© EuroFootball.com
Raymond Domenech, the strategist of the French national team that became the finalist of the 2006 World Cup, set his sights on the upcoming match on Sunday after defeating Portugal, urging his players to take one last step.
"Now the most important thing is to go all the way. We cannot be satisfied with what we have achieved. We need to regain strength and start to accumulate. In the final, we will have to give everything we have so that we don't regret anything later," said R. Domenech.
The winning goal in the match was scored by the 34-year-old captain of the French national team, Zinedine Zidane, who converted a penalty earned by Thierry Henry from 11 meters. However, the most valuable player of the match was another veteran and hero of the 1998 championship, defender Lilian Thuram.
"I am 34, but I feel like a ten-year-old boy who saw the World Cup and realized how amazing it is. The final was our goal from the very beginning. Being there is a dream come true, not being there would have been a nightmare," said L. Thuram, who will leave the national team after the tournament, along with Z. Zidane.
Meanwhile, the leader of the French attacks, T. Henry, who was also part of the champions' team in 1998 but did not play in the final in Paris, praised the team's defense: "We defended like lions. In the way we all defended, you could see that the team had desire and dedication and everything else, and also a lot of technique."
