A warm but hugely insistent mistral blew across the graceful grey Stade Velodrome in Marseille last night, adding some elemental mischief to a game already windraked by high expectations. In the end France made a thunderously memorable entrance to their own party, cruelly exposing the naivete of World Cup debutantes South Africa.

The sigh of relief shuddered from the southern port right through the spine of France. There has to be more to this sprawling competition than meeting and greeting the world. It needs the sense of epic romance which only the French can provide, you can't woo the world while worrying about vintners' droop. An emphatic three goals to nil dispatching of South Africa was a tonic for domestic morale.

"I hope now that all France can have confidence in its team," said coach Aime Jacquet afterwards, his brow suddenly uncreased. "They have been deceived by what they have read about this team."

Before the passion, though, there was the bickering and the fretting. The French have given themselves ulcers and sleepless nights over the dark possibility of humiliating failure in the next few weeks. So much so that their team was beginning to complain of claustrophobia.

The national debate on the relative merits of strikers Christopher Dugarry and Stephane Guivarc'h took an unexpected twist, too. In a perceived crisis of attacking options Dugarry was left on the bench in favour of surprise choice Thierry Henry (linked yesterday with a move from Monaco to Arsenal in th French media). Guivarc'h lasted just 25 minutes, however, before damaging knee ligaments and was replaced by Dugarry.

Dugarry was quick to make his points. Zidane, his sponsor in the campaign to have him selected, whistled through a tidy ball only for Vonk to make a save at Dugarry's feet. Deschamps caught the mood and supplied Henry with the pass for a header which he should have made more of.

By now the French were gloriously irresistible and when the goal arrived there was an inevitability about its execution. Zidane flung over a corner from the left, Dugarry rose above a tentative defence and glanced the ball home with the back of his head. The Velodrome found its voice. Petit roused the chorus, careering through for a shot which deserved to end up nestling in the net rather than in Vonk's hands.

The rhythm which the French feared might desert them in the heat of their own kitchen suddenly returned and the midfield pulsed through the rest of the half.

The Velodrome absorbed with philosophical equanimity an injury-time scare when Issa headed just wide of the French goal from a Nyathi free kick.

The second half was busy without ever being fluid. The French did most of the graft and created what chances were on offer, but for 25 minutes or so got themselves mired in midfield.

South Africa were struggling, though, and an incident midway through the half highlighted the gulf between the sides. Benni McCarthy clumsily failed to control a waist-high pass from Fortune and went chasing after it coltishly, only to be shoulder shunted off the ball by the economic Lilian Thuram, who set his attack rolling with a flourish.

The events of the last 12 minutes came as a bonus to the home crowd.

To everybody that is except Pierre Issa, the luckless South African defender. On 79 minutes, Dugarry parcelled a short ball to Djorkaeff in the midst of much hurly burly in the box. Djorkaeff's shot might have been destined for Vonk's gloves once more, but Issa stretched his leg out in a flash of desperation. South Africa were two down.

Within a minute Djorkaeff had spurned a better chance, created this time by the irresistible Thierry Henry. The ball scraped over the bar but from there on Henry became omnipotent, continuing his 90-minute metamorphosis from surprise package to icon.

He burst through in the 85th minute for a breathtaking effort which scorched the post and set the Marseillaise casting his name onto the night mistral.

They were still sanctifying him when he produced his miracle deep in injury-time. A set-piece corner looked to have gone badly wrong when Radebe interrupted the flow, but Henry pick-pocketed the defender, slipped past a challenge and finally chipped Vonk.

Issa, the most unfortunate of bystanders, arrived on the line just in time to get the last touch.