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[02/06/2006]

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Sun, July 9 – 20:00*
FINAL: Berlin


Italy	v	France
1 (5)		1 (3)

*local time (CEST)

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PAULO DUARTE / AP

BIG WINNER >>>>
Portugal's coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, center, celebrates with his staff after their 3-1 win in a penalty kick shootout against England.

Web Exclusive | The World Cup | Preview | France v Portugal

How France Can Eliminate Scolari's Survivors

There are many lessons to be learned from how Big Fil's men made it this far. Can les Bleus put them into practice?

England v Portugal: Clinging On To A Bitter End
Spain v France: Have We Witnessed The French Renaissance?

Posted Monday, July 3, 2006; 19.50BST
Be careful of the cards. That is one of things French players will have to keep in mind when they take on Portugal in the semi-final on Wednesday. Because just who gets hits hardest for fouls in the Munich showdown may well be the key to which side advances to the final — and in what kind of form.

Though Portugal is no slouch team (despite the generally disappointing play it has demonstrated in this Cup, and the truly dreadful match it eked out a win in against England), you don't run the risk of provoking controversy in saying France looks far, far better on paper. Even the stable of French players sprouting blisters from bench-sitting includes some of the best from Europe's pro leagues — Juventus striker David Trezeguet, and Manchester's Louis Saha for starters.

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Fine, Portugal fans might rightly retort, but France has looked better on paper for much of the past four, sluggish years les Bleus have lurched from one vapid game to the next. England, too, boasts a great value of individual footballers whose sum didn't tally up to more than Portugal's in Gelsenkirchen. Paper doesn't matter much if it doesn't wind up reflecting what is actually happening on pitches. And that reality is, Portugal is doing what it takes to keep advancing in this Cup, and all the grousers and nay-sayers complaining about such a modest team advancing so far are losing sight of football's bottom line: the score after the final whistle.

Perhaps. But in addition to France's superiority on the page, les Bleus also have a distinct advantage that neither the Netherlands nor England did in facing Portugal: riding a big-time swell of success that peaked and broke right as money time rolled around. Individual French players came out of their respective, four year-long stupor to gel as a unit in their Round of 16 match against Spain. That newly-constituted whole then got extra lift in their quarter final upset of Brazil with sparkling play from the heart and soul of its championship years, Zindedine Zidane.

But Zizou isn't the only hero of yesterday coming back to life at the best possible moment for French World Cup hopes. Midfielder Patrick Vieira has begun playing like a man possessed — a stark contrast to the astonishingly weak and uninvolved performances of the past 18 months that had many fans voicing anger at Vieira's selection for Germany. And despite a couple of slip ups that cost France goals, Juventus defender Lilian Thuram has also been looking his rejuvenated, solid, all-star self. In other words, France is in exactly the place most players will tell teams that wind up winning need to be: in form, uninjured, playing confident and well-organized football, and on one hell of a timely roll.

So they're unstoppable, right? Not as long as there are nine Portuguese players still capable of taking to the pitch and giving a fight. Meanwhile, Portugal has some things going for it as well. Though the manner they've won in may not have been terribly impressive — or even interesting to watch — Portugal is also on a roll: counting its three wins in group games, and two victories in the knockout round, Portugal comes into the semi with a better record than France does. Meanwhile, Portugal will be getting back two key players it sorely missed against England: central defender Costinha, and above all Deco — who provides Portugal the offensive creativity, flair, and risk-taking that was so obviously absent in facing the English. With him back, don't expect to see the same narcoleptic side up front as you did in the quarter-final.

Expect a close, hard-fought semi. In fact, barring either side stunning the other with a burst of scoring securing the win before anyone has had time to break a sweat, we may well see the game being decided on who gets — or creates — the extra advantages accorded by the referee. And that's where France needs to be careful. One of the most bitter objections aired following both its quarter final against England, and Round of 16 match with the Dutch, was that the diving, writhing, ever-weeping Portuguese spent so much time seeking to fake the referee into giving them free kicks and penalties that their theatrics corrupted the pace and style of the play.

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The Portuguese will doubtless try that illicit dive-and-writhe tactic against the French — after all, it's an integral part of their game. What France needs to do is avoid putting themselves in positions where that kind of activity — or mistaken refereeing calls resulting from it — can hurt them: ie. make sure they aren't chasing after streaking attackers near the penalty area, and remain irreproachable inside the box. Beyond that, the French must also avoid taking the bait that most Netherlands players did — and what the truly dim Wayne Rooney tried to binge on — by reacting in frustration to the Portuguese ploy. We all saw how that worked out for Rooney, and how that hobbled England.

The stakes of the French getting sucked in are high. Because even if France bagged considerable bookings in a victorious game, it could have potentially ruinous consequences for the final. Thuram and fellow defender Willy Sagnol — an absolute brick in France's defense thus far — both took yellow cards against Brazil. Zidane, Viera, and spark-plug Franck Ribéry, meanwhile, all have earlier bookings hanging over their heads, and would be disqualified for a final if they saw yellow flashed again against Portugal. France wouldn't be the same side without any of those players — and seriously weakened technically, strategically, and morally without a Zidane, Viera, or Thuram.

All good reason for les Bleus to stay focused, in position and with their wits collected in this semi-final: to keep riding this wave they're on, aware they are likely to get splashed if Portuguese rivals start diving from it.

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The Matches

Sun, July 9 – 20:00*
FINAL: Berlin


Italy	v	France
1 (5)		1 (3)

*local time (CEST)

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