All that glitters ends with gold

Do you remember the sheer electricity of it all in those final final seconds? The slightly rushed pass by Cannavaro, the hesitant control of Albertini, the opportunism of Pires. Then the cross, the minimal step backwards by Trezeguet to meet it, and then the volley soaring past Toldo. Here was the golden goal to end a glittering tournament.

Euro 2000 had been crowned well before that July night in Rotterdam, a competition to be remembered and cherished in the manner of Mexico 1970, but this was the coronation moment for the tournament and for France, emphasising their pre-eminence in Europe and beyond. It was a second title in two years and confirmed Zinedine Zidane as the globe's greatest player.

Unlike in Paris in July 1998, when he scored twice against Brazil, Zidane had a relatively quiet Euro 2000 final but such was the magic of his play in the earlier stages the memory is full of images of feather-light control, first-time passes, the free-kick against Spain and the majesty of his one-arm-aloft running celebration after drilling in the penalty that beat Portugal in the semi-final.

It was a golden arrow of a penalty that cut through the confusion caused by the Portuguese furore over the award against Everton's Abel Xavier. Portuguese frustration was understandable - with seconds left of normal time Xavier had had a bullet header saved superbly by Fabien Barthez - but they have paid heavily for their complaints in World Cup suspensions.

And the Portuguese anger that night in Brussels may have left a greater legacy: UEFA may discard the golden goal method of settling matches. That was the recommendation made by UEFA's five-man technical panel - including Gerard Houllier and Roy Hodgson - last month. They cited the "unsavoury manner" in which the Portugal-France match ended as evidence for their decision, adding: "It took the shine off a thrilling match."

But it did not take the shine off the final - if anything the decisiveness of David Trezeguet's winner added to it - and the panel's claim that the losing team do not have the opportunity to fight back is undermined by the fact that Italy had two glorious chances to win the game in the second half of ordinary time. Alessandro del Piero missed them both.

Thus it could be argued Italy did not suffer a sudden death, rather defeat by instalments. Young French vitality was responsible. Trezeguet was 22 when he scored.

His vitality was fitting because this was a vital tournament. Belgium's Bart Goor kicked it off with his 43rd-minute goal against Sweden in Brussels. The tournament had staged a conceptual opening ceremony based on fantasy football. We laughed at it but it proved prescient.

The next day Italy got going against Turkey but it was the following evening in Eindhoven when Euro 2000 really achieved lift-off. The organisers had one Kevin Keegan to thank. Two goals up against Portugal in 18 minutes they may have been, but England were already on a journey through three of the most disjointed performances imaginable at this level. Entertaining though they were, Luis Figo and Rui Costa gave them a painful lesson in movement and co-ordination.

Five days later in Charleroi England did manage to beat Germany competitively for the first time since 1966 but three days after that Phil Neville's 89thminute trip on Romania's Viorel Moldovan led to England's second 3-2 defeat. They were out, ridiculed. Keegan stayed on, though, for a while.

Germany's Erich Ribbeck did not. A 30 humiliation by Portugal spelt the end for him. Similarly Dino Zoff walked. And Frank Rijkaard. The Dutch coach could take no more after watching Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Kluivert both hit the woodwork and Frank de Boer and Kluivert both miss normal time penalties against Italy in the semi-final. Rijkaard then saw three misses in the penalty shootout. Remember Jaap Stam's effort?

Spain's Raul also missed a penalty, in Bruges against the French in the 90th minute of the quarter-final. France won 21 in a game with claims to the match of the tournament. But then so had Slovenia 3 Yugoslavia 3; Spain 4 Yugoslavia 3; Holland 1 Czech Republic 0. The tone had been set early - teams were here to attack. Figo, Zidane, Zahovic, Nedved, Totti, Henry: all benefited from the gradual effect of rule changes made throughout the 1990s. No passing back to the goalkeeper, no tackling from behind, these introductions have altered the atmosphere of international football. Zidane may be seen as the last great midfield playmaker but the increased freedom on the pitch gave players like Mendieta, Munteanu, Cocu and Conceicao the room to express themselves. "This was a victory for attacking football," said the France manager Roger Lemerre after the final. Negativity is uncool.

The only downsides were the take-it-or-leave-it attitude of the Belgian public and, of course, the English hooligans. Fifty eight per cent of the 1,300 arrests in Belgium were English. The fact that we will not see Gheorghe Hagi again, or Lothar Matthaus, or Bergkamp or Shearer are other disappointments. But it would be wrong to end there. Better to recall Oranje boom in the Netherlands, Youri Djorkaeff's goal in Bruges, Figo's in Eindhoven, Fiore's in Brussels, Kluivert's four in Rotterdam. Totti's penalty in Amsterdam. And Trezeguet's. Roll on Portugal 2004.