Zidane France's saviour

Controversy erupted in Brussels last evening as France stumbled into the final of Euro 2000 by virtue of a golden goal scored by Zinedine Zidane in the 24th minute of extra time.

Zidane's nerve held firm after Abel Xavier was adjudged to have handled a shot by substitute Sylvain Wiltord at the near post and as the penalty came to rest in the back of the net, pandemonium broke out.

While the game's outstanding performer ran to accept the gratitude of his shaken team-mates, the Portuguese players, who had contested the original award for a full two minutes, ran to confront the linesman who had flagged for the handball. At one point, the official was in imminent danger of being struck by any one of six players, but fortunately wiser counsel prevailed and he was whisked away to the dressing-room while the Portuguese fans voiced their anger.

On the field the protests continued with the Austrian referee Gunter Benko being jostled by players and officials. Later it transpired that he had shown a red card to Nuno Gomes for allegedly spitting in his face.

Within minutes of the finish the Portuguese coach, Humberto Coelho, resigned, but it wasn't immediately clear whether this was a protest against the decision or the wages of his frustration on the night.

The referee was unsighted for the handball offence, but television replays confirmed that the Slovakian linesman was indeed right in flagging for the foul. At that point, the tie was only six minutes away from the lottery of a penalty shoot-out and that would have been unfair to France who, although some way below their best, were clearly the better team on the night.

With Portugal revealing only flashes of the form which had made them one of the championship's more attractive teams, the French were responsible for the vast majority of the goalmouth action.

But apart from Thierry Henry's 51st-minute strike after Gomes had given the losers an early lead, they failed to find a way past a fine Portuguese defence. And in that there is cause for concern for manager Roger Lemerre.

In one respect at least this was an authentic performance by the team which conquered the world two years ago. Now, as then, Zidane was superb, revealing the kind of languid skills which put him in a class apart from all others on the pitch.

To that extent, justice was served when he stepped up to accept a challenge which might have intimidated a lesser player.

At times, Didier Deschamps, Emmanuel Petit and, not least, Henry promised a more conclusive win for the favourites, but in the end they were close to total frustration after being denied so often by a splendid Portuguese defence. Almost all the merit in the losers' performance resided in the performances of Fernando Couto and Jorge Costa in the central positions at the back and a couple of splendid tackles by left back Dimas.

Crucially, however, the men on whom they had rested most of their hopes never performed to pedigree. Rui Costa, unable to get to the pitch of the game, contributed little before being replaced and Luis Figo, another of their potential matchwinners, showed only at irregular intervals.

Nor was their anything forthcoming from Sergio Conceicao, the three-goal hero of their win over Germany. Apart from establishing the chance for Gomes's goal, he was largely an anonymous, lonely figure on the left wing.

Yet it was Portugal who stunned the French supporters by scoring in their first attack in the 18th minute. Conceicao, snapping at the heels of Deschamps, made the French skipper pay for moments of fatal hesitancy by nicking a ball he had no right to win and the ensuing 20-yard shot from Gomes was already in the net before Fabien Barthez quite realised what was happening.

Within six minutes of the restart, however, all had changed. Lilian Thuram and Nicolas Anelka established the opening for Henry and a subtle sway of the hopes bought the Arsenal striker enough room to take out Couto and Abel Xavier and score from 12 yards.

Zidane was by now tormenting the Portuguese almost every time he got on the ball, but he held his head in disbelief when Anelka slipped as he stooped to make the decisive header from another of his inviting crosses.

Rui Costa, by contrast, seldom left an imprint on the critical battle for central control and it was no surprise when he suffered the indignity of being withdrawn, to be replaced by Joao Pinto in the 71st minute.

The traffic in the second half was almost all one way, yet for all the pressure welling up around them, the Portuguese retained enough discipline to take the game into extra time.

In fact, they might well have won in the second last minute of normal time when Abel Xavier's glancing header off Figo's free-kick, extracted a brilliant reflex save from Barthez.

Extra time induced an extra burst of urgency from Portugal, but France weathered the storm before Zidane came close to snatching a golden goal in the 95th minute.

Climbing above Rui Jorge at the far post to make contact with a cross from substitute Robert Pires, he just failed to keep the header down and a similar fate befell Laurent Blanc off a corner from Pires.

By now, it had condensed into a struggle of the fittest and as Portugal went on defying the world champions through sheer weight of numbers, French manager Lemerre played his last trump card by sending on David Trezeguet for the jaded Henry.

And still the drama unfolded. Minutes after being carded for the second time in consecutive games, Joao Pinto suddenly found himself in space at the end of a swift counter attack. The relief among the French defence was almost audible when the shot, struck from 20 yards, screamed wide to set the scene for Zidane's dramatic winner.