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Thousands of celebrating fans occupied the Champs-Elysees here on Wednesday as France qualified for its second World Cup final in eight years.

"We're in the final," the crowd chanted on the renowned avenue where one million people celebrated when France won the World Cup on home soil in 1998.

They will have another chance to gather on Sunday when France take on Italy in Berlin's Olympic Stadium.

Elsewhere in the capital, 25,000 fans gathered at the Charlety stadium to follow the action from Munich.

A first-half penalty from Zinedine Zidane settled the match in Munich, sparking wild scenes of celebration.

The goal from Zidane, who scored twice in the 1998 final and will now end his professional career by playing in another, was cheered especially loudly in his birthplace, the southern city of Marseille, where around 2,000 people watched the match on a giant screen in the Old Port area.

They were also watching every kick of the match in the Algerian village of Aguemoune, 260 kilometres east of Algiers, where Zidane's parents come from.

The "Cafe de Zizou", named in honour of the inspirational midfielder, erupted in joy at the final whistle and people hugged, kissed and danced and owner Said Arkoub kept his promise of buying everyone a drink if France won.

"We are proud of being, in a small way, close to the prodigy," he said.

And in the northern French port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, they were toasting Franck Ribery, the attacking midfielder who has emerged as a new star of the team.

In Lisbon, Portuguese football fans were left saddened after Portugal crashed out of the race for its first-ever World Cup title with a 1-0 loss to France.

Thousands of fans in red and green jerseys who had watched the match on a giant screen set up in central Lisbon fell silent after the final whistle and drifted home with flags stuffed in their pockets.

Many squatted on the ground staring into space for a while. Some were in tears.

"I really believed we would go all the way this time. This is so sad, it's beyond words," said 23-year-old student Cristina Perreira.

The crowd had been subdued ever since French captain Zinedine Zidane scored the winning goal with a hotly-disputed penalty on 33 minutes.Portugal have never reached a World Cup final and have only appeared in the

semi-finals once before - in 1966 when they lost 2-1 to hosts and eventual winners England.

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, who traveled to Munich to watch the match, said the team had proven it is amongst the best in the world despite its loss to France.

"I think the team did a lot for Portugal's international prestige and we are indebted to them for this. I am very proud of this squad and I am sure all Portuguese people are as well," he told private television SIC after the game.

Many supporters who had donned national colours and put up flags in recent weeks, in one of the biggest outpourings of patriotism since the nation returned to democracy in 1974, expressed frustration at the team's historic inability to beat France.

"They always seem to pull the rug from underneath us. It would have been such a huge party tonight if we won," said 26-year-old warehouse worker BrunoAguiar. Portugal's last victory over France came in 1975. The Portuguese national team headed into Wednesday's World Cup semifinal having lost its previous seven matches against the French side, including losses in the 1984 and 2000 European Championships semifinals.

"I had started to believe we were invincible," said 41-year-old economist Carlos Ribeiro, who had a bottle of French champagne on hand to celebrate Portugal's victory. "At least the champagne can be saved for another day."

"The Portuguese dream is over," said sports daily Record on its online edition. "The dream has reached the end," echoed rival sports newspaper A Bola on its site.

Portugal will now travel to Stuttgart to face Germany on Saturday for the third-place World Cup playoff.



2006.07.07