Emmanuel Petit will forever remain in the hearts of the French. The midfielder with long hair is obviously, after the double of the head of Zinedine Zidane, author of the goal of the 3-0 of the French team during the final of the 1998 World Cup won against Brazil, a certain 12 July.
Failed live, as it was described at the time by the media, the northerner of Arsenal became one of the idols of the Aimé Jacquet group, before winning Euro 2000 and concluding his international career with the 2002 World Cup catastrophe in South Korea. He played his 63rd and last match with the selection in 2003.
Generous recuperator, Petit notably allowed “Zizou” to make the difference during the two coronations of France. And the player passed by Monaco was captivated by the genius of number 10 of the Blues, Ballon d'Or 98 and now legend of tricolor football.
Little one stops in the middle of a match
“Zizou first, I remember a match during Euro 2000, against Czechoslovakia. I played in the middle with him, I passed the ball to him, I don't know why, one or two seconds, I stopped, I just looked at him. How he moved, his body, it was as a magic, you felt like he will fall but no, the ball is there, at the opposite, with two players opposite their buttocks. I stopped, I realized that I stopped running, I said to myself, 'Wake up Manu, you are on a field, play!'“”
Emmanuel Petit recounts the second victory for the training led by Roger Lemerre (the successor of Aimé Jacquet) during the European Nations Championship in Belgium and the Netherlands. It was more exactly against the Czech Republic (which must now be called the Czech Republic) and not Czechoslovakia. The defending world champions won 2-1 thanks to Thierry Henry and Youri Djorkaeff (2-1) against Czechs led by Pavel Nedved and Vladimir Smicer. On the route of the Blues during this euro won with a golden goal against Italy.
