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France v Portugal Team News
05/07/2006: France appear to be hitting form at just the right time after an impressive 1-0 win over a reigning champions Brazil in the quarter-finals.
Coach Raymond Domenech came under immense pressure after they were only able to pick up a point from each of their opening two Group G games against Switzerland and South Korea. But things have only been positive for France since then, and they come into the semi-finals in arguably the best form of the tournament, especially in the way they dealt with Brazil's attack in Frankfurt on Saturday.
Thierry Henry has found his shooting boots at just the right time - he scored his third goal of the tournament to send France through - as well as maintaining his hopes of winning the Golden Shoe as the tournament's leading scorer.
But it has been the performances of Zinedine Zidane that have inspired France since the start of the knockout stages. His return from suspension, with his virtuoso effort against Brazil, left pundits scratching their heads at why he has chosen to quit all football this summer.
Zidane gave Brazil the runaround, and a repeat of such a showing would most likely be enough to see off a Portugal side that was hugely disappointing against England. Help down the flanks from the likes of Franck Ribery and Florent Malouda has also been excellent, and they should cause Luiz Felipe Scolari's side a good deal more trouble than 10-man England managed in Gelsenkirchen.
Portugal were poor in 120 minutes in their quarter-finals clash, an hour of that with a man advantage after the dismissal of Wayne Rooney, and they again relied on the penalty-saving heroics of goalkeeper Ricardo to secure their semi-final berth.
While Scolari appears a tactical genius, it has been heart and desire that has taken Portugal this far, and judged by their last two performances they will need a lot more of the same to get past France.
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