TALK about a taste of their own medicine. Bulgaria, the last team to beat the French 32 months ago with two late goals and in doing so deny. France entering the last World Cup, skulked out of Euro 96 soundly beaten by a French side gaining sweet revenge.
But it was the 85th minute Spanish goal by Guillermo Amor that spelt elimination for Bulgaria and it is the Spaniards who will be walking down Wembley way on Saturday, not the Bulgarians.
It was difficult to gauge the true value of the French performance against a Bulgarian side that was initially bold and dangerous but slid away like Scarborough houses into the North Sea.
Hristo Stoichkov, whose beautiful 68th minute free kick was his third goal in the tournament, finished the game standing on the halfway line, not participating, and presumably a few team mates felt the full venom of his tongue.
Earlier it was Desailly's thigh and Lama's left boot that fell the full ferocity of a Stoichkov challenge as the game got off to a fractious, entertaining 20 minutes.
Stoichkov, a theatrical villain of a footballer, was at the heart of most of it. A third minute foul on him by Desailly began a running sore of a battle, and afterwards Desailly accused Stoichkov of making racist comments.
Three players were booked in the first quarter of an hour, Desailly among them, by Dermot Gallagher, but the referee was to last not much longer when an apparent calf strain saw him replaced by Paul Durkin.
By then the French were one up through a towering Laurent Blanc header, although it should really have been an equaliser at that point. The lumbering Bulgarian forward, Penev, had 10 minutes earlier failed to get a proper connection on to a superb run and cross by the ever impressive Letchkov.
It was not to be Penev's last significant contribution to the French cause. He was outjumped by Blanc at a Djorkaeff corner for the goal that gave the French the lead. Half an hour later Penev was even more generous when a swinging Djorkaeff free kick was skidding towards Blanc's head but the ball clipped Penev's head and flew past Mihaylov.
Indeed, Mihaylov kept Bulgana in the game, stopping a Djorkaeff free kick and a graceful chip on the run by Dugarry, although Zidane wastefully skied France's best opening from 18 yards.
And then six minutes after Penev's own goal Bulgaria were given a lifeline. Stoichkov sent a high velocity free kick over the French wall and beyond the grasping Lama. And yet the goal failed to revitalise the Bulgarian challenge and the tournament was over for them when the substitute, Loko, ran on to a Karembeu pass, rounded Mihaylov and fired in France's third.
It was around the same time that Amor was scoring in Leeds.
