Reds inspire French 'Yes' camp

Liverpool snatched victory from the jaws of defeat

Leading French "Yes" campaigners say Liverpool's dramatic Champions League victory augurs well for EU constitution supporters in Sunday's referendum.

Liverpool's footballers were trailing AC Milan 0-3 at half-time on Wednesday but came back to draw 3-3 and win the European title on penalties.

Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing - architect of the EU text - predicted a Liverpool-style win.

The latest opinion polls in France show the "No" camp still in front.

Yesterday we saw again how in sport everything can be played out in the very last minutes Bertrand Delanoe, Mayor of Paris

"Yesterday evening, up to the last five or ten minutes of the match, it was AC Milan that was ahead," Mr D'Estaing said.

"This morning in the opinion polls everyone is saying 'Milan' is going to win. Well I think it is going to be 'Liverpool'.

"Voting 'No' would be to score a goal against France, author of the constitution and the European project, a goal against Europe."

Negative polls

Paris' Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, also a "Yes" supporter, used the same analogy.

Valery Giscard d'Estaing says a 'Yes' win is still on the cards

"Yesterday we saw again how in sport everything can be played out in the very last minutes," he said, according to AFP.

A TNS Sofres/Unilog poll of 1,000 people, published on Thursday, suggested 54% would vote "No", against 46% for the "Yes" camp.

The "No" figure is up 1% on a poll carried out by the same organisation two weeks earlier.

President Jacques Chirac is due to address the nation on television on Thursday evening in a last-ditch attempt to secure a "Yes" vote.

France is the second of the EU member states to hold a referendum on the constitution. Spain's referendum resulted in a "Yes" vote, which was then ratified by both houses of parliament.

All 25 member states must ratify the treaty by public or parliamentary vote for it to become law.