I was glad to see France win last night's heart-stopping, dramatic semi-final clash with Croatia, not just because they are a good team but also because we are now set for a dream-bill final, Brazil versus France - the holders and favourites against the host nation.

In a way, similar to the Brazil-Holland semi-final on Tuesday night, last night's match was disappointing from the purely technical viewpoint. Given the prize at stake, both sides inevitably shadow-boxed for long periods in a tight, tense first half and it was only when Suker opened the scoring in the first minute of the second half that we began to have a real match.

It is hard to know what would have happened if Croat captain Zvonimir Boban had not made that uncharacteristic error immediately afterwards to allow Lilian Thuram in for the French equaliser. Yet, from that moment on, France were the only side going to win this one.

It would be nice, too, to say that this time France left their previous attacking shortcomings far behind them. Nice but not true since this was yet another match in which the French dominated but struggled to deliver the killer blow in front of goal. It is not for nothing that in three successive matches they have scored only three goals, with all of them coming from defenders - Laurent Blanc and last night's two-goal hero, Thuram.

France have four strikers, Stephane Guivarc'h, Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet and Christophe Dugary, who all rolled into one might make a decent goalscorer. However, taken individually, they simply do not seem to have the right stuff.

If I had to pick out one outstanding player for France last night, it would be Zinedine Zidane. In the past, I have seen him play well for periods in a game, but last night he was in the match from start to finish, showing the touch, control and vision of the class player.

Thuram, clearly, was also outstanding, but his two goals were merely the icing on the cake of an overall highly impressive World Cup run in which he has been arguably France's best player. He is normally a centre back at Parma, yet he has come to this World Cup to play as an attacking right back and has done so with style and flair. You simply cannot ask for better.

France will clearly miss his defensive partner, Laurent Blanc, who has also contributed hugely to their run into the finals. I know people will say that Spanish referee Jose Garcia-Aranda was hard on Blanc regarding the sending-off and it is also true that Slaven Bilic delivered an Oscar-winning performance when he fell over in the penalty area, but Blanc was still silly to raise his hands to an opponent.

He will probably be replaced by Frank Leboeuf and that could be good news for Ronaldo et al who may get a deal more change out of the Chelsea defender than they would have done out of Blanc. On the positive side for France last night, there was also the good performance of their goalkeeper Fabien Barthez who, when put under pressure for practically the first time in this tournament, looked steady and cool.

So, it is on to Sunday and a potentially very attractive final with Brazil. Judging from the chaotic celebrations we saw on the Champs Elysees last night as we made our way back to our hotel, it seems that the French have finally been gripped by World Cup fever. It only took them four and a half weeks to wake up to World Cup excitement, but having now done so the home support is sure to be a big factor in Sunday's final.

(In an interview with Paddy Agnew)