ITALY

Gianluigi Buffon: Deceived by Zidane from the spot but lived up to his reputation as the world's best keeper with two good saves to deny Henry and another from Zidane. 8.

Gianluca Zambrotta: Booked early on for a late challenge on Vieira. Kept France pegged back by pushing forward regularly and perfectly placed to intercept when Henry tried to set up Malouda. 7.

Marco Materazzi: Nightmare start for former Everton man. Tried to pull out of tackle but still conceded a penalty, then came close to netting an own goal. Made amends with the equaliser and then slammed home a penalty. But what did he say to Zidane? 8.

Fabio Cannavaro: Brilliant sliding tackle on Henry. Superb positional sense as always. Hardly put a foot wrong. 8.

Fabio Grosso: Kept Franck Ribery under control for long periods and pushed forward as well. Took a deep breath and won the World Cup for Italy. 9.

Simone Perrotta (off 61): First player from Ashton-under-Lyme to appear in a World Cup final since Geoff Hurst and did not make anywhere near the same impact. 6.

Andrea Pirlo: No real room to exhibit the full range of his passing but created havoc with a series of well-placed set pieces. Flashed a free-kick inches wide. Scored in shoot-out. 8.

Gennaro Gattuso: Shaded an intense midfield battle with Vieira. Covered acres of ground and closed down numerous French attacks. Not the most eye-catching player but outstanding. 8.

Mauro Camoranesi: Solid rather than spectacular. Switched flanks with Perrotta but less effective on the left and moved back again. 7.

Francesco Totti (off 61): Massive disappointment. Barely had a kick. 5.

Luca Toni: Clear sight of goal blocked out by Thuram. Firm header against the bar and a goal ruled out for a marginal offside. 6.

Daniele de Rossi (on 61): Back after his four-match ban but didn't make that much of an impact until he scored in the shoot-out. 6.

Vincenzo Iaquinta (on 61): Provided extra pace to Italy's forward thrusts but little overall impact. 6.

Alessandro del Piero (on 87): No telling contribution from Italy's star man but kept his nerve in the shoot-out. 6.

FRANCE

Fabien Barthez: Could not command his area and his team were under pressure at every set piece as a result. Got nowhere near any of Italy's perfect set of penalties. 6.

Willy Sagnol: Went through Grosso to pick up a caution. Defensively sound but did not do much to aid France's attacking effort when his side got on top. Kept his nerve from the spot. 7.

Lilian Thuram: Brilliant clearing header from Pirlo free-kick, even better block to deny Toni. Commanding presence at the heart of France's defence. 8.

William Gallas: Took the lead from Thuram and virtually as good. No wonder Jose Mourinho wants to keep him. 8.

Eric Abidal: Did plenty of running but his most effective work was when France were going backwards. Scored his penalty. 7.

Patrick Vieira (off 56): Beaten in the air for Italy's leveller. Sound defensively, no impact in attack, appear to pull a hamstring. 7.

Claude Makelele: Like Gattuso, stuck to his job well. Refused to venture too far forward. 7.

Franck Ribery (off 99): Hardly got on the ball in an offensive position during the first-half. Got better but wasted an outstanding chance before his departure in extra-time. 6.

Zinedine Zidane: Coolness personified for penalty and the bounce favoured him. Flitted in and out of the contest but rarely gave possession away. Might have won it with an extra-time header but foolishly reacted to Materazzi and was rightly sent off - a sad end to his career. 4.

Florent Malouda: Went down under minimal contact to win France their early spot-kick. Might have had another after half-time. Influence increased as game wore on. 7.

Thierry Henry (off 107): Crashed into Cannavaro's shoulder inside the first 40 seconds. Recovered and proved to be France's most dangerous forward. Unable to beat Buffon with his best chance and tired badly. 7.

Alou Diarra (on 56): Booked for protesting after a foul on Toni. Did little else of note. 6.

David Trezeguet (on 99): Juventus player who scored the goal that beat Italy in the Euro 2000 Final. No late heroics this time and the only man to miss from the spot. 5.

Sylvain Wiltord (on 107): Might have had a greater effect had Zidane not been dismissed so soon after his arrival. Wasted chance to set up Trezeguet in the last minute. Blasted home his spot-kick. 6.