Brazil hold the aces, but France could be the jokers in the pack

There has been a lot of criticism of their lack of bite up front, but it doesn’t matter whether a defender or a striker scores as long as you get the result. France have impressed me with their ability to win and keep possession throughout the tournament and this will be vital against the World Champions. It is crucial Zinedine Zidane and Didier Deschamps win the battle in central midfield to stop the Brazilians finding their rhythm.

The World Champions are accustomed to dominating possession, but they will have a real fight with the quality of players in the French midfield. France also have a few other aces up their sleeve. The advantage of playing the final on home soil just cannot be underestimated.

We have already seenin the semi-final how the fervour of the crowd can inspire the side and that will be an important factor. For the first time in the competition, France are the underdogs and there will be no criticism if they fail because they have done well to come so far. This could free them to play some of their best football in the nailbiting atmosphere of the Stade de France.

The team has been on a real emotional high during the tournament and nobody demonstrates this better than their goalkeeper Fabien Barthez. He has impressed me throughout the competition and seems to instill self-belief into all the players around him. I have been particularly pleased to see the way he commands his penalty area and comes for crosses when France are looking shaky. Their other great asset is Marcel Desailly who is the best defender in the tournament.

Desailly versus Ronaldo will be one of the real tussles of the final and could decide the fate of the famous trophy. As always, there is a crucial midfield battle between Dunga andDeschamps for the right to dictate the tempo of the game. If France can win this it will provide the platform for a shock victory.

It is a tough test as the Brazilian captain is one of the unsung heroes of his side and in many ways he is their most important player.

In attack, the world champions have an embarrassment of riches but the pick of the bunch are Rivaldo and Ronaldo. They have both had strong tournaments with Rivaldo often outshining his more illustrious counterpart.

Brazil have so many superb players that if one isn’t performing you hardly notice because somebody else takes that role. The way they approach football is an absolute joy with each player revelling in possession but it means they do give you a few chances in the back.

However, the current defence is better than many we have seen in the past as Cafu and Roberto Carlos have pace and Junior Baiano and Aldair are able to deal with the aerial threat. Behind them is their hugely underestimated goalkeeper Taffarel. Gone are the dayswhen the Brazilian keeper was a clown prone to the occasional outrageous error.

Taffarel produced vital saves against Holland even before his heroics in the penalty shoot-out and should not be regarded as a weak link. Under coach Mario Zagallo, the team have been completely focussed on winning this tournament for the fifth time. We got a wonderful insight into the cast-iron discipline of his regime when he ordered the celebrating substitutes to sit down after Ronaldo hit the target against Holland. It was as if he was saying to them: "Let the fans do the celebrating, you are here to win the World Cup."

It reminded me im many ways of the culture we had when we won the European Championships twice with Nottingham Forest. Then the emphasis was always on self-control and behaving like a man at all times and this is the hallmark of winners.

Brazil look to hold all the aces but I just have a sneaking feeling France could be the jokers in the pack. Each player has the chance to become a football legend onSunday but I suspect it could be the names of French players that we will all remember for years to come.

Peter Shilton won 125 international caps for England and played in three World Cups.

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