France v Portugal

World Cup Semi-final Munich Wednesday, 5 July Kick-off: 2000 BST

The second semi-final at Germany 2006 between Portugal and France looks like being another tight game.

There may have been a slight over-reaction to France's excellent display against Brazil -- for most of Raymond Domenech's tenure, France have played as they did in the group stages - only a few moments of brilliance and with their key individuals like Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane looking pale shadows of the fine footballers we know them to be.

Was that great performance against Brazil a blip or the start of a team clicking? One thing in the favour of France is their excellent record against the Portuguese -- unbeaten since 1975. Portugal have lost to France twice in semi-finals before -- both in the European Championships and on both occasions the French won very late in extra time courtesy of a Michel Platini goal in 119th minute in 1984 and a 117th minute penalty from Zidane in 2000.

That last match ended in an undignified brawl involving a host of Portuguese players and Austrian referee Guenter Benk after he awarded the penalty for a handball by Abel Xavier.

Nuno Gomes was sent off and banned for seven months for flinging his shirt at the hapless official and later said: "I just gave my shirt to him and I said it was a gift for him to take home and remember our country. He didn't want it so I threw it at him but he couldn't catch it. I did it in a kind way." Of course you did, Nuno.

And as we've seen, the 2006 vintage Portuguese side are not much mellower. There will be a few changes to the line-up that beat England -- Petit is suspended and Tiago will probably de dropped so that Deco and Costinha (both back from suspensions gained in that fiery match against Holland) can take their places in midfield. Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Figo trained separately from the rest of the squad and Ronaldo is deemed more likely to play, although it wouldn't be any surprise to see both of them start.

The French have no injury worries and are due to play the same team that beat Brazil -- unchanged for the third time in a row, a unique event for the side under the management of Domenech.

An interesting note is the appointment of Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda who dished out three red cards during the 1-1 draw between USA and Italy. The Portuguese in particular will need to watch their behaviour if they are to keep 11 men on the pitch tonight.

The French record will give them hope that they can qualify for the final within 90 minutes -- and if both Ronaldo and Figo are absent for Portugal they may struggle to really challenge the French in the final third of the pitch -- although in Simao Sabrosa they have a fine winger to replace either and the return of Deco gives them a player who can stamp his authority on a game and who can eclipse Zidane in the playmaker stakes if Costinha and Maniche can snap into their tackles.

This could well be another game that goes to extra time -- although France have more quality on paper, the fighting spirit that Scolari has imbued in Portugal can never be ruled out. If France can get an early goal though, the Portuguese may struggle to carve out clear-cut chances.