At nine minutes past nine, nine minutes after the start of France's second World Cup game last night Thiery Henry slammed a cross into the net and registered France's first world cup goal since they won in 1998.

If we hadn't been watching on tv, we would have felt it. It seemed Paris exploded. We had the doors open to the street to let in the summer night and the stone buildings rocked from the roar.

It sounded like the noise you hear a mile from a football stadium: Thousands of happy people shouting at once. Right down the street, around the block, in rue after rue, there was a release.

There hasn't been much football nationalism on display. Flags have been rare, football shirts are so unusual I saw them discounted in a shop. But the fandom is there and it came out in the night. It positively shook the city.

For the rest of the game the cries of despair and frustration, the oohs and ahs, floated down the street and bumped the stone about.

You could hear the fury when South Korea scored. No one thinks France is going far in this tournament. But hope springs.

France, 1 Corée du Sud, 1.