If the French wanted to make a statement of intent here last night, the message came across loud and clear. Only Germany - who else? - can claim to have been World Cup and European Championship winners at the same time but do not bet your mortgage against Roger Lemerre's team matching them.
In football certain things can be guaranteed and it was no different here. Zinedine Zidane was at the hub of everything, Nicolas Anelka loitered with intent and Laurent Blanc sought out Fabien Barthez to plant the obligatory kiss on his shiny pate. As for Denmark, Peter Schmeichel screamed blue murder at his defenders, the referee, anyone really who was within earshot. Even an unsuspecting ball-boy felt the sharp end of his tongue.
In the end, however, it was not a matter for the Danes to apportion blame but a time to marvel at the French artistry. "Magnifique," purred Lemerre.
Only Anelka could have the season he has had and still end up with a couple of gongs for the sideboard. But here he was, clearly enjoying himself alongside Thierry Henry, past and present Arsenal strikers with enough pace to expose the most steely defence.
It was Anelka's considerable threat that manoeuvred the opening goal after 16 minutes. Only a couple of minutes earlier the Real Madrid striker had rounded Schmeichel but angled his shot into the side-netting. This time the Danish goalkeeper got his hands to the ball as Anelka surged into the penalty area but was caught in no-man's-land as it popped out for Blanc to stroke into an open goal.
The remainder of the first 45 minutes saw near-incessant pressure from the French - which is just as well considering the mayhem that had reigned in their defence during the opening exchanges.
It needed Barthez to charge off his goalline to deny Jon Dahl Tomasson after Marcel Desailly had got into a terrible mess. Then it was Lilian Thuram's turn to get in a tangle, scuffing a straightforward clearance to present Ebbe Sand with a chance that he seemed too bewildered to accept. If the French continue to offer so much in the way of charity, they may find other opponents are more receptive.
"There were a few early problems," said Lemerre. "The first 10 minutes was not very good at all but after that everything was OK. This is a hard group and I'm relieved we have got three points because the burden of being world champions can be hard to accept."
The relentless pace slowed after the interval but the suspicion remained that France were toying with the opposition. When it took their fancy they seemed able to move effortlessly on to a new plateau.
So it was in the 64th minute. Almost inevitably Zidane was the architect, applying the back-spin of a sand wedge to drop an exquisite ball behind Denmark's defence. Henry was on it in an instant and who was going to catch him? With Schmeichel exposed, Henry streamed almost half the length of the pitch before expertly picking his spot.
For Denmark, it was too much to comprehend, let alone counter. "There are times when you must give the credit to the opposition," offered their coach Bo Johansson. "We were playing a team that could be the eventual winners. It is wrong to say they are a team just with pace because they have brains as well. In fact, they have everything. And Zidane, he is very special.
"This is a very hard group, possibly the hardest, and we have everything to do now."
The final minutes were seen out by France showboating and Johansson attempting to add some virility to their attack by replacing Tomasson with Mikkel Beck.
Anelka was also substituted and his replacement, Sylvain Wiltord of Bordeaux, wasted no time in pilfering a third goal deep into stoppage time after being teed up by the Arsenal pair of Henry and the substitute Patrick Vieira.
All the Danes had offered in the second half was a couple of long-range efforts and a half-hearted penalty appeal when Desailly turned his left shoulder towards the ball. Had it been given, there really would have been a story: Schmeichel versus Barthez from 12 yards.
France Denmark
6 Attempts on target 5
7 Attempts off target 4
1 Blocked attempts 2
5 Corners 9
8 Offsides 1
9 Fouls 11
0 Yellow cards 1
0 Red cards
Posession
48% First Half 52%
56% Second Half 44%
Substitutes France Vieira for Djorkaeff 58; Wiltord for Anelka 81.
Denmark Gravesen for Tofting 72, Jorgensen for Bisgaard 72, Beck for Tomasson 79.
Booked Denmark Schjonberg
Referee G Benko (Austria)
Attendance 29,000
