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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 JULY 2016 Sport 50 SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL Pepe says fit to face France in Euro 2016 final THE Real Madrid defender missed Wednesday's semi-final win over Wales with a thigh in- jury and had been considered a doubt ahead of the Paris show- piece against the hosts. As well as missing the game against Chris Coleman's side, he had not trained fully for three or four days, instead run- ning drills and training alone on Thursday and Friday. However, he took part in the full session with team-mates at the Portuguese training base in Marcoussis on Saturday morn- ing and is in contention to re- turn to the starting line-up against France. William Carvalho could also return to the side after missing the semi-final win over Wales through suspension. Danilo Pereira replaced the Sporting Lisbon midfielder but he now looks set to regain his place in Fernando Santos' team. Portugal's win over Wales was their first in the tournament in 90 minutes having beaten Cro- atia in the last 16 in extra time before knocking Poland out on penalties in the quarter-finals. Pepe Deschamps shows his French philosopher side before final DIDIER Deschamps, who captained France to both World Cup and European triumphs, shared some of his sports psychology secrets on Saturday on the eve of his French side's Euro 2016 final against Portugal. The France coach wore the skipper's armband when the hosts lifted the 1998 World Cup and again when France claimed the European title two years later in Rotterdam. Asked if a final should be treated as a unique moment or as a routine match, he said: "A bit of both. It's an exceptional moment because there's a title at stake but you must not think too much about it. "What you need to do is approach it as relaxed as possible while being at the same time totally focussed on the match." But he added: "If you do sports as a leisure, it's differ- ent, but at the highest level, nothing is more beautiful than winning and victory is the only thing that counts. "There is some uncertainty, it's not science, and you may not win, but you have to do everything it takes to win and that is the state of mind we're in." Deschamps also captained Olympique Marseille to their Champions League title in 1993 and later coached Monaco to the Champions League final, in 2004. Asked if Sunday's match would be the most impor- tant game in his career, Deschamps said: "When I ac- cepted this job, it was not just to take part, it was to live moments like this one. "The best place is on the pitch. There is a certain frustration at not being on it with my boots on but I can't do that anymore". Didier Deschamps Portugal v France: past meetings PORTUGAL have not beaten Les Bleus since 1975 and are currently in the midst of a 10-match losing streak against Sun- day's opponents. Here, we take a look at the three com- petitive fixtures that make up part of that heart-breaking run. Euro 1984 semi-final: France 3 Portugal 2 (aet) The Stade Velodrome in Marseille was the venue for a most memorable semi- final meeting - with the hosts eventu- ally running out winners thanks to an- other inspirational display from captain Michel Platini. The France skipper played a part in Jean-Francois Domergue's opening goal and was involved in a personal battle with Portugal goalkeeper Bento - who kept out a number of stinging efforts from the Juventus striker. Jordao equalised for Portugal to take the game into extra-time and the Sport- ing forward would give the outsiders the edge by adding his second after 98 min- utes. But, with just six minutes of extra- time remaining, Domergue levelled and Platini scored a memorable winner in the dying stages before leading France to victory over Spain in the final. Euro 2000 semi-final: France 2 Portugal 1 (aet) More extra-time woes for Portugal, this time in Belgium. Nuno Gomes scored a stunning volley to put A Sele- cao in front, only for Thierry Henry's de- flected effort to draw France level early in the second half. Arsenal forward Henry would come close to finding a winner, as would Por- tugal's Abel Xavier, but the game was again taken into extra-time. Controversy followed as Xavier blocked a Sylvain Wiltord cross, with the assistant referee flagging to signify he had given a penalty for handball against the Everton man. Gomes was sent off for his protesta- tions, with bans dished out to the striker, as well as Xavier and Paulo Bento, fol- lowing a fracas after the decision - al- though Zinedine Zidane kept his cool to slot home the spot-kick and send France to the final, where they beat Italy by the same scoreline. 2006 World Cup semi-final: France 1 Portugal 0 This time a game lacking quality was decided without the need for an ad- ditional 30 minutes of extra-time - al- though it was another Zidane penalty which ultimately separated the pair. Ricardo Carvalho was penalised for tripping Henry in the box and Zidane again made no mistake from the spot. There was no rousing comeback from the Portuguese, who came closest through Luis Figo and Deco - with the former heading over after Fabian Bar- thez had pushed a Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick straight back into play. France held on to win a forgettable match but this time they could not fol- low up victory over Portugal with suc- cess in the final as Italy would gain re- venge from six years earlier, beating Les Bleus in a penalty shootout.