PORTUGAL

RICARDO: Guessed the corner of Zinedine Zidane's penalty. Showed great reflexes against Thierry Henry and Franck Ribery early in the second half. 7.

MIGUEL (Ferreira, 62 mins): Always on the front foot. Picked up an awkward injury on one of his trademark rushes into the attacking third. Taken to school by Henry on a first-half solo run. 6.

FERNANDO MEIRA: Wasted a glorious chance in the dying seconds. Always in control of the French strikers. 7.

RICARDO CARVALHO: To be blamed for bringing down Henry in the box with a silly foul. 6.

NUNO VALENTE: Solid at his own end, even providing a few good crosses. 6.

MANICHE: Wreaked havoc in midfield without creating too many openings. 6.

COSTINHA (Postiga, 75 mins): Returned from suspension but was barely involved in defensive midfield. 6.

CRISTIANO RONALDO: Defied catcalls every time he touched the ball. Superb first half with numerous energetic runs. Slowed down later but almost surprised Fabien Barthez with a powerful free-kick. One of his finest performances. 8.

DECO: Returned from suspension but barely created scoring opportunities for himself or his team-mates. 6.

LUIS FIGO: Orchestrated Portugal's midfield. Very active across the pitch but with no deadly final ball. Should have equalised when heading over from point-blank range late in the match. 7.

PAULETA (Simao, 68 mins): Hit the wrong side of the net midway through the second period. Barely had a good look at the goal. 6.

SUBSTITUTES

PAULO FERREIRA: Decent replacement for Miguel, yet without his offensive touch. 6.

SIMAO SABROSA: Barely involved. 6.

HELDER POSTIGA: Set up Meira's potential equaliser in stoppage time. Did some damage up front. 7

FRANCE

FABIEN BARTHEZ: Mostly in control of his box. Saved Ronaldo's late free-kick and spilled awkward rebounds, one of which Figo headed over. 7.

WILLY SAGNOL: Won a few crucial tackles in defence. Always good for a dangerous cross offensively. 7.

WILLIAM GALLAS: Anchoring the French defence in a rock-solid fashion. 7.

LILIAN THURAM: Never giving any reasons to worry in his 120th international match. 7.

ERIC ABIDAL: Just as solid as the whole French defence. 7.

PATRICK VIEIRA: Did the usual damage in defensive midfield. Produced a couple of important stops. 7.

CLAUDE MAKELELE: Not in the spotlight, but always there to prevent danger. 7

FRANCK RIBERY (Govou, 72 mins): Forced Ricardo into a one-handed save early out in the second period, always causing the defence worries. 7.

ZINEDINE ZIDANE: Beautifully placed his 33rd-minute penalty past Ricardo. Disappeared in the second half as Portugal seized control but invisibly pulling the strings. 8.

FLORENT MALOUDA (Wiltord, 69 mins) : Could have opened the scoring early out. Quite unspectacular. 6.

THIERRY HENRY (Saha, 85 mins): Won the penalty. Always dangerous. Had a few trademark rushes into the box. 7.

SUBSTITUTES

SYLVAIN WILTORD: Played quite similar to Malouda, without producing any highlights. 6.

SIDNEY GOVOU: Efficient and unspectacular. 6.

LOUIS SAHA: Kicked himself out of the final by picking up his second booking of the tournament for a silly foul just two minutes after his late substitution. 5