Get your kicks with Trix and Flix

Zurich. Cradle of the Swiss Reformation. Home of the legendary Cabaret Voltaire nightclub, that great wellspring of the Dadaist art movement which inspired generations to embrace the absurd. The place where Swiss all-female punk band Kleenex recorded their first tracks in 1978 to produce a brilliant seven-inch single that most people have never heard of.

Thuram achievement
One record that everyone will have heard of by now in Zurich is that Lilian Thuram today became the player to have made the most appearances at UEFA European Championships. His total of 15 lifted the 36-year-old FC Barcelona defender – captain for the day, in the absence of the injured Patrick Vieira – above Zinédine Zidane, Karel Poborský and Luís Figo. It was Thuram's day in a sense, and for much of the match it looked like both his team-mates and Romania were doing their best not to steal the defensive rock's moment in the spotlight. Chances were at a premium, with Nicolas Anelka and Karim Benzema generously passing up the best of them. However, as balmy sunshine gave way to glowering storm clouds in the second half, the grim business of grinding out a win in this most arduous of groups became more pressing.

Furry friends
Adrian Mutu created an air of looming menace around the France defence, while at the other end, Franck Ribéry buzzed around Romania's rearguard like an angry wasp. The minutes ticked by, everyone waiting for the philosophical breakthrough, the moment of absurd drama or the lesser-spotted flash of brilliance that would crack this hardest of footballing nuts. It did not come. So let us instead, in the spirit of the absurd, focus on two other stars – UEFA EURO 2008™ mascots Trix and Flix, the mysterious twins from the Alps who demonstrated their awesome footballing skills as part of the pre-match acrobatic fandango here in Zurich.

Star quality
Those with memories of UEFA EURO 2004™ back in Portugal will doubtless remember tournament mascot Kinas, the gifted mystery boy who dazzled fans with his joie de vivre. His subsequent disappearance says much about the tendency of many gifted young players to fall off the radar after showing youthful promise. Quite unlike Thuram. However, judging by what we saw at the Letzigrund, Trix and Flix have real star quality. Arsenal FC manager Arsène Wenger was sitting behind euro2008.com in the press tribune here, and he will doubtless have noted that they look good in red and white. And from what we have heard, they are both out of contract come the end of June.