Barthez

Frankfurt: Memories of Zinedine Zidane’s finest hour and Ronaldo’s worst will be evoked when France play Brazil in Saturday’s quarter final between the last two world champions.

Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said he did not regard Saturday’s game as a chance of avenging 1998.

“There’s no atmosphere of revenge, we’re not thinking about that here,” Parreira said.

Parreira added: “Ronaldo and Zidane are the two monsters in the world of football.”

After bringing in some fresh faces for the final group game against Japan, Parreira reverted to his original line-up against Ghana in the last 16 and saw his team pull off a flattering 3-0 win.

His France counterpart Raymond Domenech also appears to have found the right formula, the 3-1 second round win over Spain reminiscent of previous vintage.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian Football Confederation said midfielders Emerson and Kaka, who have been treated for pain in their right knees, were ready to take part in Friday’s practice at the Waldstadion.

Zidane was back in training on Friday, which suggested he should start Saturday’s match. Zidane, who will end his glittering career after the finals, knows every match now could be his last.

“We will have to play even better to stand a chance but I believe we can because the team can adapt to the opposition and raise the level of their game,” said Domenech.

All 23 members of the France squad trained on the Frankfurt pitch , including defender Willy Sagnol.

Like Zidane, Ronaldo, now the most prolific scorer in World Cup history with 15 goals, started with below-par performances before scoring in successive games against Japan and Ghana.

Now the two meet again in what could be a classic encounter.

“When you’re a football player, your first dream is to play in the World Cup and the next one is to meet Brazil there,” said France midfielder Patrick Vieira.

Meanwhile, Ronaldinho has finally admitted that he wouldn’t mind scoring at least once for Brazil during this World Cup. Only last week the midfielder said he was “not preoccupied” with his goal drought.

But , Ronaldinho seems to be warming to the idea of scoring. He maintains that his main priority is to “help my teammates score goals.”

PROBABLE TEAMS

Brazil: 1-Dida; 2-Cafu, 3-Lucio, 4-Juan, 6-Roberto Carlos; 17-Gilberto Silva, 11-Ze Roberto, 8-Kaka, 10-Ronaldinho; 9-Ronaldo, 23-Robinho.

France: 16-Fabien Barthez; 19-Willy Sagnol, 15-Lilian Thuram, 5-William Gallas, 3-Eric Abidal; 4-Patrick Vieira, 6-Claude Makelele; 22-Franck Ribery, 10-Zinedine Zidane, 7-Florent Malouda; 12-Thierry Henry.

WORLD CUP VITAL STATS

BRAZIL
Total appearances — 18 (1930 to 2006), only team to play in all editions
Champions — 5 (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002), a record
Runners-up — 2 (1950, 1998)
3rd place — 2 (1938, 1978)
4th place — 1 (1974)
Quarter finals — 3 (1954, 1986, 2006*)
2nd round — 2 (1982, 1990)
1st round — 3 (1930, 1934, 1966)

FRANCE
Total appearances — 12 (1930 to 2006)
Champions — 1 (1998)
3rd place — 2 (1958, 1986)
4th place — 1 (1982)
Quarter finals — 2 (1938, 2006*)
1st round — 6 (1930, 1934, 1954, 1966, 1978, 2002)
Did not play — 6 (1950, 1962, 1970, 1974, 1990, 1994)

HEAD-TO-HEAD

In World Cups
June 24, 1958: Brazil bt France 5-2 in Stockholm (semi-final)
June 21, 1986: Brazil lost to France 3-4 in Guadalajara (quarter final)
July 21, 1998: Brazil lost to France 0-3 in Paris (final)

Last 5 games
Aug. 26, 1992: Brazil bt France 2-0 in Paris (friendly)
June 3, 1997: Brazil drew France 1-1 in Lyon (friendly)
July 21, 1998: Brazil lost to France 0-3 in Paris (World Cup final)
June 7, 2001: Brazil lost to France 1-2 in Suwon (Confederations Cup)
May 20, 2004: Brazil drew France 0-0 in Paris (Fifa Centennial match)