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Home  » Sports » Trezeguet emerges France's major scoring force

Trezeguet emerges France's major scoring force

November 18, 2003 16:12 IST
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David Trezeguet has scored more goals for France than Thierry Henry and arguably plays for a more prestigious club, yet he still lives in the shadow of his French international strike partner.

David Trezeguet (C) celebrates his goal with team mates Thierry Henry (R) and Olivier Dacourt during France's friendly against GermanyThe Juventus forward, who netted the champions' golden goal against Italy to give France victory in the Euro 2000 final, is France's top striker with 28 goals from 48 outings.

In contrast, the Arsenal man has scored 25 times for France in 55 matches and their joint understanding and contribution was were emphasised again when they scored all three between them in France's 3-0 win over Germany on Saturday.

Trezeguet struck twice and Henry once as France swamped their old rivals in Gelsenkirchen.

Despite his outstanding skills, "Trezegol" was a late developer for France, booking a regular place in the starting line-up only when Jacques Santini took over from Roger Lemerre after the 2002 World Cup failure.

But he has not been slow in making up for lost time.

Together with Henry, a former team mate in their younger days at Monaco, he now has his eye on Michel Platini's all-time record haul of 41 goals for his country and, at just 26, he still has time on his side.

Trezeguet, whose father is from Argentina, started his career at Platense in Argentina before joining Monaco in 1995 and scored 67 goals in 111 games there before moving to Juventus, Platini's old Italian club, in 2000.

"My goal now is to overtake Michel [Platini], even if it is going to be difficult," he says.

"Of course it is a dream both for me and Titi [Henry] to try and keep scoring and one day catch Platini. But there's still a long way to go," said the striker who has won two French titles with Monaco and two Serie A titles with Juve.

Henry, the main striker for Arsenal, says he is honoured to play a slightly different role for France, setting up more chances for Trezeguet to score than he has himself.

The pattern was established between 1995 and 1999 when the two were at Monaco.

"I'm not only a scorer, I also try to set up goals for him. I know exactly how he wants them," said Henry after his cross helped Trezegol score against Israel in France's last Euro qualifier.

In fact Trezeguet and Henry -- and Sylvain Wiltord -- all scored six goals each in the qualifiers during France's winning run to the finals.

The pair could well be France's main weapon in Portugal.

"Henry and Trezeguet, given what they're showing at club level, lead the way compared to others," Santini said.

"They're a great pair."

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Source: REUTERS
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