'France will win it'

"France will be taking the initiative in this game. They feel that creatively they should be able to beat Portugal. They'll be looking to use the sort of attacking flair they have to win the game," Le Saux exclusively told Eurosport.

After a difficult first round, France have rediscovered their magic to reach the last four of a World Cup for the second time in eight years.

And according to Le Saux, it has a lot to do with the exceptionnal performances of two players: Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane.

"Vieira started the tournament very slowly and he's improved game on game. He's now having a big influence on the stability of the French midfield along with Makélélé," analysed the former England international.

"Zidane's performance against Brazil was probably the performance that won them that game and put them in such a strong position to get to the final," he then added.

Our second expert Arsène Wenger completely agrees, as he also stressed out the importance of what he calls "the spine of the team."

"I believe that the spine of the team is absolutely amazing from the goalkeeper to the two central defenders, (...) then Vieira and Makélélé, (plus) Zidane (and) Henry. They're in a great form at the moment and of course they carry that force into the game," the Arsenal manager said.

Yet impressive and talented, Raymond Domenech's side will still need to be wary of the threat caused by the return of Brazilian-born playmaker Deco in the Portugal team.

Le Saux reckons Luis Felipe Scolari will tell his side to defend and hit their opponent on the counter-attack and, with such a style of play, the importance of the Barcelona player will even be enhanced.

"I think they'll be looking for Deco to be the heart and the hub of everything Portugal does creatively," assessed the former Blackburn player.

But France have proved in the past that they are no mountains too high for them to climb.