France - 1 Brazil - 0: Like our own Roy Keane, Zinedine Zidane has kept the obituary writers busy over the last few years. On Saturday they were at it again, French journalists passing the time during the build-up to this game updating the story of his departure.

Where the location of his final bow was mentioned Hanover became Frankfurt; Brazil replaced Spain as the last team he played against; and his tally of caps was revised from 105 to 106. The rest, an account of past glories, was to remain the same, and in Marseille's La Provence, it was all to run under the headline, "Adieu, l'Artiste".

As it turned out, though, the 34-year-old was not quite ready to say farewell, and by next Sunday evening the reviews of his phenomenal career might well require a rather more extensive rewrite.

Here, he produced his best performance in a French jersey, or almost certainly any jersey, in some years as he steered his side to a commanding victory over the defending champions. His floated free kick in the 57th minute set up Thierry Henry's winner, but that represented only a fraction of his contribution to a wonderful team display and a memorable contest in which France were comfortably the better side.

After a slow start to this tournament, France had shown marked improvement in each of their games, but there would have been little shame had they lost to Brazil. For though the champions had scarcely excelled themselves in their four games, they remained favourites to retain their title.

On a night of immense pride and passion, though, the French showed they simply weren't prepared to settle for that.

Their older players were hailed back at home yesterday as "the generation that refuses to give back its jerseys", but the younger stars were also magnificent here as Raymond Domenech's side outplayed, outfought and outwitted their opponents.

Zidane, the coach observed, had been outstanding in what might well have been his last game for his country. Now, says Domenech, "I would like all the players to play the next match (against Portugal on Wednesday) as if it were their last."

Brazil, meanwhile, were left to reflect on not just one game but an entire tournament in which they failed to do justice to their collective talent.

Ahead of the game, coach Carlos Alberto Parreira clearly recognised his side would have to do better than in their earlier games (bar the second half against Japan). Adriano was dropped, Gilberto Silva brought in to mark the French captain and Ronaldinho shunted forward into a less influential role as Ronaldo's strike partner.

For a while the shake-up even seemed to bear fruit. But Kaka, previously Brazil's most influential player here, did not make the same impact without Ronaldinho by his side. And Ronaldo simply drifted out of the proceedings as he had done three weeks ago against Croatia. He might even have been sent off late in the game, but the Spanish referee, who had earlier booked the striker for deliberate handball, spared him the second yellow.

With Roberto Carlos also misfiring and the Brazilian defence generally too preoccupied with the movement of Thierry Henry and, later, Franck Ribery to contribute much to attacks, the French gradually got the upper hand and by the half-hour mark were clearly on top.

Zidane was inspired in the centre of the field, orchestrating everything around him to the extent team-mates as well as opponents often seemed merely his marionettes.

Against a much better defence than they had hitherto met in this competition, the Brazilian stars floundered. William Gallas and Lilian Thuram were formidable immediately in front of Fabien Barthez, while Eric Abidal was simply outstanding, looking strong and confident on the ball and easily rendering Cafu almost ineffectual.

Just ahead of them, Patrick Vieira and Claude Makelele stood firm as the first line of defence, while going forward the former lent constant support to Zidane as the skipper weaved his way past opponents and produced a magnificent display of passing that created a string of openings for Ribery, Henry and, to a lesser extent, Florent Malouda.

Spectators were treated to repeated examples of the midfielder's brilliance, such as 29 minutes in when he nonchalantly skipped around Cafu before slipping the ball short to Abidal or, in the build-up to the free that led to the goal, when he sidestepped one challenge and invited another before releasing Malouda down the left.

When Henry rose unchallenged and brilliantly side-footed the ball home for the goal, the striker was mobbed by celebrating team-mates, but his skipper remained almost motionless on the other side of the field, where he eventually received the congratulations of Vieira.

At the end too he remained distant from the celebrations, quietly acknowledging the few thousand French supporters behind one corner flag and then departing, preoccupied it seemed with the business still to come.

"Now we'll try to win a place in the final," he duly told the waiting French press. "We don't want to stop now. This is so beautiful and we want it to carry on.

"Two more games," he concluded, "would be perfect for me."

For those charged with the task of capturing his career in a few hundred words when it finally ends, two more wins would be better. And who would bet against it now?

SUBSTITUTIONS

BRAZIL: Adriano for Juninho (63 mins), Cicinho for Cafu (76 mins), Robinho for Kaka (79 mins). Subs not used: Cris, Emerson, Fred, Gilberto, Julio Cesar, Luisao, Mineiro, Ricardinho, Rogerio.

FRANCE: Govou for Ribery (77 mins), Wiltord for Malouda (82 mins), (Saha for Henry (86 mins). Subs not used: Boumsong, Chimbonda, Coupet, Dhorasoo, Diarra, Givet, Landreau, Silvestre, Trezeguet.

Referee: L Medina Cantalejo (Spain).