WORLD CUP SOCCER: France striker Thierry Henry has denied cheating to win the free-kick that led to his side's second goal in their 3-1 second-round victory over Spain on Tuesday night.

Henry fell to the ground clutching his face after colliding with Carles Puyol. Puyol insisted the referee had made the wrong decision, adding: "If anything it was a foul by Henry."

But Henry said yesterday: "Look at the replay, their left-back was going to take the ball and Puyol came across me and blocked me. Puyol came up to me afterwards and apologised so how is that cheating? Spain's left-back Mariano Perina was going to win the ball, so I don't know why Puyol cut across me, but he did.

"If that's basketball that's a good block, but we're not playing basketball. In my head I'm not a guy who does go down or cheats."

Spain coach Luis Aragones agreed with Puyol, saying that the clash with Henry did not merit a free-kick.

"For me the referee (the Italian Roberto Rosetti) blew for a non-existent foul for the second goal," said Aragones.

"As for the third goal, the game was practically over already when that went in."

It is not the first time Arsenal striker Henry has been involved in controversy with Barcelona star Puyol.

The striker was angry at the referee for not taking action over the rough treatment he received from Puyol in May's Champions League final in Paris, which Barcelona won 2-1.

After that match, Henry said: "Next time I'll learn to dive maybe, but I'm not a woman."

The game was level at 1-1 when Rosetti gave a free-kick to France for the challenge by Puyol. Zinedine Zidane's deep free-kick was deflected off the head of Xabi Alonso and found Patrick Vieira, whose header ended in the net via a deflection off Spain's Sergio Ramos.

Lost amid the din of French celebration and wailed Spanish despair was a lesson England might do well to heed.

Les Bleus, a side that stumbled blindly at times in their mediocre group, with passage into the latter stages ground out to a chorus of criticism, have rediscovered their former expansive selves.

Where once there was pessimism, now there is expectation.

France, back at their training base west of Hanover yesterday, were preparing for Brazil on Saturday and a rerun of the 1998 World Cup final. The cliques that had threatened progress may remain - a suspicion of the manager Raymond Domenech still simmers - but with success it is easier to ignore them.

The manager described this as the "best moment" of his coaching career, the zest that flooded back into his side against the Spanish offering a statement of intent England are yet to deliver.

The positives from the performance will bolster confidence ahead of a daunting quarter-final in Frankfurt, but the French have shown a floundering side can still flourish. They have potentially timed their revival to perfection, and Sven-Goran Eriksson will need to draw inspiration from that.

"Our comeback is the most important thing," said Henry. "We were getting stick and people were criticising us back home, talking about the ambience in the team, but we showed with this performance that we have some mental resilience.

"People, especially in France, thought we were going to get killed against Spain, but we didn't. We defended well, fought for every ball, and I haven't seen us play that way for a long time.

"People should remember that it is never easy in the group stage. Teams like Switzerland and South Korea waited for us to come at them, sitting back, and it's never easy to break sides like that down.

"England are having the same problem. I've seen their games and, all the time, they have been playing against teams who are waiting for them. At least as the competition goes on you play more teams who like to play football and that offers you the chance to counterattack."

It took a contest that had its audience salivating to rouse the French, and the hope in England will be that Eriksson's established talents will find a similar thrill at the prospect of playing Portugal on Saturday.

Whereas the world expected Les Bleus to flatten their group rivals, the Spanish were always likely to offer a sterner test. France duly rose to the occasion, their champions Zidane and Vieira revelling in the drama.

"We shouldn't fear anyone after that performance," said Vieira, whose leggy energy consumed his midfield markers as if he had been transported back to his rampaging best at Arsenal. Moreover the prospect of Brazil is acting as an inspiration.

"They are the yardstick from the last World Cup, a fantastic challenge, but we've moved into gear from our last group game. We were strong in defence and midfield and, even when we lost the goal, we never panicked.

"This is a team that can achieve a lot more, that is full of potential, and we will continue to improve."

For Vieira and Zidane, the temptation in England is to read Frank Lampard, David Beckham and Steven Gerrard, players who have offered glimpses but not consistent excellence in Germany to justify reputations.

There remains some room for improvement in the French, too. Henry has shown only flashes of his true self and spent long periods of Tuesday's win berating his team-mates for stray passes.

But where Henry has yet to spark, the revival of the side's other elder statesmen should allow the younger members of the side to revel.

Franck Ribery played his best game for his country in Hanover.

"He was unstoppable once he scored," added Henry.

"The one thing about him is that he's not scared."

France will share that fearlessness from now on in.