No surprises, but the quarter-finals did at least produce some more good football, with the pre-tournament favourites France and Holland both bolstering their claims to be the best two teams at these championships. The Dutch, of course, were outstanding against the Yugoslavs, with Patrick Kluivert's finishing, the pace of the players around him and Dennis Bergkamp's marvellous performance all adding up to a fairly awesome display of attacking football.
Without trying to take anything away from them, though, I do always think that when the Yugoslavs come to a competition like this they come with at least one pretty dreadful game in them, and last night we saw them pretty much hand the game on a plate to their hosts. In contrast, France had to fight every inch of the way against the Spaniards who, while they have their flaws defensively, are another team who are a joy to watch going forward. The pace of the game last night in Bruges was breathtaking and the first touch football that so many of the players showed themselves capable of producing was inspirational.
In every way the teams seemed a fine match for each other - so much so that in the end, for me, there was only the difference of one man between them, and that man was Zinedine Zidane. The French are a more formidable unit than they were two years ago because they have far more attacking options. But Zidane is still their outstanding figure. The strength of the defence is a key element in their success, for when things are not going so well further up the field, the likes of Marcel Desailly and Laurent Blanc can always be counted upon to keep the team in the game until they recover the initiative. In Zidane, however, they have probably the best footballer in the world at the moment, a player who influences absolutely everything that goes on a around him and who has the ability, in an instant to turn a game on its head.
From here the French go on to play Portugal, who have done well to date, but the style of game adopted by the Portuguese, with just one out-and-out striker employed most of the time, may well suit a French side that will thrive if they can take a firm grip on things at the back and then build from there. The Portuguese will look to Luis Figo to unlock that back four but without somebody to do the finishing for them around the box, it's hard to see how Humberto Coelho's men will do what their neighbours from Spain failed to do last night, which is to make the leap from severely testing the world champions to actually beating them. The Dutch, meanwhile, should come through from the other half of the draw but it certainly won't be easy. The margin of victory yesterday will help build momentum within the host nation's camp, and there will now be a great deal of confidence inside and outside the squad that they can go on and lift title next weekend.
We'll have a better idea of just how good Frank Rijkaard's side after Thursday evening, though, for the Italians have looked impressive too in their outings to date, they won their quarter-final against Romania very comfortably at the weekend and they will rather fancy their chances themselves. What will be most interesting is how the Dutch attack gets on when it comes up against defenders of the quality of Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta and Mark Iuliano. If the Dutch come through that test then the chances are they'll find themselves facing Roger Lemerre's first team next Sunday and on the strength of last night's action that would be a contest to remember.
