France 1 – 0 Portugal

A disputed penalty from Zinedine Zidane was enough for France to dispatch a goal-shy Portuguese team and reach the World Cup final for the second time in eight years.

Early in the game, long range shots from Nuno Valente, Maniche and the returning Deco were countered by progressive play from Ribery, Henry and the ever-elegant Zidane. But clear cut chances were at a premium. Inevitably, the game then became scrappy and the Uruguayan referee struggling to differentiate between dives and fouls.

Who says entant cordiale no longer exists? Wayne Rooney’s nemesis-in-chief Cristiano Ronaldo was booed and whistled by a vocal French crowd (possibly augmented by some bitter Englishmen) every time he touched the ball. But the jeers didn’t stop him asserting his influence with his unique mix of world class dribbling and pointless stopovers.

There were two first half highlights. French coach Domenech, doing his best Paul O’Grady impersonation, took great delight in winding up his opposite number Scolari with satirical diving motions and a great "Give us a Clue" mime of a film camera in response to yet another Portuguese dive.

The second was the crucial penalty. Attempting to close down Thierry Henry, Ricardo Carvalho slipped and then fatally stuck out his left leg, making contact with the Arsenal marksman. A soft penalty, but a penalty nonetheless. Zidane stepped up and, ignoring the psychological warfare that made Lampard, Gerrard and Carragher crumble, swept the penalty into the bottom corner.

As in their previous matches, Portugal offered very little goal threat. Pauleta managed a sharp shot on the turn just after half time but, in the main, was peripheral, failing to offer any focal point for Figo and Ronaldo’s crosses. It became increasingly difficult to see where a Portuguese goal would come from.

Cue a trademark goalkeeping error from Fabien Barthez. The ageing stopper spilled a dipping Ronaldo free kick only for Figo to head the rebound onto the roof of the net. Aside from a couple of nervy injury time moments, it was Portugal’s first and last real chance.

Perhaps we were spoiled by Germany and Italy. Perhaps Domenech knew Portugal’s toothless strike force couldn’t trouble his experienced defence. The epitaph for this game, in which France handed Scolari his first defeat in his 13th World Cup match, will be that a team that only scores one goal in three rounds of knockout football does not deserve a place in a World Cup final.