Pitch Battles

Raymond Domenech will go in with his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation with Thierry Henry alone up front. Scolari prefers a combative 4-5-1 system with Pauleta as the lone striker.

Formations

Raymond Domenech will go in with his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation with Thierry Henry alone up front. Scolari prefers a combative 4-5-1 system with Pauleta as the lone striker.

Experience vs Exuberance

An experienced and wily France 8212; improving with every match 8212; take on Scolari8217;s boys, an aggressive unit, which would not think twice to use rougharm tactics to unsettle the opposition. It boils down to French experience 8216;who have been there, done that8217; versus the exuberant Portuguese.

Playmakers8217; day

Zizou vs Figo: He woke up one night to answer his nation8217;s call. Zinedine Zidane was at his super best versus Brazil. The way he clung to the ball, with control and poise, made a cropper of the South Americans. A breach through the Portuguese defence will not be a difficult task for him. On the other hand, the role of Luis Figo for the first time semifinalists assumes greater importance. We have not seen the best of him till now, but he is still good with his crosses and freekicks. He has to produce one magical spell for them to go through to the finals.

Portuguese midfield vs French defence

Portugal8217;s thrust is their envious midfield formation with Deco, Figo, Ronaldo, Costinha and Maniche forming the core. But they take on the French defence which did not allow one single strike by the Brazilians. Gallas and Thuram pack the centre half of the defence, while Sagnol and Abidal at the ends like to move forward, who have a tough task at hand in restricting the street-smart Ronaldo.

Advantage France

Domenech has been successful with Vieira and Makelele backing Ribery and Malouda, who can switch ends, and Zidane at the centre, trying to feed Henry. All of them have had exceptional runs as the tournament has progressed. They can only improve from here. Portuguese defenders have appeared vulnerable at times, but have held firm in patches. Have to wait and see how the Portuguese fare at the back.

Bench strength

Domenech is far ahead in that context too. If things go wrong, he has a sound back up in the form of Trezeguet, Silvestre and Dhorasoo. But Scolari will not be bothered as he has enough in his first eleven right now, which has progressed this far.