Group G: France 1, South Korea 1 Liberté, Egalité, Jules Rimet. That, at least, was the bold message on the sleek French luxury coach as it purred its way into the Zentralstadion at around seven o'clock last night. And although there are fireworks going off in football grounds all over Germany, they do not, as yet, bear the famous hues of the French tricolour.
France should have won last night but, stuck between the limitations of ageing and their general disenchantment, they did not. And now their World Cup hangs in the balance.
The omens were not good coming into this game. On Friday night, after another blissful summer's day in Leipzig, the clouds blackened over, and out of the blue came a hail storm of wicked ferocity, flinging hail stones the size of old pennies on the carousing tourists and football supporters.
The fall was of such ferocity that car bonnets were dented. If Thierry Henry, whose pronouncements this week hinted at a man suffering, in the best French tradition, from ennui, watched the deluge from his darkened hotel window, he might have smiled at the pathetic fallacy.
This once great team, labouring now to manufacture even a lukewarm impression of their radiant best, hardly needed a spectacular summer storm to illuminate their plight.
The same players who made history on French soil during the jubilant summer of 1998 and remained the freewheeling kings of Europe at the continental championships two years on wrestled with very different historical possibilities here. The French lack of goals has become a fascination in a tournament when other countries are happily scoring them in all sorts of delightful ways.
The name of Manuel Amores was aired on many television debates here in Leipzig last night, as he was the last Frenchman to score a goal in the World Cup finals beyond home soil. That was a full 20 years ago against Belgium in the Mexico World Cup of 1986.
It was Amores's only international goal - and it came from the penalty spot -and now it threatened to become an albatross around the necks of the present generation of French forwards.
Whatever might be said about Raymond Domenech, though, he can never be accused of bowing to public demands. With Zidane pressing the claims of Euro 2000 hero Trezuguet and most of France believing Louis Saha should partner Henry, Domenech stuck with Lyon veteran Sylvain Wiltord. His stubbornness was vindicated after just nine minutes, when the two strikers combined to produce a goal of elementary ease.
Patrick Vieira, the outstanding performer on the field in the first half, was the instigator in chief, jostling Lee Young Pyo off the ball and casually flicking onto Wiltord as the Korean defenders desperately regrouped. It looked as if Wiltord was actually trying to shoot but his half connection fell perfectly for Henry, hovering with intent, and all of France froze for an instant before the coolest marksman of them all rolled a nonchalant ball underneath Lee Woon Jae. And with that, all the worrying history dissipated.
France, however, still had a match to win.
And what of the South Korea? How they could do with a Crouch Chun Soo or some such long chopstick of a fellow to give them some variation of their swift, intricate passing game. There was the unmistakable sense of football as a new cultural sensation in Korea here last night, their wonderful, anxious fans screaming as though tearing along on some thrilling fun park ride when Korea so much as crossed the ball into the French box. And that did not happen often.
After conceding the early goal, they were frustrated by the languid, all-the-time-in-the-world, kick-around Gallic style. The French must be the greatest walking football team in the world. And Korea were frustrated too by French muscle, crashing into the powerful Vieira and Makelele and finding themselves easily jolted off the ball by the big Europeans. For 70 minutes of this match they did not even give Fabien Barthez a chance to do something eccentric. Then it all changed.
Korean substitute Seol Ki Hyeon sent in a deep cross from the right flank that seemed to mesmerise the French goalkeeper.
For once, Choe Jae Jin won a high ball, doing superbly well to direct it back across the face of the goal and the onrushing Park, tireless and clever all night, bundled the ball over a flapping Barthez.
And then, throughout a manic last 10 minutes, it looked as though we were watching the end of France. Korea ran at them in those electric red waves and though Zidane flashed one classic ball through for Henry, his jab was well saved by Lee Woon Jae.
Minutes later, there was a bitter poignancy to the substitution of Zidane for Trezueguet on the stroke of full time, and the Marseilles legend gave his coach a long, baleful look as he retired. Zizou misses the next game because of a second booking and so we may have seen the last of the most graceful sportsman of our times.
He deserved a better exit but in truth he was a shadow of his former self here, several times holding his hands to his face, appalled at how the football, once his mistress alone, now disobeyed him.
Brave Korea battle on and their sense of spirit and application under Dick Advocaat could yet hold more rare adventures. France leave Leipzig in turmoil, their tournament coming apart. Jules Rimet looks a faraway dream.
France would be better off concentrating on fraternité if their World Cup is not to end in tears.
SUBSTITUTIONS
FRANCE: Dhorasoo for Malouda (88 mins), Trezeguet for Zidane (90 mins), Ribery for Wiltord (60 mins). Subs not used: Boumsong, Chimbonda, Coupet, Diarra, Givet, Govou, Landreau, Saha, Silvestre. Booked: Abidal, Zidane.
SOUTH KOREA: Seol for Eul-Yong Lee (45 mins), Sang-Sik Kim for Ho Lee (69 mins), Ahn for Chun-Soo Lee (72 mins). Subs not used: Baek, Won-hee Cho, Chung, Do-Heon Kim, Jin-Kyu Kim, Yong-Dae Kim, Young-Kwang Kim, Chu-Young Park, Song. Booked: Ho Lee, Dong-Jin Kim.
Referee: Benito Archundia Tellez (Mexico)
