FRANCE beat Belgium 2-0 in a friendly international in Brussels last night to notch up a 20 match unbeaten run the longest in their history.
Newcastle United's Philippe Albert of Belgium headed into his own net and midfielder Sabri Lamouchi scored as France chalked up a run of 13 victories and seven draws since losing to Bulgaria in a World Cup qualifier in late 1993.
Albert's own goal came after 65 minutes after Didier Deschamps of Juventus fed Auxerre's Corentin Martins on the right. But Albert, trying to cut out the dangerous cross from Martins, headed the ball into the top left hand corner.
Just five minutes Lamouchi scored from the right of the penalty box after a French counterattack.
The key to France's win was superiority in midfield as Didier Deschamps, Reynald Pedros, Christian Karembeu and Sabri Lamouchi ruled throughout.
Aime Jacquet's unbeaten run, which began with a 1-0 victory in Italy on February 16th 1994, beats the 19 match unbeaten sequence of Michel Platini (16 wins, three draws) between April 19th 1989 and November 20th 1991.
France, playing without unselected Eric Cantona or David Ginola, had the central defensive pairing of Alain Roche and Laurent Blanc in place of injured Marcel Desailly and Franck Leboeuf. And Roche and Blanc kept their record of never conceding a goal in the eight matches they have been paired together in the national side.
The victory came after an impressive week for French football.
