Football: BRAZIL v FRANCE; HEAD-TO-HEAD.

FORM

IN the group stage, France looked a poor bet to go far in the tournament.

Switzerland deservedly finished ahead of them and for the first half hour of their last-16 clash with Spain Raymond Domenech's side were still struggling.

Lacking spark, they seemed short of energy and the older players looked tired.

But after going behind to a David Villa penalty they struck back with goals from Franck Ribery, Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane to emerge worthy 3-1 winners.

Whether they can start tonight's game as they finished against Spain is likely to have a big influence on their fate.

Brazil have shown glimpses of the brilliance you would expect from them but have yet to produce a polished performance over 90 minutes.

The supposed Magic Quartet of Kaka, Ronaldinho, Adriano and Ronaldoa have yet to show they can work together effectively.

That is something they must do if Brazil are to successfully defend their crown.

KEY PLAYERS

ZIDANE is the man France always look to for leadership and inspiration.

He no longer has the turn of speed that helped win him three FIFA World Player of the Year awards and the rumour persists that he is among a group of senior players who effectively run the team.

However, if France are to win, Zidane - along with Thierry Henry - must perform.

With the World Cup his final bow before he retires, the captain has every motivation to do that.

Brazil's attacking four - Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka and Adriano - are all capable of tearing opposition defences apart even if at least two of them have failed to convince of that ability in Germany so far.

Ronaldinho, in particular, has a long way to go fulfill expectations based on his form with Champions League winners Barcelona this year.

If the Nou Camp star finally hits peak form tonight, it will have a huge impact on Carlos Alberto Parreira's entire team.

MANAGERS

DOMENECH was heavily criticised at home in France for packing his squad with veterans.,

And until some way into last Tuesday's match it looked as if the doubters were right.

Notably, he took some persuasion to include Ribery but the coach has been playing the midfielder from the start and he justified his place with the crucial goal which prevented his side going in 1 -0 down at the interval against Spain.

But, even so, France have only managed one strong performance in four games so the jury is out on their coach.

Parreira, too, has yet to get the most out of a highly talented team.

He has a wealth of superstars at his disposal but has still to prove he can get them to play together to maximum effect as a team.

Great Brazil teams have failed to live up to expectations at previous World Cups because of tactical shortcomings and in predecessor Luiz Felipe Scolari, Parreira has had a hard act to follow.

CAPTION(S):

STILL SAMBA WAY TO GO: Gilberto's goal helps to beat Japan but Brazil have yet to be fully convincing