By Heinz Buese and Ronald Freeman Jul 8, 2006, 12:10 GMT
Berlin - Defensive stalemate, clash of spoilsports, duel of the old men - the headlines ahead of Sunday's encounter between Italy and France do not bode well for a thrilling World Cup final.
The perfect combination of tactical play and discipline that paved the way for the two footballing greats to meet in the German capital has dampened expectations of a football firework.
'It's a classic that no one reckoned with. I hope it'll be an exciting final, but don't expect to see many goals,' predicted football legend Franz Beckenbauer.
The head of the German World Cup Organizing Committee is not alone in his assessment.
Uncharitable sporting killjoys like Fabio Cannavaro and Gennaro Gattuso of Italy or France's Claude Makelele, Lilian Thuram and Patrick Vieira set the tone for the battle of Berlin.
Led by ageing superstar Zinedine Zidane, France will be up against an almost impenetrable Italian defence that has conceded just one goal in their six games and that an own goal from Cristian Zaccardo.
But Italy have been accurate at the other end too. Coach Marcello Lippi's management of his forward men has led to 11 goals - joint top with Brazil and Argentina - scored by 10 different players.
Coming successfully through a tough-looking group involving Ghana, United States and the Czech Republic, Italy overcame Australia and Ukraine before defeating hosts Germany with dramatic late goals from the unheralded left-back Fabio Grosso and veteran forward Alessandro Del Piero. And all this with the alleged match-fixing scandal back home brewing up negative news on a regular basis.
France, meanwhile, struggled to progress from a relatively easy group, needing a last-game win over Togo after draws against Switzerland and South Korea.
It was a different France and story in the knockout stages where coach Raymond Domenech settled on a strategy of packing midfield and defence before launching quick-fire attacks to exploit the cunning of Zidane and the pace and opportunism of Henry.
After putting Spain to the sword (3-1), the 1998 champions neutralized their successors Brazil in a surprisingly one-sided quarter-final and after Zidane struck a first-half penalty, the French defence never really looked like being breached against a frustrated Portugal.
Sunday's final could well be the last international game for many stars on show, including Zidane, Thuram, Makelele, Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero.
All eyes will be on Zidane, who plans to retire after the World Cup. 'There's enormous pressure on him because the entire nation expects something special again,' says teammate Willy Sagnol.
But the thoughts of players from France and especially Italy are more likely to turn back to the dramatic final of the European Championship six years previously.
Then, Italy grabbed an early lead through Marco Del Vecchio only for Sylvain Wiltord to equalize in the last minute and David Trezeguet to hit a golden goal winner.
And although Italy defeated France in the 1938 final to win their second crown, Les Bleus hold a better head-to-head record. The Azzurri were sent packing by France in the second round at Mexico 1986 and in the quarter-finals, on penalties, at France 98.
Apart from that early final 68 years ago, Italy came out on top against their France only in a group game in Mar de la Plata at Argentina 78.
'The recent confusion (match-fixing scandal) has given us the desire to respond,' said Lippi who hopes to lead Italy to a fourth title. 'It's brought this group of players together. We wanted to show what Italian football really means.'
Domenech, too, heaped praise on his team's efforts.
'It's an advantage having experience in our side,' he said. 'They know what it takes to win tight matches, but they have also proved they are capable of suffering.'
Lippi and Domenech are far too learned to have the word revenge enter their discourse on the game but when these two footballing neighbours meet, serious rivalry is never too far away.
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