A Decade of Rythm and Bleu's

July 12, 2008 marked the 10 year anniversary of France's biggest triumph on the world stage, shocking the number one ranked Brazilians in a 3-0 defeat in the World Cup final before a delirious crowd at the Stade de France in St Dennis.

Ten years have passed since that historic date and a lot has changed for French soccer.  A look back from 1998 to today and you could argue that France has been one of the most dominant and impressive soccer teams in recent memory. 

The World Cup in 1998 wiped away years of frustrations for the French after two missed World Cups previously and coming so close twice in the 80's.  But since they're triumph in '98 they have made it clear that they were World, European, and Confederation Cup Champions all at the same time.

In a time when dynasties and dominating squads are few and far between, it's quite remarkable what the French have been able to accomplish over the past decade.

In the past decade they have won a World Cup, a European Cup, two Confederation Cups, and were a crossbar away from regaining the World Cup in 2006.

During those years France has produced a tremendous amount of talented players who will go down as some of the all-time best:

Thierry Henry, who last year became the all-time leading scorer in French soccer, has an impressive six goals in World Cup play to go with another six in three Euros.

Fabien Barthez was dominant in goal with several clean sheets.

Lillian Thuram, a rock in the back, probably the best defender in the world for much of the last decade and has shown he has a knack for clutch situations.

Laurent Blanc, Marcel Desailly, and Lizarazu also deserve accolades as together with Thuram they never lost a game when all four of them started.

And last but most definitely not least El Maestro, The King, Zizou, Zinedine Zidane. Say what you want about Zidane now and how his career ended, but one thing no one can deny is his incredible career and the fact that he finished at the very top of his game.

He led France to an improbable run at the 2006 World Cup and helped them upset Brazil in '98 with two goals in the final. In my opinion, next to Pele he is the greatest player ever to play the game, and i think his track record and all his triumphs prove that.

On a continent where the competition is more heated, more intense and much tighter than anywhere else on the planet it is quite remarkable what the French have been able to achieve.

They have shown they are capable of dominating, but, more importantly, they have shown that you can never count them out (Euro 2000 and 2004 are prime examples of that).

The French team has had a dominance and a resilience that has been unmatched over the past decade.  They have shown that they are arguably one of the most impressive teams in the world and a team that will for a long time be a force to be reckoned with.