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FORMATIONS
French coach Roger Lemerre has been given options by the excellent form of his whole squad. He has a settled back four and in the semifinal started with two strikers and three midfielders in a shield behind a free Zinedine Zidane. However, on Sunday he may well drop Nicolas Anelka to accommodate Youri Djorkaeff in an advanced midfield role behind a sole striker.
Italian coach Dino Zoff will keep faith with the 4-4-2 shape which came through against the Netherlands.
GOALKEEPERS
Fabien Barthez's position as the French team's lucky charm was somewhat undermined when he gave away an unnecessary last-minute penalty in the quarter-final win over Spain. But once Raul blasted the spot-kick over the bar he was back in favour and remains an excellent keeper.
If Barthez is popular in France then Francesco Toldo must be close to sainthood in Italy after his man of the match performance in the semifinal. After stopping Frank De Boer's first half penalty with a great diving save he then blocked two more in the shoot-out.
This came after an already-impressive tournament for a man who only became first choice when Gianluigi Buffon injured a hand in Italy's final warm-up match.
DEFENCES
France have never lost with Lilian Thuram, Marcel Desailly, Laurent Blanc and Bixente Lizarazu playing together - winning 21 and drawing four of their 25 outings - and they are justly proud of that record.
Desailly and Blanc have class strength in the centre while the two full backs are sound defensively and also adventurous. It is a combination that is the envy of virtually every other footballing nation.
Except perhaps Italy.
While France have developed into an impressive defensive team over the past few years, Italy have always had that culture and it was seen at its best in the semifinal.
After a shaky opening half hour, when the Dutch were allowed a surprising amount of space, the Italian back four buckled down to produce a classic display.
Alessandro Nesta could well be the defender of the tournament while his much-maligned central defensive partner Mark Iuliano has proved an impenetrable barrier.
Fabio Cannavaro has excelled at right back while Paolo Maldini, in his 110th game for Italy, is vastly experienced.
MIDFIELD
Zinedine Zidane is in his very best form for France and revelling in a free role ahead of an impressive three-man defensive shield made up of Arsenal duo Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira along with captain Didier Deschamps.
Zidane's ability to break free and create havoc could be the key to the game and the Italians, who know the Juventus man's talents only too well from Serie A, will dedicate themselves to closing him down.
Petit has also found plenty of time to attack and Lemerre may well weight the area even more heavily in his favour by playing Djorkaeff as a fifth man.
It is a well-balanced package though a weakness is a lack of width.
Luigi Di Bagio added some steel to the Italian midfield when he replaced the injured Antonio Conte for the semifinals and he will attempt to restrict Zidane as he did Edgar Davids. Backing him up will be Demetrio Albertini and probably Angelo Di Livio, in for suspended Gianluca Zambrotta. Stefano Fiore provides the creativity but it is a unit better equipped to stop chances than make them.
FORWARDS
France came into the tournament claiming they had added forward power to their World Cup-winning team and Thierry Henry has certainly starred up front.
However, Anelka has not made the impact Lemerre hoped for and he may well make way for Djorkaeff, who got the quarter-final winner against Spain. Christophe Dugarry, Sylvain Wiltord and David Trezeguet stand by.
Zoff sprang a surprise when he started with Alessandro Del Piero ahead of Francesco Totti to partner Filippo Inzaghi in the semifinal and it's anyone's guess which of the two will get the nod on Sunday.
None of the strikers had much opportunity to impress on Thursday though Totti looked good as a virtual midfielder when he came on as a substitute. A later replacement, his AS Roma team mate Marco Delvecchio, was the man who came closest to scoring but is likely to start on the bench again.
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French coach Roger Lemerre has been given options by the excellent form of his whole squad. He has a settled back four and in the semifinal started with two strikers and three midfielders in a shield behind a free Zinedine Zidane. However, on Sunday he may well drop Nicolas Anelka to accommodate Youri Djorkaeff in an advanced midfield role behind a sole striker.
Italian coach Dino Zoff will keep faith with the 4-4-2 shape which came through against the Netherlands.
GOALKEEPERS
Fabien Barthez's position as the French team's lucky charm was somewhat undermined when he gave away an unnecessary last-minute penalty in the quarter-final win over Spain. But once Raul blasted the spot-kick over the bar he was back in favour and remains an excellent keeper.
If Barthez is popular in France then Francesco Toldo must be close to sainthood in Italy after his man of the match performance in the semifinal. After stopping Frank De Boer's first half penalty with a great diving save he then blocked two more in the shoot-out.
This came after an already-impressive tournament for a man who only became first choice when Gianluigi Buffon injured a hand in Italy's final warm-up match.
DEFENCES
France have never lost with Lilian Thuram, Marcel Desailly, Laurent Blanc and Bixente Lizarazu playing together - winning 21 and drawing four of their 25 outings - and they are justly proud of that record.
Desailly and Blanc have class strength in the centre while the two full backs are sound defensively and also adventurous. It is a combination that is the envy of virtually every other footballing nation.
Except perhaps Italy.
While France have developed into an impressive defensive team over the past few years, Italy have always had that culture and it was seen at its best in the semifinal.
After a shaky opening half hour, when the Dutch were allowed a surprising amount of space, the Italian back four buckled down to produce a classic display.
Alessandro Nesta could well be the defender of the tournament while his much-maligned central defensive partner Mark Iuliano has proved an impenetrable barrier.
Fabio Cannavaro has excelled at right back while Paolo Maldini, in his 110th game for Italy, is vastly experienced.
MIDFIELD
Zinedine Zidane is in his very best form for France and revelling in a free role ahead of an impressive three-man defensive shield made up of Arsenal duo Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira along with captain Didier Deschamps.
Zidane's ability to break free and create havoc could be the key to the game and the Italians, who know the Juventus man's talents only too well from Serie A, will dedicate themselves to closing him down.
Petit has also found plenty of time to attack and Lemerre may well weight the area even more heavily in his favour by playing Djorkaeff as a fifth man.
It is a well-balanced package though a weakness is a lack of width.
Luigi Di Bagio added some steel to the Italian midfield when he replaced the injured Antonio Conte for the semifinals and he will attempt to restrict Zidane as he did Edgar Davids. Backing him up will be Demetrio Albertini and probably Angelo Di Livio, in for suspended Gianluca Zambrotta. Stefano Fiore provides the creativity but it is a unit better equipped to stop chances than make them.
FORWARDS
France came into the tournament claiming they had added forward power to their World Cup-winning team and Thierry Henry has certainly starred up front.
However, Anelka has not made the impact Lemerre hoped for and he may well make way for Djorkaeff, who got the quarter-final winner against Spain. Christophe Dugarry, Sylvain Wiltord and David Trezeguet stand by.
Zoff sprang a surprise when he started with Alessandro Del Piero ahead of Francesco Totti to partner Filippo Inzaghi in the semifinal and it's anyone's guess which of the two will get the nod on Sunday.
None of the strikers had much opportunity to impress on Thursday though Totti looked good as a virtual midfielder when he came on as a substitute. A later replacement, his AS Roma team mate Marco Delvecchio, was the man who came closest to scoring but is likely to start on the bench again.
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