OUTSTANDING MATCH

He returned against Spain, a reincarnation of his old self. He had an outstanding match, forcing France back into the game after trailing and then capping a superb performance with the magical final goal in their 3-1 win.

It was as if the French had awoken from a terrible dream. Suddenly it seemed like it was 1998 again and France were playing like one of the best teams in the world.

The stunning win over Brazil in Saturday's quarter-final was the champions' first defeat in the World Cup since they lost to France in the 1998 final, earning them a place in Wednesday's semi-final with Portugal.

Wednesday's match itself was a tense one, but France never seemed in much danger of losing it after Zidane scored what proved to be the only goal with a 33rd minute penalty.

In danger of missing the final if he received a yellow card, Zidane was the epitome of dangerous elegance with a ball at his feet. He looked strong, creating space and chances, and glided through the match to take his place in Sunday's final.

Zidane, along with Thuram and Claude Makelele all announced their international retirements after their failure to retain their European crown in 2004, but came back to help the side after a poor start to their World Cup qualifying campaign.

That recovery was a fairly remarkable one in itself.

Their turnaround here almost defies belief.