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Posted Sunday, June 13, 2004; 11.13 BST
All players long to leave the game on their own terms, but the furious competition, injury, limited spots and victory-driven logic of notoriously unsentimental national coaches make closing out an international career far trickier than retiring professionally. The French squad may experience the most profound change, but if the idea of losing Lizarazu or Barthez saddens French hearts, the knowledge that Zidane is mulling retirement strikes utter fear in them. Ever since Zidane's fairy-tale debut with "les Bleus" in 1994 entering a match against the Czech Republic in the 63rd minute and scoring two goals for a draw French teams have been built around Zizou. Both he and his squads reached perfection together. "Watching from the bench that night, I knew it: this was the exceptional player everything else would revolve around," recalls Jacquet. "The gap he'll leave when he retires will be monumental."
In more ways than one, adds Stéphane Meunier, a filmmaker who spent months shooting documentary footage during France's 1998 and 2002 World Cup campaigns: "As masterful an athlete as Zidane and all these
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guys are, it's the chemistry they've created that has been so vital to France's success. The future of French teams depends on how well that human transformation of in- dividual into a close-knit collective continues."
Finding that same alchemy may well hold the footballing key for the Netherlands — a nation that has continually produced stellar footballers, but maddeningly underachieving teams. "We are always one of the four or five best teams in Europe, but, for some reason, it seems like we always fall short in important tournaments," laments winger Marc Overmars, 31, who told TIME he would retire from the national team after Euro 2004. Indeed, the Dutch are better known for agonizing defeat than for scintillating victory. Their only major title was a 1988 European crown capped by Marco van Basten's brilliance. But it is often overlooked among more recent flops: semifinal losses to Brazil in the 1998 World Cup, and a nightmarish penalty kick meltdown against an exhausted Italy in the Amsterdam-hosted Euro 2000 semifinal. The Dutch then failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, despite an all-star side that included Davids, de Boer, Stam, Patrick Kluivert, Philip Cocu, Overmars and keeper Edwin van der Sar. But with so much talent, so much frustration — and so many players heading toward the exit — the Dutch may now be driven by a do-or-die determination Jacquet calls "scary." "We have only one goal: to win the title," de Boer insists. "We are anxious to win something."
In addition to Figo and Couto, Euro-host Portugal may also see old hands Rui Costa, Rui Jorge and striker Pauleta moving on. Similarly, the strong Czech team fronts a few players already into their 30s — though the most proficient like Jan Koller, Vladimír Smicer, Karel Poborsky and 2003 Golden Ball winner Pavel Nedved all hope to stick around until 2006, when age and injury probably won't make continuing an option.
Sweden stands to possibly lose only Larsson and his former Celtic teammate Johan Mjallby. Yet Larsson's departure is cataclysmic — his ability to make lightning-fast bursts to ghost beyond defenders into open spaces, leaving nothing between him and the cage but a hapless keeper, has netted him 242 goals in 315 games for his club. His retirement would deprive the team of its talisman and main scoring threat and probably force significant strategy changes. Germany — like Spain and England — boasts a relatively young and stable side, except for the increasingly shaky Kahn, who has some observers wondering about his pledge to play through Germany's 2006 World Cup. "At 34, he's still comparatively young for a keeper," argues Kahn's father, Rolf. "Just think of Italy's Dino Zoff who became world champion at the age of 40." Most German fans just think of Kahn coughing up big goals in the World Cup and recently in the Champions League for Bayern against Real Madrid.
It was Zoff, of course, who as coach brought Italy to within seconds of winning the Euro 2000 crown that the Squadra Azzurra ultimately lost to France. The defeat added Zoff to the list of 60-70% of all national coaches Jacquet says either quit or are fired after each major tournament. Zoff's successor, Giovanni Trapattoni, avoided the sack after Italy's washout at the 2002 World Cup thanks, he says, to a good-luck charm he'll be bringing to Portugal: holy water. He hopes a Euro win will allow him to retire in grace, a rarity in Italy. "I don't think [holy water] is what brings victory, because then everyone would use it and everyone would win," Trapattoni philosophizes. "But it does protect me from the negative things." He'd better keep that to himself, or Zidane, De Boer, Figo and a few dozen other senior veterans will all be reaching for his water bottle.
With reporting by Martha de la Cal/Lisbon, Jeff Israely/Rome, Jennie James/Glasgow, Hugh Porter/London, Ursula Sautter/Bonn, Jan Stojaspal/Prague and Enrique Zaluda/Barcelona
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 Brand it Like Beckham [Apr. 27, 2003]
England's captain on keeping his life in balance: "Never say never"
Players Behaving Badly [Jan. 14, 2002]
More English footballers wind up in the courts, prompting questions about discipline off the pitch
Home-Field Advantage [Feb. 27, 2001]
Are some foreign football stars playing for European teams with the assistance of bogus passports?
Back to the Bad Old Days
[Oct. 14, 2002]
English fans were at their worst at last week's Euro 2004 qualifying match against Slovakia
No Money, No Kickoff [Aug. 25, 2002]
Reality bites, and Italian teams are forced to take drastic action
Pink, Proud And Scoring [May. 14, 2001]
Spain's Alav s proves soccer success doesn't always require big bucks
In The Football Business [Sep. 7, 2003]
The true cost of a kick in the grass
Play and Pay [Jul. 30, 2001]
European soccer's big leagues are eager to recruit Japanese players and not just for their ball skills
Search all issues of TIME Magazine
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| Saturday, June 7, 2008 |
UEFA Euro 2008
Austia & Switzerland |
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