The old ones are always the best. On a night when a vibrant young Spanish side was supposed to bury a jinx and lose the underachievers tag that has long clung to their nation, two veterans of World Cups past stepped up for France and tore the script to shreds.
Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Vieira were part of that fabled run to glory at the 1998 World Cup and there is no doubt that their very best days are beyond them. Yet on a tense, emotional night here, they produced the goods when it mattered most - not only with their late golas that fired Les Bleus to a quarter-final showdown against Brazil but with performances that oozed composure and quality.
Together with the other older heads in the side, they placed a steadying hand on the tiller when Spain forged ahead through a David Villa penalty. They oversaw parity being restored, ironically through young Franck Ribery, and then a gradual erosion of Spanish belief. And at the death, they delivered the knockout punches.
There was an element of cynicism in the winning of a free-kick in the 83rd minute. Thierry Henry fell clutching his face under a challenge from Spain skipper Carlos Puyol when there had been no contact. But there was still much to do with the ball spotted 35 yards from goal. Zidane clipped it in, flew up off the head off Xabi Alonso and there was Vieira to force his header home off Sergio Ramos.
Zidane then applied the final nail in the coffin when he cut inside, after a break involving substitutes Sidney Govou and Sylvain Wiltord, and fired under Iker Casillas. Zidane will call time on his glittering career after the tournament, but the curtain refuses to fall just yet. This was a truimph, too, for France coach Raymond Domenech.
Parried for his tactics in the opening two games, he got it spot on here as Vieira and Makelele provided the shield in front of his back four - Spain’s threat fizzled and died - and Zidane’s added the invention further forward.
Spain were left crushed and bewildered. Coming into the game, everything was right in their camp. There was faith in coach Luis Aragones and his decisions, and sky-high confidence in young players untouched by previous World Cup failures. This had to be the year Spain, at their very best, reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1950. But their Gallic curse goes on. They have never beaten France in a competitive fixture and 22 years to the day since they fell to them in the Euro 84 final, they suffered another shattering reverse.
They were pegged back when Vieira released the impressive Ribery and thereafter they hit the wall. They felt aggrieved when Henry won the free-kick for Vieira’s decisive goal - Puyol was even showed a yellow card.
MSians and footie fnanatic expect another FIFA 98 when France take on Brazil in the quarter-finals.