For the critics who bemoan the fact that this World Cup lacks a commanding presence, consider one Zinedine Zidane.
On Wednesday, the 34-year-old French captain was at it again, controlling the midfield and trying to find a way to solve Portugal's defense.
Zidane's solution wasn't as creative as many of his fans would have liked, but it played an important role in France's 1-0 semifinal victory against Portugal.
No one had to remind French coach Raymond Domenech what Zidane means to the team. After all, he has played for the 1998 World Cup champions and the 2000 European champions.
"He is a world champion," he said. "He is a real star. His photograph is up on a big wall in Marseille.
"He means so much to the French people, he gives them something to cheer and he has done that now for 10 years. And we hope there will be another day to come on Sunday."
That's when the French take on Italy for the World Cup title in Berlin.
"It will be good to lift the Cup again one more time," Zidane said. "We really want to succeed."
The French survived the Portuguese's late surge and the goalkeeping antics of Fabien Barthez as they continued their improbable march toward their second championship in three World Cups.
"I must confess it is something that I can't possibly imagine because the World Cup remains the dream of my childhood," said French defender Lilian Thuram, who was named man of the match. "It is something quite fantastic."
Zidane, who continued his revival as an impact international player. His 33rd-minute penalty kick turned out to be the game-winner.
Sunday will be Zidane's final competitive match.
"Yes, it will be the last one for him, the end," Domenech said. "But it is not what he is thinking about. This is not all about Zinedine Zidane's last game -- it is the World Cup final against Italy.
"We don't want things to be mixed up. Yes, it will be the end for Zidane, but so it will for some other players. But this is the World Cup and it will be special to play against Italy.
"That is what is on his mind. And we want to go there to win. It is the same for the others -- for Thuram, for (Claude) Makelele and for the rest. I said our objective was July 9, but not just that -- we want to win the cup."
The match turned during a four-minute span late in the first half.
In the 32nd minute, referee Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay) made a generous call in the French's favor, ruling that Ricardo Carvalho's trip of Thierry Henry at the top of the penalty area was worth of a penalty kick.
"There was contact," Henry said. "I thought I had gone past him and he caught me. I didn't ask for the penalty, but it was given."
Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, whose 12-game World Cup unbeaten streak was snapped, wanted to give it to Larrionda after the match. But he wasn't allowed to get close to the game official.
"We know South American referees," he said. "They know how to kill a game."
So does Zidane, who does it in his own unique way. A minute later he fired a right-footer into the lower left corner out of the reach of a diving goalkeeper Ricardo, the penalty-kick hero of Portugal's Saturday quarterfinal shootout win over England.
In the 37th minute, Larrionda refused to whistle a makeup call for the Portuguese after defender Willy Sagnol made slight contact with Cristiano Ronaldo, who embellished the collision with a mediocre dive. Larrionda, however, didn't buy it.
"Anyone who understands soccer saw that the referee wasn't fair," Ronaldo said.
Ronaldo almost equalized in the 78th minute, sending in a bullet of a 35-yard free kick into the goalkeeper's box. Instead of catching the ball or punching it out of harm's way, Barthez, who has a long, bumbling history of turning saves into goals, decided to slap it up into the air as a volleyball set-up. Luis Figo, however, did not convert his spike attempt, heading the ball over the net.
"Each match you play you feel that pressure," Domenech said. "You feel like you're going to be hanged, but you have to withstand this."
Michael Lewis writes about soccer for the New York Daily News and is editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
