Andy Gray

Has this been a classic World Cup? Not in my book it hasn't.

The fact that when I'm casting around for a player of the tournament I can't think of a single attacking player who has really impressed me, does speak volumes about the football on show in Germany.

All those players who we watched light up the Champions League and wanted to see at the World Cup have pretty much let the tournament pass them by. We're talking Ronaldinho (and the rest of the Brazilian team) Thierry Henry to a certain extent, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney for England, Juan Riquelme and Hernan Crespo for Argentina...

We've seen flashes from some of those players, but when you're talking players of the tournament you're saying Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluigi Buffon, Patrick Vieira and Rafael Marquez. And that's a clear indication of the theme of this World Cup.

It threatened to be a very, very good tournament - especially in the early stages - but a lot of it has been poor, underlined by some negative tactics.

Of course, the quality of the games hasn't been helped by some appalling refereeing - but in fairness the officials' jobs have been made harder by the players themselves. The emphasis has been put on Portugal by the English media, but again and again we have seen players from all countries throw themselves to the ground, feign injury and generally ensure that the game has had no flow.

That for me has been the hallmark of this tournament, it's almost like the referees have been told not to let the game flow as that could be dangerous. So instead we get the whistle blown every other second for petty offences, which to be fair have usually been exaggerated by the players involved.

For me, that is a very, very ordinary French side that has reached the final. Aside from a good victory against Spain, they've beaten a very poor Brazil side and a very limited Portuguese one.

I certainly don't go along with the idea of Luiz Scolari being a tactical master - when you're 1-0 down, why on earth would you wait until the 75th minute to go two up front. And even in the dying minutes, they didn't get enough players in the box but still tried to pass the ball into the net.

Games that are so tight are won by substitutions, and Marcello Lippi showed that on Tuesday night when he made the right decisions and swung the game in Italy's favour. That match was a clash between two well-organised and well-disciplined sides, and sometimes at this level, it needs an inspirational substitution. Hats off to Marcello Lippi for making the right calls at the right time.

I hope they win the final because I just think they've played better football than France. At the back they're extremely strong and I think they will make life extremely difficult for Zinedine Zidane on the night. They have more strength in depth, more options and better fitness than their opponents.

The sentimental vote may go to Zidane to bow out on a high, but the Italians aren't big on sentiment and to be honest, I think it may be a game too far for him anyway. My vote goes to Italy to give us a final more memorable than too much of this tournament.

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