French Team: Barthez, Sagnol, Abidal, Thuram, Gallas, Wiltord(Dhorasoo 84), Makelele, Vieira, Zidane, Ribery(Saha 70), Henry

Swiss Team: Zuberbuhler, Degen, Magnin, Mueller(Djourou 75), Senderos, Barnetta, Vogel, Cabanas, Wicky(Margairax 82), Streller(Gygax 56), Frei

Match Report: A decidedly old looking France side came up against a confident Swiss outfit, who were in no mood to let them dictate play here at Stuttgart. In recent meetings, Switzerland have had the measure of France and today in the World Cup, it was no different.

A quiet start to the game saw few chances appear for either side, as defences were on top. Henry was starved of service alone up front, and was closely wathched by Senderos, who probably marks him every day of the week when training with Arsenal - so no surprise there then.

The feted midfield of Zidane, Makelele and Vieira looked a shadow of their former selves and made little impact, except for one or two cameos by Zidane who looked to be sulking his way through almost all of the 90 minutes.

Switzerland looked more dangerous on the counter, and their best attacking options throughout were their overlapping full backs Degen on the right and Magnin on the Left.

The first real chance came from a Switzerland free kick which was whipped in from the right and evaded everyone to hit Barthez's right upright. The rebound came to Frei who could not react quick enough to steer it home.

Ribery had a half chance for France when Henry found him in space, but his shot was scooped over. Ribery then had France's best chance to score when a slip by Senderos allowed him to advance into the box unchallenged. Ribery's decision to try and square the ball for Henry instead of shoot at the goal was patently the wrong one. France would not get a better chance in the whole game.

A couple of unsavoury moments occured just before half time when French players tried, and succeeded to get Swiss players booked. The Russian referee was swayed by the shout on a few occasions.

On the whole the first half passed without much incident as both sides cancelled each other out.

Half Time: France 0 Switzerland 0

The early exchanges in the second half saw Degen and Magnin attacking down the flanks for Switzerland at every opportunity, and supplying decent balls into the box, although the front two of Streller & Frei were not mobile enough to trouble Gallas & Thuram.

In a rare good move for the French, Henry slid a pass in front of Wiltord who looked set to score only to be dispossessed by a great saving tackle by Senderos.

Magnin then created Switzerland's best chance when his run and wicked curling centre pinpointed Gygax at the far post who tried to head down past Barthez, but only made contact with his nose. A contact with the forehead would surely have sent the ball home.

The game sort of petered out into a stalemate, with the french midfield unable to keep hold of the ball, and the Swiss unable to make anything of their wing possession. Gallas was rarely troubled at the back for France, although there was good supply into the box from the Swiss fullbacks. A decent pairing up front would surely have profited. It's a pity the Swiss didn't have one.

Vieira was truly awful for France, Makalele only a little better, and Zidane just looked like he wanted to be elswewhere. Gallas seemed to think as much, and appeared to offer some choice words of advice to his team-mate, which only deepened his sulk.

Saha came on late for the French and looked lively, without doing any damage, as also did Dhorasoo who shot inches wide across the face of the gola with just a couple of minutes to go.

The best chance of all came with the last attack of the game for Switzerland. A free kick from the right was whipped in at pace by Magnin's Left foot towards the waiting hordes at the back post. Frei seemed certain to score, but elected to handle the ball at the side of his face rather than head it into the empty net, or leave it for Djetou who could have put it in behind him. Any contact would have resulted in a goal.

Switzerland will probably be happy with the point, but they should have taken all three. Then Zidane would really have had a sulk on.

Full Time: France 0 Switzerland 0

French Team: Barthez 6, Sagnol 5, Abidal 5, Thuram 5, Gallas 6, Wiltord 5, Makelele 5, Vieira 2, Zidane 6, Ribery 6, Henry 5
Subs: Dhorasoo 6 Saha 6

Swiss Team: Zuberbuhler 6, Degen 7, Magnin 7, Mueller 5, Senderos 7, Barnetta 6, Vogel 6, Cabanas 5, Wicky 4, Streller 4, Frei 3
Subs: Gygax 5 Djourou 6 Margairax 5

Referee: V. Ivanov (Russia) 3. Some real bizarre decisions from the Russian and some daft, petty bookings. Was conned by French acting.

Good: The National Anthems & the Swiss full backs.

Bad: Patrick Vieira looked like he'd never played this game before. Couldn't pass wind.
Zidane's sulking. O.K so you used to be a good un, now you're a has been, live with it. His attitude stinks and it must be affecting the rest of the team.

Ugly: In what has been a very fairly contested World Cup so far, with most games played in a genuine spirit, it was disappointing to see the French take joy from getting opponents booked for nothing.