unlucky and Zidane had a moment of madness. Funny how little incidents have such large impacts i.e. Saha picking up a yellow against Portugal and missing the final. He would have come on for Henry instead of Trezeguet. C’est la vie.

It’s the end of the road for France, Zidane is gone, Thuram and Makelele will go too. You can’t see France winning anything again until the new Zidane is found. It all seemed set up to be a golden swansong for the French old guard but it wasn’t to be. The last time Italy won the world cup was in the backdrop of a major corruption scandal in Italian football. “La forza del destino” triumphed over “la force du destin”, Italy’s destiny was the greater.