France may want to enlist the help of the Italian defense to improve their chances at winning the Sunday's World Cup final in Berlin.

It's not a sign of the Italian match-fixing scandal crossing the Alps into France, just a shrewd tactical move. Defender Cristian Zaccardo's own goal in the match against the United States is the only ball that found the back of the Italy net in the 2006 tournament.

Fiercely motivated not to put in a repeat performance, Zaccardo and the rest of Italy will seek to ruin French captain and star Zinedine Zidane's farewell to soccer with a win in what promises to be one of the most evenly-contested World Cup finals in years.

France's defensive effort has been nearly as hard-nosed as Italy's, conceding only two goals in six matches.

Zidane's second final farewell

France's elder statesman Zidane will be called on one last time to lead the French team that was written off as an over-the-hill, divided rabble before the World Cup and add one more trophy to the case that already contains everything the sport has to offer.

The 34-year-old Zidane has been at the heart of the French renaissance, driven by the knowledge that every game could be his last after coming out of retirement to carry the French through World Cup qualifying.

"It's going to be very difficult, and we are going to have be at the top of our game, but we have the weapons to do it," said a clear-headed Zidane.

Zizou's magic a known quantity to Italians

No one associated with Sunday's final appreciates the threat of Zidane better than Domenech's Italian counterpart, the masterful Marcello Lippi.

"France have recovered the best Zidane and have grown through the tournament," Lippi said. "Zidane is probably the best player there has been in the past 20 years."

Lippi, the silver-haired godfather of the Azzurri, was Zidane's manager for three years at Juventus and he has passed his knowledge on to midfielder Gennaro Gattuso, who will be tasked with marking Zidane.

New sense of purpose

"He is one of the players who is worth the price of the ticket to see," Gattuso said of the French superstar. "You don't stop Zidane. You have to try to control him, and if you want to limit his effect you need a bit of luck and need to make the sign of the cross."

The Italians are eyeing their fourth World Cup crown and a chance to put a smile back on the face of Italian soccer, which has been shaken by two months of corruption allegations and have instilled a sense of purpose in the squad.

"We have shown that we have got some great footballers and that we are not criminals," said striker Alessandro Del Piero. "Everything that has happened off the pitch has brought us closer together."

France have historical advantage

France may take a slight psychological advantage into Sunday's final having beaten the Italians three times in major tournaments since 1986.

Their most recent victory over the Azzurri came in the final of Euro 2000, when Italy were just 17 seconds away from winning before France equalized and David Trezeguet struck a memorable golden goal winner.

The Italians remember the bitter tastes in their mouths as France celebrated. They want to work at evening the score in front of an estimated 1.5 billion viewers worldwide.

"We were 17 seconds from becoming champions of Europe and we all know how it ended," Italian defender Marco Materazzi said. "We were very unlucky and we want to put the record straight."