MUNICH, July 6: Yet another big soccer game decided on a penalty call.

Yet another spot kick turned down for the team that lost.

France go on to the World Cup final thanks to Zinedine Zidane's masterly spot kick. Portugal go home feeling aggrieved.

And everyone in soccer knows that no one remembers the beaten semi-finalists.

France play Italy for soccer's biggest prize in Berlin on Sunday after Zidane's 33rd minute penalty in Wednesday's semi-final in Munich was the only goal of the game.

The French players ran to celebrate the 1-0 victory with their fans in one corner of the 66,000 capacity stadium. Many of the Portuguese players were in tears.

Ecstasy at one end of the ground, heartbreak at the other. Although there were many chances at both ends, it really came down to two incidents.

With the game still up for grabs, Thierry Henry collected the ball three feet inside the Portuguese penalty area with defender Ricardo Carvalho behind him. The French striker skilfully turned inside to head for the goal and Carvalho tried to tackle him. His right leg missed — but his left made contact with Henry's right foot and the Frenchman went down flat on the turf.

“There was contact,” Henry told reporters. “I thought I had gone past him and he caught me. I didn't ask for the penalty, but it was given.”

An accident, or a foul? TV replays from various different angles suggested either but TV directors don't give penalties. Referees do.

Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda had a perfect view and wasted no time blowing his whistle and pointing to the spot.

Carvalho looked at him in disbelief, holding his two hands together as if in prayer that the referee might change his mind. He didn't and, despite Portuguese protests, Zidane slammed the penalty kicked expertly past goalkeeper Ricardo.

Minutes later, the Portuguese were convinced they had their payback.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who's has a reputation in England for going down too easily to get penalties, moved to meet a rightwing cross from team-mate Luis Figo. Along the way, he was convinced he felt a push from French defender Willy Sagnol.

As the ball sailed over his head, Ronaldo went down.

The French fans behind the goal were furious. Then they went right back to jeering when Larrionda waved away Portuguese appeals for a penalty.

“Anyone who understands soccer saw that the referee wasn't fair,” Ronaldo said.

Maybe his reputation as a diver had reached Uruguay as well as France.

Meanwhile, the fury was transferred to the Portuguese bench. The entire row of backup players left their seats — as they did many times during the game to protest decisions — and one of the players' water bottles mysteriously appeared on the playing field.

Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who rants and raves throughout every game with his arms waving around like windmills, angrily wagged his finger at Larrionda after the game and was held back from getting at the referee.

After the game, he conceded that the Carvalho's challenge on Henry was a penalty. But he was adamant his team should have had one, too.

“It was a penalty. We can't contest it,” Scolari said of the Carvalho foul. “Just as it was a penalty on Cristiano Ronaldo but he didn't call it. He was right when he called the penalty on the French player but was wrong when he did not call it on Cristiano.”

He suggested that teams such as Portugal, with little success at national team level, don't get the calls that seem to go to powerhouse teams, such as Germany, Italy, France, Brazil and Argentina.

“Maybe it could've gone our way too, although I doubt it,” he said. “We are a small country, it's hard.”

With such a fine line between victory and defeat, there is an understandable amount of high feeling, especially at the World Cup.

Portugal have been one of soccer's biggest underachievers for decades. This was their first World Cup semi-final appearance since 1966 and they knew that reaching the final would show the world that Portuguese soccer is on the rise.

That's what was at stake when Sr Larrionda made his two decisions — both in France's favour. In the end, though, he appeared to get them both right.Now France are going to the final and Scolari is going home. It's that fine a difference between success and failure at the World Cup and, this time, Portugal paid the penalty.—AP