World Cup Semifinals Preview: Vive la France! or Viva Portugal?
Will it be unlucky 13 for Luiz Felipe Scolari? The Portugal coach has never lost a World Cup match, a run that has reached 12 unbeaten games at the World Cup dating back to 2002, when he led his native Brazil to the title.
Scolari snared seven straight World Cup four years ago. In Germany, the surprising Portuguese have won four and drawn one -- a goalless quarterfinal against England when Portugal advanced after a penalty shootout. 
Portugal's semifinal clash with France in Munich on Wednesday is the 13th World Cup match of Scolari's career. He's looking to become the only coach to win the World Cup trophy twice with different teams. To do that, he has to complete his transformation of Portugal from a talented team to a winning team.
France beat Portugal on penalty kicks in last year's World Cup -- OK, it was the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Brazil. As far as the real thing, Portugal is 0-7 against the French since a 2-0 exhibition win at Paris in 1975, including losses in the 1984 and 2000 European Championships.
When these teams last met in a match that counted, the 2000 Euro semifinals, it got ugly. France won 2-1 when Zinedine Zidane converted a penalty kick with three minutes left in sudden-death extra time. Portuguese players protested the call by Austrian referee Guenter Benko, who ruled Abel Xavier used his left hand to block Sylvain Wiltord's shot.
posted by 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany at 3:30 PM
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