According to Marcel Desailly winning the UEFA European Championship is harder than winning the FIFA World Cup, and having lifted both for France he would know.
Final reprise
The centre-back was part of France's triumphant World Cup-winning side in 1998 and was then back on the podium in Rotterdam two years later after helping Les Bleus to a thrilling victory in the final of UEFA EURO 2000™ against Italy. The World Cup finalists square off again in Zurich on Tuesday each needing victory to keep alive their slender hopes of progress at these finals, and Desailly is not surprised the heavyweights have found life difficult in Switzerland.
'Interesting tournament'
"I think the European Championship is more difficult [than the World Cup] from the group stage onwards," the 39-year-old former Olympique de Marseille, AC Milan and Chelsea FC player told euro2008.com. "To reach the quarter-finals is not always that simple. There are only good teams in this tournament and the concentration of high-quality teams is usually greater compared to the World Cup. This is a very interesting tournament both from a tactical and a technical point of view."
source: http://www.euro2008.uefa.com
