It began with four giants and ended with a colossal roar de France.
A month after Romeo, Moussa, Ho and Pablo lurched along the sweeping boulevards and squares of Paris, the capital's population crammed into the streets to dance and chant, sing and swing the night away.
With a symbolic, drama-filled denouement the final World Cup of the century fittingly went to the nation that initiated the competition.
Throughout the 33 days of endeavour it was said that France had not truly embraced the event pioneered by one of their own, the visionary Jules Rimet, back in sepia-tinged days.
But the scenes that greeted the French victory dispelled that allegation. The conquest over holders Brazil was saluted with wild abandon, a carnival of celebration infecting the world's coolest metropolis.
No Parisien stand-offishness here.
This was an epidemic of exultation and exhilaration that had nothing to do with cash oceans poured in by sponsors, nor with words and images generated feverishly by a militia of media and their accompanying cohorts of camera crews.
This was the feeling of belonging to a team that defied the odds to sample conquest at its most enriching.
The fans had come to pay tribute as they had throughout the competition, which began with 32 nations of the globe congregating into a mass of fan-dom.
Such an assembly was never going to be completely without trouble and violence did scar the early stages of the tournament.
Those involved should hang their heads in deep shame, because for the majority of the supporters who made the pilgrimage to France, all that mattered was being there.
Of course they wanted their heroes to succeed. Of course they wanted their team to be the best.
But there can only be one winner and for many of the thousands of followers just as uplifting was the shared experience of the pageantry and passion, the verve and the nerve, the spectacle and the sheer delight of being involved in the world's biggest, greatest sporting event.
World Cup '98 - a victory for the supporters of the world as much as for la belle France.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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