In an emotional post-match presentation, players of both sides stood together by a large poster of the Cameroon midfielder, who collapsed during Thursday's semi-final win over Colombia in Lyon and died shortly afterwards.
The Cameroon players all donned green shirts with Foe's name and number 17 stamped on the back while the 52,000 crowd at the Stade de France chanted Foe's name and applauded.
The evenly-contested match was played in an atmosphere of mutual respect and there were few scoring chances in the first 90 minutes.
Henry's scrambled winner -- the first goal Cameroon conceded in the tournament -- also made the outstanding Arsenal striker its top scorer with four goals.
France, whose presence in the tournament was due to a Euro 2000 crown they also won with a golden goal, gave their fans a lift after the debacle of a 2002 World Cup exit at the group phase.
For Cameroon's Indomitable Lions, both the match and the tournament paled into significance compared to the loss of Foe.
His wife Marie-Louise sat next to FIFA president Sepp Blatter at the game, with Pele and Cameroon's 1990 World Cup striker Roger Milla sitting just behind.
SLEEPING LION
Fans of both teams also paid their own respects to Foe, waving flags and banners bearing his name. One read "A Lion never dies, it sleeps."
Before kick-off, all the players gathered round in the semi-circle, linking arms around each other's shoulders, one Cameroon player next to a French player, for an emotional minute's silence.
When the match started, France's first chance was predictably conjured up by Henry, when he neatly dinked the ball across the face of the Cameroon goal, but Djibril Cisse's stooping header turned it wide of the far post.
Henry, who was also voted best player of the tournament, followed up with a smart turn and shot which keeper Idris Kameni smothered as France built on their promising start.
However, Cameroon settled into their rhythm and only an acrobatic save from Fabien Barthez prevented Pius Ndiefi flicking them into the lead.
France continued to live dangerously in the second half but they should have taken the lead when Kameni spilled the ball after Ludovic Giuly broke down the right, Cisse dragged it back for Henry but the striker's reflex shot trickled just wide of an open goal.
Cameroon, the reigning African champions, kept pushing forward and the hosts had a narrow squeak when substitute Samuel Eto'o nearly signalled his remarkable arrival with a goal from his first touch of the ball.
Eto'o, who arrived in Paris from Spain after scoring twice for Real Mallorca in a 3-0 King's Cup final win over Recreativo Huelva late on Saturday, miss-hit Thimothee Atouba's inviting cross from close range when he looked certain to score.
The game was settled seven minutes into the extra period when substitute Lilian Thuram sent a probing ball into the box and Henry used his knee to nudge it past Kameni into the net.
© 2024 Rediff.com -