There was one statistic that emerged from France's quarter-final victory over Brazil, and an amazing one at that, which summed up why Les Bleus have transformed themselves from ageing has-beens to potential world champions.

The statistic in question was that when Thierry Henry volleyed past Dida for the only score of the game, it was the first time in 61 internationals Zinedine Zidane had directly created a goal for the Arsenal striker.

To put that into context, imagine how many goals David Beckham has created for Michael Owen: probably double figures at least.

For years now, it has been obvious Zidane and Henry have been uncomfortable playing together.

Henry has always favoured playing on the break and buzzes around looking for quick balls while Zidane demands France play through him, and slows the game down, spreading passes laterally more often than forward.

That state of affairs was obvious in their miserably unentertaining 0-0 draw with Switzerland, and even more so in France's second group qualifier against South Korea. In both games Zidane was simply dreadful and was substituted against Korea knowing that having picked up a second yellow card he would miss the final group match.

But something must have happened to Zizou while France were seeing off Togo and for the first knock-out match against Spain he appeared a different player. Even in the warm-up: he was laughing and joking, a rare sight in a man who normally has the air of a monk who had vowed to banish all thoughts of humour from his life.

At the end of the match, with the Spanish routed and a place in the last eight secured, he and Henry hugged each other with joy. Against Brazil a few days later, they did so again as Zidane masterminded a terrific performance against the reigning champions.

So what has changed? "A side everyone was laughing at doesn't suddenly become favourites," Henry insisted after the quarter-final.

"But we have shown we are not scared of playing. People point to Zizou coming into the game more but that is because the team is playing better as a whole."

That is the key. Henry has shown himself willing to work in a role different to the one at Arsenal. Patrick Vieira had shown flashes of his old dominance against Korea, and his power returned completely against Spain where he won the battle of midfield hands down.

Then there is Franck Ribery, the player known as 'Scarface' by the fans in Marseille, who has produced the runs France sorely lacked when Sylvain Wiltord was played out of position in midfield.

With those two players causing their opponents huge problems, there is more time and space for Zidane to use his still considerable skills to play some killer balls.

Four weeks is a long time in football, and in France's case it has taken less than 28 days to see themselves transformed from the butt of World Cup jokes into many neutrals' favoured choice to make the final.

It is nothing to do with Portugal's victory over England nor the continuing controversy over Wayne Rooney's sending off: Rooney had to go after his stamp on Ricardo Carvalho and the brouhaha over Cristiano Ronaldo is a mere sideshow.

Portugal won fairly and squarely because they took penalties better, but at the same time they are one of the more cynical and less entertaining sides in this World Cup.

Luiz Felipe Scolari is a big character but that does not translate to his players. They are a team prone to over-reaction with an innate defensive approach to the game.

It would be a great story for football for France to make the final and show the world there is still some life yet in les vieux chiens.