A good month for football

Long after the controversy surrounding Ronaldo's off-on involvement in the game has ceased to be a topic of some urgency, the drama during and after Sunday's World Cup final in the Stade de France will continue to fascinate.

France's 3-0 win over the defending champions Brazil was, by any standard, a massive upheaval of form. More abiding still for many will be the memories of the joyous scenes which followed in almost every corner of the country.

They were, simply, astonishing, a marvellous outpouring of happiness which reflected the fulfilment of a nation. And in their hour of triumph, nobody, not even the Brazilians, one suspected, could deny them their golden prize.

It's true posterity is likely to recall this successful formation as one with a lightweight attack. The ringing testimony to the remainder of the team is that they were still able to record the biggest winning margin in a World Cup final since Brazil's 4-1 defeat of Italy in Mexico City in 1970.

Inevitably, the name destined to be linked with the performance which enabled them to become the seventh country to lift the trophy is Zinedine Zidane, the gifted Juventus player who came back from the indignity of a two-match suspension to take a special place in World Cup history.

In that, perhaps, he was achieving no more than his supporters expected. And there was rich merit, too, in the contributions of two other men who suffered the pain of dismissal in the last exciting push to the summit, Marcel Desailly and his formidable partner in central defence, Laurent Blanc.

The supreme achievement of manager Aime Jacquet was to construct a superb defence around this pair and align it with a midfield formation which would ultimately conquer the world.

Of Brazil, it can be said theirs was a team which didn't compare in terms of skill and overall strength with some of their outstanding sides of other years. There were, of course, exceptions, with players of the calibre of Dunga, Cafu, Junior Baiano and Ronaldo, in all his moods, ensuring that wherever they played, they captivated the watching millions.

Croatia, a big, physical team which was more adept, it seemed, in handing out punishment than taking it, may have surprised even themselves by taking third place, ahead of Holland. It scarcely augers well for the Republic of Ireland's prospects in the European Championship in September, although Mick McCarthy, it ought to be stressed, remains stoically upbeat after watching them on three occasions.

There are those who believe that the Dutch, superb in their better moments, never less than entertaining even in times of difficulty, now present the biggest threat to France in the European competition. That, however, is an assessment which may not be fully endorsed in Italy: even with limited ambition, they took the new champions to a penalty shoot-out.

In a broader context, there was much to admire and, occasionally, developments to disturb in the presentation of this, the most elaborate competition in the history of the World Cup. In keeping with their promise to deliver an extravaganza, the French organisers ensured that facilities at each of the nine venues were superb.

For the first time, of course, the format of the championships was enlarged to encompass 32 teams. The sheer logistics of mounting such a programme are intimidating and there were times when there were problems in maintaining its momentum.

It ought to be acknowledged, however, that almost every one of the 64 games attracted a capacity attendance, striking testimony to the appetite of the French public for international football.

Discrepancies in the distribution of tickets, and the crowd violence which marked England's games and some of those in which Germany participated, are matters of urgent concern. But on the credit side, the conviviality at the vast majority of the fixtures was a source of real encouragement.

Another critical problem had less to do with the French organisers than the powerbrokers of FIFA who, at various stages of the championship, stood accused of bringing the game into disrepute because of their diktats to referees.

At one point it seemed as if they were dreaming up new rules as they went along, leading to gross inconsistencies and ultimately to a situation in which referees and, by extension, FIFA's technical committee, lost the respect of players.

Yet, in spite of the imperfections, it's been a good month for football. Never have so many followed the World Cup through the medium of television, seldom has the overall quality of the entertainment been as good and, in the end, the game found worthy new champions.