Vieira's Jour de Gloire

Once in a while, France manager Raymond Domanech gets something right. In the absence of Zinedine Zidane, he handed the captain’s armband to Patrick Vieira and on his 30th birthday, the Juventus midfielder rolled back the years and produced a performance of such majesty and magnificence as to reprise his inspirational reign at Arsenal.

France simply had to win this game to progress to the knock-out phase of the competition and in certain circumstances they might have had to win it by as much as two clear goals. Chance after chance was created and wasted, principally through the profligacy of Frank Ribery and David Trezeguet, each of whom might have had a hat-trick. Half-time came and went and ten minutes after the interval it was clear to Vieira that something must be done. As the exasperating Ribery meandered towards the box, Vieira drove forward on one of those surging runs familiar to the Highbury faithful. He seemed to compel a reluctant Ribery to give him the ball, then pivoted and thundered it into the far corner. The tension dissipated. The deadlock had been broken with a Vieira goal that had Thierry Henry’s stamp on it. Six minutes later Vieira surged forward again and flicked the ball on for his great friend Henry to score a trademark second. The game was as good as won and the relief was palpable – France’s first World Cup victory since they lifted the trophy in 1998.

In a curious and perhaps unexpected way the absence of Zidane was a crucial factor in that success. Somehow it seemed to free Thierry Henry to produce his best international game for some time and as for Vieira, his sensational display demonstrated beyond doubt that he was made to wear that armband. Unfortunately when France embark upon the difficult challenge of Spain, and Zidane is available for selection once again, it is unlikely that Domanech will be due another wise decision.