France do just enough to ensure final encore

It was, in the end, unlucky 13 for Luiz Felipe Scolari, his extraordinary run of 12 straight victories in World Cup matches brought to an end by this 1-0 defeat against France and a coach who was being vilified just a fortnight ago. With the predictable tantrums and tears, Portugal go home, while the quietly dignified Raymond Domenech and France go on to a second final in eight years. The suspicion remains that he is not actually in charge of his team, but while they continue to play like this, who cares?

Portugal, like England before them, went out following their best display of the tournament, beaten only by a 32nd minute Zinedine Zidane penalty, awarded after Ricardo Carvalho had caught Thierry Henry's trailing leg. So blatant was the trip that even Scolari, that great ham of the dug-out, could not bring himself to protest. Ricardo went the right way, but Zidane's kick - just - evaded his oustretched fingers.

The complaints, though, were not long in coming, and it is that truculence that makes this Portugal so unappetising. On Wednesday, with Deco back in the team, they at least showed the attractive side of their game, attacking at times with verve and imagination - even if, by the end, they had reverted to that old staple of pushing a centre-back - Fernando Meira - up front. Cristiano Ronaldo was booed relentlessly - the magnitude of the jeers suggesting it is far more than just English observers who find his petulance repugnant - but in full flow he is a delight to watch.

Two early runs set up shooting chances for Deco and Maniche, and he remained a threat throughout. But his most significant impact on the game was his exaggerated bow after a nudge from Willy Sagnol as they challenged for a Luís Figo cross eight minutes before the break. Scolari and the rest of the Portugal bench surged to their feet, demanding a penalty, and when Walter Rial, the Uruguayan referee, refused to comply, a water-bottle was kicked on to the pitch.

A game that had been engagingly open, that had threatened, perhaps, to touch the heights of the epic semi-final between the sides at the European Championship in 1984, degenerated. Portugal contested every decision that could conceivably be contested, their play was punctuated by dives, and there was even the distasteful sight of Figo - who should know better - trying to get Henry booked for time-wasting.

The trouble is that it works. Frank Ribéry, after a delightful turn, was upended by Nuno Valente, and Rial, who was generally excellent, waved play-on. Fabien Barthez, who never needs much encouragement to descend to gamesmanship, took to spending an age with the ball at his feet in the box before picking it up. Even Zidane began ambling with noticeable deliberation to take dead-balls. As France lost their rhythm of the early stages, Portugal came to dominate.

As so often in the past, they were let down by their final ball, and when they did get into dangerous areas, they found Lilian Thuram in majestically dominant form. Their best chance came from that most predictable of sources - a Barthez error. When he shovelled a 78th-minute Ronaldo free-kick into the air, though, Figo could only snatch at his header, looping it over the bar.

Scolari's wave of disgust suggested then that he knew his dream of successive World Cups with different countries was over; instead Domenech can contemplate the unlikeliest of triumphs.