World Cup 2006

Reuters

Zidane and France are on to the final.

France, which was supposed to be soccer's over-the-hill gang, meets Italy at Berlin on Sunday night, in a matchup of blue, France's Les Bleus vs. the Italian Azzurri.

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

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

France and Italy have a long history of tricolored battles.

The French rallied to defeat Italy 2-1 in the 2000 Euro final when Sylvain Wiltord scored with 30 seconds left in second-half injury time and David Trezeguet got a goal 13 minutes into sudden-death extra time. France also beat the Italians on penalty kicks in the 1998 World Cup quarterfinals.

Unbeaten in nine straight games since a March 1 exhibition loss against Slovakia, France started the World Cup slowly with ties 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 semifinals.

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

France's win ended Portugal's 19-game unbeaten streak since a February 2005 exhibition loss at Ireland and coach Luiz Felipe Scolari's 12-game undefeated string in World Cup matches. France also defeated Portugal in the semifinals of the 1984 and 2000 European Championships.

Zidane, the balding hero of the 1998 final, converted the penalty kick one minute after Carvalho and Henry about 1 yard into the penalty area, and Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda pointed to the penalty spot. Henry was making a cut and their legs hooked, and Scolari and his bench players popped up en masse, furious with the call.

Zidane sent the ball just inside the post, with goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira diving to his right but just unable to get a hand on it. The three-time world player of the year, who is retiring from soccer after this tournament, turned, yelled and clapped his bands.

Portugal's goalkeeper came up to play offense on a corner kick in injury time, leaving an open net. After the final whistle, Figo walked over to the referee, spoke with him, then gave him mock applause. Scolari wagged his finger at the officials as they walked off, and was blocked from getting close to them by a man in a suit with a FIFA badge.

Portugal had not allowed a goal since the 29th minute of its first-round finale against Mexico.

Six years ago in the European Championship semifinals, 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 Austrian referee Guenter Benko, resulting in a six-month suspension for Xavier, who was watching this one from the stands, and lengthy bans for two teammates.

Ronaldo and Zidane were whistled at by each other's fans in the crowd of 66,000 at Allianz Arena. The first 10 minutes were high-pace, with Deco taking a hard shot from about 20 yards in the fourth minute, and Willy Sagnol blocking Pauleta from getting to the rebound.

Maniche just missed over the bar in the ninth minute with a 30-yard 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 just wide of the post. Franck Ribery had a shot from the arc about a minute later that Ricardo pushed over the bar.

Cristiano Ronaldo nearly created a tying goal in the 78th, when French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, another of the 1998 heroes, let his 30-yard free kick bounce off his arms and up in front of the goal. Luis Figo, another world player of the year, had an open header that he sent over the bar.

Lineups:

Referee: Jorge Larrionda (URU)

Goal: France: Zidane (33 penalty)

Yellow Cards: Portugal: Ricardo Carvalho 82, France: Louis Saha.

PORTUGAL: Ricardo - Miguel (Paulo Ferreira 62), Ricardo Carvalho, Fernando Meira, Nuno Valente, Costinha (Postiga 74), Maniche, Deco, Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Pauleta (68 Simão). Coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari.

FRANCE: Barthez - Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Abidal, Makelele, Vieira, Malouda (Wiltord 69), Zidane, Ribery (Govou 72), and Henry (Saha 84). Coach: Raymond Domenech.