World Cup - France 1-0 Portugal

A penalty from Zinedine Zidane was enough to send France into the world cup final, and leave Portugal to slug it out against Germany in the third place play off match. Unlike yesterdays semi final, this match was far from engrossing, with neither side playing the game at a particularly high tempo. Zinedine Zidane will now play his last ever competitive football match in the world cup final, which is a fitting end to a magnificent career of a magnificent player. This defeat for Portugal also ends manager Scolari’s impressive run of 12 consecutive wins in World Cup matches.

There were relatively few events in the first half. However, from the offset it was apparent that the world had taken note of Cristiano Ronaldo’s run in with Wayne Rooney in the quarter finals, as there were boos every time he got a touch of the ball, and cheers every time he lost it! This may have spurred him on however, as he seemed to be the best attacking player in the first half, getting forward at will and showing some of his fancy ball skills.

The main incident of the first half occurred after 32 minutes. Henry was fed the ball, and took it into the box. He was then upended by Ricardo Carvalho, and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Zinedine Zidane stepped up, and confidently fired the spot kick into the left corner of the goal, despite a touch from Ricardo in the Portuguese goal, who dived the right way once again!

Minutes later, Portugal had a penalty appeal waved away. Cristiano Ronaldo fell over inside the box under pressure from Willy Sagnol. Perhaps Ronaldo’s reputation preceeded him, the referee was having none of it, and the replays showed that he had probably made the right decision, to the annoyance of the Portuguese coaching staff.

With neither side able to score any additional goals, the teams went into the break with France leading by a goal to nil. The first half was fairly mediocre, and was far from the breathtaking semi final the night before.

Shortly after the restart France pressed forward in search of the safety of the second goal. Henry came close, having burst into the box, but the Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo just about did enough to thwart him, as the ball slid under his body and out for a corner.

As the second half wore on, the game became more scrappy, with both sides having injury worries - Miguel for Portugal and Abidal for France.

With 78 minutes on the clock, Fabien Barthez almost gifted Portugal a goal. He made an awful fumble from Cristiano Ronaldo’s free kick, but Figo somehow managed to miss a header from just a couple of yards out. Portugal will be kicking themselves now, and be looking back at this as probably their best chance to get an equaliser.

As the match wore on, France looked more and more content to sit back and defend, and for some periods of time, they seemed pinned back inside their own half. Portugal continued to press forward, and set up a nervous few minutes inside the Allianz Arena in Munich.

Eventually the final whistle game, and despite valiant efforts from Portugal, France have crawled into the World Cup Final, where they will be facing Italy. Portugal on the other hand will be up against Germany in the third place play off on Saturday.

France 1-0 Portugal

Zidane 33