Portugal skipper Luis Figo was proud of his team after a World Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of France he felt was undeserved.

Figo and his team-mates must now travel to Stuttgart for a third-place play-off with Germany instead of Berlin for a final with Italy after Zinedine Zidane's 33rd-minute penalty proved enough to secure the spoils for France.

It was the second time Zidane has proved the nemesis for the Portuguese in a semi-final - his golden goal penalty in the Euro 2000 last-four match in Brussels saw France pip Figo and his team-mates to set up another final with Italy which Les Bleus would win with a dramatic late comeback in Rotterdam.

Figo felt his team had missed a golden opportunity to reach the final against a France team that once again had a miserly defence to thank for helping them into the showdown with the Azzurri in the German capital.

"I think football is full of highs and lows," said Figo, a former FIFA world player of the year who has had a good World Cup.

"We did everything we could to get to the final, but unfortunately we didn't achieve our aim.

"We have to be very proud of what we have done and we can leave here with our heads held high."

"Unfortunately in football, sometimes your opponents aren't better than you, but they win and France took advantage of the opportunity they had."

Figo missed Portugal's best chance to level the score when he headed over from close range after Fabien Barthez had fumbled a free-kick from Cristiano Ronaldo who had a fine match despite being jeered by the crowd.

"We had a few chances and we weren't as clinical," said the 33-year-old who took a sabbatical from the national team after Euro 2004 although he never retired from international football only to make himself available again in 2005.

Figo, whose side eliminated Holland in the last 16 and England in the quarter-finals, continued: "It's a shame because we didn't deserve this result, and the scoreline does not wipe out all of the good things we have done in this World Cup."

It was the first time Portugal had played in a World Cup semi-final since the Eusebio-inspired team of 1966 went out to eventual winners England in the last four before going on to beat the Soviet Union in the third-place play-off.

No other Portuguese team until this year had managed to get past the group stage in a World Cup campaign.

"We gave everything that was there to give," said Figo. "I'm proud to belong to this squad and to be able to play a part in making history with the national team. We're all sad about the result but the World Cup isn't over and we have to pick ourselves up for Saturday's game against Germany."