Patrick Vieira - International Career

International Career

Vieira made his debut for France in 1997 against the Netherlands. He was part of the France squad in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He came on as a substitute in the final against Brazil, and set up Arsenal team mate Emmanuel Petit for France's third goal in a 3–0 win. He, with the rest of the squad, was declared a Knight of the Légion d'honneur, France's highest decoration, in 1998.

He subsequently played as a first choice midfield player in France's successful campaign in Euro 2000, which they won, beating Italy in the final. He helped France to victory in the 2001 Confederations Cup, ending the tournament as joint top scorer with two goals, including the winner, a header, in the final against Japan. He also played in all three games in the 2002 World Cup, in which France were eliminated in the group stage, failing to score a goal. He was injured and missed France's defeat to Greece at Euro 2004.

Vieira was appointed France's national team captain on Zinedine Zidane's retirement from international football. Nonetheless, he and veteran defender Lilian Thuram were instrumental in convincing Zidane to end his retirement and help the flagging campaign to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. Vieira even handed back the captaincy of the team to Zidane.

On 23 June 2006, on his 30th birthday, Vieira took the captain's armband for the match in place of the suspended playmaker Zidane, whom he shared the birthday with, scoring the first goal when France beat Togo 2–0 in the group stages of the 2006 World Cup; Vieira assisted Thierry Henry for France's second. This win helped France advance to the knockout stages, coming second behind Switzerland, and it prolonged Zidane's international career. In the round of sixteen, Vieira scored the second goal in France's 3–1 defeat of Spain; France went on to beat favourites Brazil 1–0 in the quarter-finals, and Portugal by the same score in the semi-finals, which gave them a place in the final against Italy. Vieira was one of the best midfielders at the tournament with a string of fine performances. Vieira started the final, but was substituted due to injury in the second half, likely sustained when he collided with Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro. Italy won 5–3 on penalties after the game finished 1–1 after extra time.

On 5 August 2006, Vieira was reappointed captain of the French national team for the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign. However, he played no part in the group games at Euro 2008 for a struggling France due to a niggling knee injury. His last cap with the national team was on 2 June 2009 in a friendly match against Nigeria. He was not included by coach Raymond Domenech in France's squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, and after France's failed campaign, he announced his international retirement by declaring that he would not make himself available to play under former teammate and new French manager Laurent Blanc. On 7 July 2010, Vieira confirmed again that he was no longer interested in playing for France and will devote his time to Manchester City. Altogether, Vieira won 107 caps for France, scoring six goals.