Deutschland 2006: France v Portugal Semifinal Preview

Going by past results, it’s difficult to know how Portugal will do against France today. The Portugese didn’t excite or impress during the group stages, but still managed three comfortable wins. They defeated a talented, attacking Holland squad but it was really more of a street brawl than a proper football match, outside of that wonderful goal from Maniche. And finally, they sent home an England team that underwhelmed, but they were playing without two suspended starters in midfield in Deco and Costinha.

The two will be back for the semifinal and this should worry the French. When Zinedine Zidane is in form, France follows suit. But when he is looking like the old man who is about to retire, as he did in the first part of the tournament, Les Bleus have problems. Viera, Ribery, and Malouda have been very strong in midfield, but can they dictate a match like Zidane does. What happens if one of the Portugese midfielders cancels out Zidane and the French lose their playmaker?

The key will be Viera. He may need to play the match of his life, both stopping Deco, and then providing enough offensive support to keep the French attack fluid. Both teams will play a 4-5-1, which means a very crowded midfield. For France to win, they will have to be better at setting Thierry Henry free. And it might mean David Trezeguet or Louis Saha coming on late for more options up front.

Another factor may be that Zidane, Ribery, Thuram, and Willy Sagnol are all on yellow cards. How will they balance the need to get stuck in against the very tough Portugese with the desire to potentially not miss the final?

Despite being coached by the great Felipe Scolari, despite the fact that Ronaldo and Figo will keep the French very, very busy and stretched in the midfield, and despite the fact that they’ve only conceded one goal the entire tournament, I cannot see Portugal in the World Cup Final (which almost certainly means they’ll be there).

France 1 Portugal 0

Injury Update: It seems both Christian Ronaldo and Luis Figo have injuries and trained separately from the Portugese team on Tuesday. Scolari says that Ronaldo has a better chance of recovering but has not ruled either of them out. It’s the World Cup semifinal?.they’ll be there.