Lemerre praises attacking victory

French coach Roger Lemerre said his team's triumph over Italy was a victory for attacking soccer. "It is really a victory for attacking football. I am not going to hide that," Lemerre said. "We have young players who are quality players . . . I picked them and I am happy that they won the title for us.

"But Italy, offering another kind of football, went very close to being successful. They also played attacking football. The miracle happened. We managed to bring it about," Lemerre said.

Asked if the victory could be compared with France's 1998 World Cup win, he added: "You have to take these happy moments when you can. You can't compare it with 1998. That was magical because it was in France. It has just happened. Let me enjoy it before I have to analyse it."

Striker Thierry Henry said his team's mental strength had been crucial in coming from behind. Voted man-of-the-match for the third time in the tournament, Henry said: "We have a great mentality. Against Italy we were 1-0 down and against Portugal (in the semi-finals) we were 1-0 down. We have a lot of qualities but without the mental strength it would be difficult. We are going to see the fans in Paris (on Monday) and then we need a rest."

"This team is fantastic," goalkeeper Fabien Barthez said. "We never gave up. We always kept our hope. I am really proud to be part of this team. After the match I told David Trezeguet: `You are always there when we need you.' When I saw the ball at his feet I knew we would score."

French midfielder Christophe Dugarry was proud of his side's achievement. "Winning the European Championship two years after the World Cup is absolutely exceptional. We need time to realise what we've achieved," he said.

"It was a bit different in '98 because it was the World Cup and it was in France, but I think this is even more difficult to win.

"After such an achievement you wonder whether you should not stop because there's not much more you can do. But that's not true, there's still plenty more to come."

Italian coach Dino Zoff was philosophical in defeat. "I feel very bad. This is an important event in my life and it's a defeat," he said. "The French were stronger tonight. We also had quite a lot of opportunities to score. We lost in extra-time but you can't say we didn't put up a fight."

Asked if the Italians were the moral champions, the former Italian goalkeeper said: "It's the reality that counts. Some matches can go the full 120 minutes and be affected by a small matter of luck. It's the nature of the game. It was great that the Italians could put up a fight against anyone."

"We deserved to win but we didn't," said Massimiliano Mannelli. "It was just bad luck. We scored one, but we should have had two or three."

Alessandro del Piero was more downbeat. "I'm destroyed. Destroyed because incredibly we've lost and destroyed because I had chances to score and I didn't manage to take them. Both misses were as bad as each other. I wouldn't have minded hitting the second one badly if I had taken the first well, but these are all phrases that don't mean much at the moment. Our bitterness is too great.

"Seeing that great opportunity go up in smoke just 30 seconds from the end is just too hard.

"We played well in general," he told the gathered reporters. "But all the things you'll write in the newspapers tomorrow, like `no one expected Italy to get this far' or `Italy played well', they're all things that are secondary to the defeat. It's too great at the moment."

Italian goalkeeper Francesco Toldo, who is getting married next weekend to girlfriend Manuela said: "I would have liked to give her a good wedding present, but unfortunately I couldn't do it."