To call France a one-man team is clearly to overplay it, but Zinédine Zidane is in the sort of form that can show up even his vaunted team-mates.
How France needed him to orchestrate, to entertain and, crucially, to score. They were shackled until the dying embers of this match by a hard-working but unimpressive Ukraine side.
There seemed to be great hope for England, yet the world footballer of the year would not be bowed. Thierry Henry nodded down a cross from the right for Zidane to bury from 12 yards.
The goal, in truth, mattered little but to serve notice on England that individual brilliance requires constant attention. For England fans, this France side has a frightening familiarity, calling as it does upon a triumvirate of players who were so pivotal to Arsenal's stunning domestic season.
Yet beyond even Patrick Vieira's defensive solidity, Robert Pires's vision and Thierry Henry's lethality, there is more piquancy in this French recipe. Zidane and Lilian Thuram are every bit as important to their side as the Arsenal men, with the captain Marcel Desailly and the willing Claude Makelele also considered talismanic.
France's recent record of 17 games without defeat - comprising a run of 950 minutes without conceding a goal - is perhaps no surprise. Paper - the team-sheet and statistics - points to a daunting invulnerability in the defending European champions.
But not everything is untouched among the untouchables. Only 10 days before their Euro 2004 opener against England, the France manager Jacques Santini announced his intention to quit the post after the tournament to take up the vacant manager's position at Tottenham.
Surprisingly, there is no outward regret from the players that the focus of the build-up to the defence of their European title had been disrupted by the man who should have been striving to protect his side from such distractions.
"The announcement was very well done and it will not upset the squad," said Desailly.
If England believe Desailly's statement to be a smokescreen, then they can also take heart from the absence of David Trezeguet. The Juventus man, Henry's strike partner for France over the past four years, has hit 20 goals in 30 outings for his club this season, but missed this last warm-up before the tournament finals with an ankle injury.
He is likely to be fit again by the Lisbon opener but whether Santini feels his truncated build-up to the match has been adequate preparation is another question.
France insist they have learnt from the mistakes of the last World Cup when complacency halted them in the defeats to Senegal and Denmark, yet here there was a tendency to overcomplicate.
Zidane's sublime skill was on display with every drag-back and controlled juggle, but Louis Saha's attempts to imitate the master served only to demonstrate his limitations. Vieira showed greater urgency than most, carrying the ball with surging efficiency, and Pires tormented Ukraine's left-back every time he had possession. Yet this was a second-string Ukraine whose first-choice 11 last recorded a win 12 months ago. England, it is to be hoped, will provide a sterner test.
The visitors' first real chance came when they were awarded a free-kick, which Anatoliy Tymoschuk struck at Fabien Barthez from 25 yards. Yet France fared little better.
Frustrated by a bizarre but stubborn sweeper system, all they had to show for the first half were misdirected shots from Zidane and Saha, and William Gallas's header from a Pires corner, all of which sailed high and wide.
In the second half, however, the previously off-colour Blues returned to their more rhapsodic selves. Zidane won the ball from Ruslan Rotan wide on the right, sending a cross into the Ukraine box.
Pires was on the penalty spot, perfectly placed to unleash a stunning half-volley from the ricocheted centre which brought a similarly impressive save from Oleksandr Shovkovsky. Yet that was not France's best chance. Pires hooked over a centre that dropped for Henry to volley home. Where it should have found the net, his wild effort found only thin air.
Scouting report
Pluses
Experience: Most of this side have been together since the World Cup win of 1998.
Confidence: Thierry Henry has enjoyed his best season yet and will spearhead a side used to success.
Freshness: There have been none of the trips to Chile or Argentina that preceded the last World Cup.
Skill: Henry and Zidane are simply peerless.
Minuses
Defence: France have yet to settle on a consistent selection, with questions over where to play Thuram and Gallas, and whether Desailly should play at all.
Goalkeeper: Will it be the acrobatic Barthez of 1998, or the clownish liability of previous seasons?
Age: This is a team coming to the end of its cycle and the pressure of 2002 may tell again.
Coach: Will Santini command the respect of his team after prematurely declaring his departure?
France (4-4-2): Barthez; Gallas (Sagnol, 76), Thuram, Silvestre, Lizarazu; Pires (Wiltord, 83), Makelele (Pedretti, 83), Vieira, Zidane; Henry, Saha (Marlet, 76).
Subs not used: Landreau, Boumsong, Desailly, Rothen, Dacourt, Govou, Coupet.
Booked: Saha.
Ukraine (1-2-4-2-1): Shovkovsky; Rusol; Yeserskiy, Fedorov (Checher, 79); Starostyak (Bidnenko, 71), Tymoshchuk (Venglynsky, 90), Shelayev, Nesmachny; Husyey (Rebrov, 61), Rotan (Nazarenko, 84); Vorobyey (Kosyrin, 69).
Subs not used: Reva, Rykun.
Booked: Shelayev, Tymoshchuk.
Referee: Darko Seferin (Slovenia)
