Zidane puts France in final

MUNICH: One more time, Zinedine Zidane stepped up to the penalty spot, 12 metres from another shot at glory for himself and France.

Dripping with sweat, Zidane converted the kick in the 33rd minute after Ricardo Carvalho was whistled for a foul on Thierry Henry, giving France a 1-0 victory over Portugal yesterday and a berth in the World Cup final.

France, who were supposed to be football’s over-the-hill gang, meets Italy in Berlin on Sunday in a matchup of blue, France’s Les Bleus vs the Italian Azzurri.

The French will be making their second appearance in the World Cup final, the other was their famous 3-0 victory at home over Brazil in 1998.

Italy, trying for their fourth title, will be in their sixth final.

“People were giving us a lot of stick, right at the beginning,” Henry said. “I think it will be a tight game because the Italian team has the same way of playing as us.”

Six players remain from the 1998 team, and this group was counted out by many as past its prime. But in a bit of deja vu, France replicated their run in the 2000 European Championship, when they beat Portugal in the semi-finals to set up a final against Italy.

With just a few minutes to go, French fans in one corner of the stadium started singing “La Marseillaise,” the French national anthem, and followed with chants of “Allez Les Bleus!”

France and Italy have a long history of tricoloured battles.

The French rallied to defeat Italy 2-1 in the Euro 2000 final when Sylvain Wiltord scored with 30 seconds left in injury time and David Trezeguet got a goal 13 minutes into extra time.

France also beat the Italians on penalty kicks in the 1998 World Cup quarter-finals.

“It’s only when we’ll get there and we see the ceremony that we’ll realise what we’ve done,” France coach Raymond Domenech said. “But let’s not rest now.”

Unbeaten in nine straight matches since a March 1 friendly loss against Slovakia, France started the World Cup slowly with draws against Switzerland and South Korea before beating Togo to get to the knockout phase. The French then defeated Spain and defending champion Brazil to reach the semi-finals.

Portugal, a 20-1 shot last December, advanced to the World Cup semi-finals for just the second time. Eusebio, the star of Portugal’s 1966 run, was on hand, as was former France captain Michel Platini, considered by many his nation’s greatest player.

France’s win ended Portugal’s 19-match unbeaten streak since a February 2005 friendly loss at Ireland.

They also stopped coach Luiz Felipe Scolari’s 12-match undefeated string in World Cup matches.

“The two teams were very evenly matched for long periods,” Scolari said. “There was nothing to choose between them. But when you are losing you have to produce something special.

“Today we didn’t so that.”

Portugal repeatedly was angry with calls and non-calls.

Just after Zidane’s goal, Portugal wanted a penalty kick when Cristiano Ronaldo went down in the penalty area trying to reach a cross and claimed he was pushed by Willy Sagnol.

After the final whistle, Portugal captain Luis Figo walked over to the referee, spoke with him, then gave him mock applause.

Scolari, who spent much of the match in front of his bench and throwing his arms up in frustration, wagged a finger at the officials as they walked off, and was blocked from getting close to them by a FIFA official.

Zidane, the balding hero of the 1998 final, converted the penalty kick one minute after Carvalho and Henry collided about a metre into the penalty area, and Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda pointed to the penalty spot.

Henry was making a cut and their legs hooked.

Zidane sent the ball just inside the post, with goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira diving to his right but unable to get a hand on it.

France’s three-time “World Player of the Year,” who is retiring from football after this tournament, turned, yelled and clapped his hands.

“He’s worked hard solidly for the past month to be ready to play a match like this,” Domenech said. “He played all out to reach the final without holding back.”

It was the first goal Portugal had allowed since the 29th minute of their first-round finale against Mexico.

“Our players have been marvelous,” Scolari said. “We did our best to get to the final but we failed. I have to thank my players for their effort.”

Six years ago in the European Championship semi-finals, Zidane’s penalty kick with three minutes left in extra time gave France a 2-1 victory over the Portuguese after Abel Xavier used a hand to block Sylvain Wiltord’s shot.

Portuguese players charged the referee, resulting in a six-month suspension for Xavier (who was watching this one from the stands) and lengthy bans for two team-mates.

Ronaldo and Zidane were whistled at by each other’s fans in the crowd of 66,000 at Allianz Arena. The first ten minutes were fast-paced, with Deco taking a hard shot from about 20 metres in the fourth minute, and Sagnol blocking Pauleta from getting to the rebound.

Maniche just missed over the bar in the ninth minute with a 30-metre drive off a pretty back flick from Ronaldo.

But then the pace slowed, and neutral fans started chanting “Deutschland! Deutschland!”

Henry nearly added to the lead three minutes into the second half, with a shot that went off Ricardo’s left wrist and spun wide of the post.

Franck Ribery had a shot from the arc about a minute later that Ricardo pushed over the bar.

Ronaldo nearly created a tying goal in the 78th when France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez (another of the 1998 heroes) let his 30-metre free kick bounce off his arms and up in front of the goal. Figo, another former “World Player of the Year,” had an open header.

But he sent Portugal’s best last chance over the top of the bar, and France was celebrating soon after.

“We let ourselves go in the dressing room,” midfielder Florent Malouda said. “Then we thought we must be serious and prepare for Italy.”

Lineups:

Portugal: Ricardo Pereira, Miguel (Paulo Ferriera, 62nd), Nuno Valente, Ricardo Carvalho, Fernando Meira, Costinha (Helder Postiga, 75th), Maniche, Deco, Luis Figo, Pauleta (Simao Sabrosa, 68th), Cristiano Ronaldo.

France: Fabien Barthez, Willy Sagnol, Lilian Thuram, William Gallas, Eric Abidal, Patrick Vieira, Claude Makelele, Franck Ribery (Sidney Govou, 72nd), Florent Malouda (Sylvain Wiltord, 69th), Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry (Louis Saha, 85th).

(AP)