Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari paid tribute to France after they ended his dreams of a second successive World Cup triumph with a 1-0 semifinal defeat of his team yesterday.

Zinedine Zidane's first-half penalty sent Scolari, who had guided Brazil to victory in 2002 in Japan, his first World Cup finals defeat in 13 matches.

After the final whistle, Scolari blasted the referees on the field for the 33rd-minute penalty decision against Ricardo Carvalho but he later conceded that France had deserved to go through to Sunday's final against Italy.

"It was deserved victory, definitely, for France," he told reporters.

"There are situations that are difficult. We did everything we could, we did our best. Congratulations to France.

"We have to accept this. We knew it would be a difficult match and had a few chances but, unfortunately, didn't do it and lost," added the 57-year-old Brazilian.

Scolari's future as Portugal coach is now open to further speculation after he was reported in British and Portuguese media to be on the verge of becoming England boss before the World Cup finals.

"I have a contract until the end of July then we'll see what happens," he said.