Into the fever..

Well,as everyone knows it,it's been football fever for the past month because of the World Cup taking place in Germany.

We've seen numerous actions on the pitch by some of the world's best players.All battling it out for the coveted World Cup trophy.

There were tears of joy and of despair as they watch their teams triumph or walk out beaten.

There were also shock as giant teams such as Germany,England,Brazil and Netherlands bow out early.

After weeks of battle,it all comes down to this: Italy vs France

This may well be the battle of giants in this world cup as both teams has done magnificently well to set up this clash.

Italy stun the host by beating them 2-0 in extra time to reach the finals as France defeated an unlucky Portugal and champions Brazil to reach this stage of the World Cup.

Italy,led by Fabio Cannavaro,arguably the best defender in the world,looks to steer the Italian team to success.Teamed up with Gianluigi Buffon,Matterazi,Zambrotta and Grosso,Italy have one of the best defense team-up in the World Cup,having only conceded a goal in the whole tournament so far.Francesco Totti,Italy's best attacking midfielder,alongside Camoranesi,Pirlo,Gattuso or even Simone Perrotta,will no doubt be providing the breakthrough for strikers Luca Toni and Gilardino or even Alessandro Del Piero.The Italians is one of the worlds most talented team of players but in previous years,has failed to link up,much like the current England squad.

On the other side of the ring,we have the dominant French players.Led to battle by captain Zinedine Zidane,the French team looked tough and determined as compared to the same team that competed in the 2002 World Cup.The French defense led by Lilian Thuram,formed a formidable fortress together with Fabien Barthez,Willy Sagnol,Eric Abidal and Claude Makelele.Zidane's trickery would be followed up in midfield by Patrick Vierra,Sylvian Wiltord,Florent Malouda and Franck Ribery.It would be up to Thierry Henry to provide the finishing needed by France.Franck Ribery has repaid Raymond Domenech's faith in him by being one the key players in France's attacking power.

This 2 teams has produced world class performances with their skills and brilliant tactics to reach this stage of the World Cup.

I personally had supported England to be contenders for this World Cup after seeing the line up in the team.Great players such as Gary Neville,John Terry,Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole should and had provided a solid enough defense for England together with Paul Robinson.It was the midfielders who had actually let the team down.David Beckham had a quiet game and was only useful during those free kicks and corners situations.Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole were solid providers but were inconsistent.Frank Lampard who scored 8 goals for Chelsea,couldn't even find the net once after trying for more than 30 times.Hargreaves proved to be useful for the defense but not offense.Rooney isn't at his best because of lack of fitness and Crouch,who seems to get more fouls than goals,proved to be useless.

Right now,I hope for Italy to triumph in this competition but it's really hard to say.Both teams have equal depth and cutting edges.The winner would undoubtly be The world class team.

I wonder when will THIS team ever reach??

*sigh*