France are back, and what's more they are probably better than when they won the World Cup two years ago.
If anything significant has emerged on this first weekend of Euro 2000, it is that the reigning world champions are going to take all the beating in this tournament.
All in all, Euro 2000 has made a bright start. The atmosphere has been good, the fans have been warm and enthusiastic, home team Belgium set the ball rolling by winning the opening game in Brussels on Saturday night and world champions France have underlined that they are a class act.
France's 3-0 defeat of Denmark in Bruges yesterday struck me as very significant, the performance of a class side playing well within themselves. They look like a side who were convinced they could go and win the match if, when and as they wanted.
The frightening thing for France's rivals is that this team seems to have resolved the one major problem that almost stopped them from winning the World Cup two years ago, namely a lack of a world class striker. Both Nicolas Anelka and Thierry Henry have frightening pace, while players like Sylvain Wiltord and David Trezeguet look as if they can and will score.
Denmark had an early chance yesterday through Jon Dahl Tomasson, but that only served to wake France up and get them going. With Zinedine Zidane looking magnificent behind the front players, they played some exceptionally good football.
You might say that Denmark did not represent very demanding opposition and that is probably true. But I get the impression that France are only just warming their engines and that they will get better as the tournament goes on.
If I have one small reservation about the French, it concerns their central midfielder and captain, Didier Deschamps. In France two years ago I thought that Arsenal's Patrick Vieira should have players inside of him and I think that even more this tournament.
As for home team Belgium, they did all that might have been asked of them by winning first time out, beating Sweden 2-1. I wouldn't call the opening game a classic in that both teams looked ordinary, but the match was at least lively and full of incident - three goals, bad defensive errors, sending off and maybe a controversial goal.
I know Emile Mpenza took his chance for that second goal absolutely brilliantly, but for my money he handled the ball. Furthermore, everything went just right for Belgium in that they got both goals at psychological killer moments, just before half-time and just after it.
As one of the two home teams though, Belgium can expect to build on that good start. Interest will increase and a whole nationwide momentum will develop which will make them hard to beat. I also have the impression that they could prove much tougher, more physically combative when the need arises.
As for Italy, although I think they probably about deserve their 2-1 win against Turkey yesterday, I wasn't very impressed by them. They had problems in both midfield and attack. In midfield they lacked real quality and I can see good teams running past them, while in attack they lack a fulcrum since a player like Filippo Inzaghi or Alessandro del Piero will never fulfil the role of the injured Christian Vieri.
I think too that the Turks will feel bad since, in the end, they were beaten by a very dodgy penalty. However, that was just the first of what are sure to be many controversial moments between now and the end of the tournament on July 2nd.
As for the Netherlands, you would have to say that their 1-0 win against the Czech Republic was a very nervous unconvincing performance. The Czechs looked like the better side, they created more chances, hit the woodwork twice and looked very unlucky.
One interesting thing has emerged from these opening two days - there have been no shocks. All the big names - France, Holland and Italy - have got through.
In an interview with Paddy Agnew
