MUNICH, July 5 -- The end was going to come for one of them on this warm Wednesday night inside of futuristic Allianz Arena. Either Zinedine Zidane or Luis Figo was going to finish his World Cup career without the opportunity to play in Sunday's final in Berlin.
Zidane, who already has announced that he will retire from soccer following the tournament, scored France's only goal on a penalty kick in the 33rd minute. Figo, who is expected to retire from international soccer in the coming months, wasted Portugal's last best chance at tying the score, sending a header from close range over the crossbar in the 78th minute.
So it is Zidane who will lead his team into Sunday's final against Italy, and it is Figo who will be relegated to the third-place match against Germany on Saturday in Stuttgart. It is entirely appropriate that Zidane will end his career on the game's biggest stage.
"He's a real star, a real one," France Coach Raymond Domenech said of Zidane, through an interpreter. "He affords the French public real dreams. That has always been the case with him; that's been the case for 10 years with him."
Eight years ago, Zidane was the unquestioned face of the French team that won the World Cup on home soil. He scored two goals in the final against Brazil, a 3-0 victory that gave France its first World Cup title.
Now his looming departure from the field has cast a shadow over every game that France has played in Germany, with players from Spain and Brazil -- Les Bleus' round-of-16 and quarterfinal victims, respectively -- vowing to send the player known as "Zizou" to his retirement. Sunday, finally, will be the end.
Figo, unlike Zidane, has not definitively said whether he will retire from international soccer following the World Cup. But this certainly is Figo's final World Cup, and his exit hasn't attracted nearly as much attention as Zidane's.
The careers of the two men, both born in 1972, have followed similar paths. Each got his start with his neighborhood club, Figo on the outskirts of Lisbon and Zidane near Marseille, and each eventually wound up at Real Madrid, where they were teammates from 2001 to 2005. Each made his major international tournament debut at Euro 1996, and evolved into worldwide stars over the next four years; Zidane was named the world player of the year in 1998, 2000 and 2003, and Figo took the honor in 2001.
Both men experienced disappointment at the 2002 World Cup, as France and Portugal were surprisingly eliminated after the group stages. Both men decided to step away from international soccer following Euro 2004, only to be lured back for one more run at the World Cup. And each man came here hearing whispers that he was too old.
Figo, 33, looked sharp as the World Cup began; Zidane, 34, did not. Zidane, however, got better as the tournament wore on. He was forced to watch France's final group game from the bench after accumulating yellow cards, but his team beat Togo, 2-0, to secure a place in the second round. Zidane returned to score a goal against Spain, and then was masterful against Brazil, orchestrating France's offense with precise passes and dazzling footwork.
When the game was over, Zidane, as he has been throughout this run, was stoic; he stood at midfield and waited for his teammates to come to him, which they did, greeting him with hugs and rubbing his head. Figo, meantime, had one final conversation with referee Jorge Larrionda, who was harangued by the Portuguese players throughout the game.
Then two captains met and hugged, just as they did before the game. They stripped off their shirts and exchanged them. Zidane walked off in the Portuguese burgundy, knowing he has a championship to play for, and Figo in the French white, knowing it was over.