Abidal awe-struck by idol Thuram

France defender Eric Abidal was once hailed as “the new Lilian Thuram” but the full-back claims he is still overwhelmed by the ability of the man who will play alongside him in Sunday’s World Cup final with Italy.

Abidal, who plays for Lyon, was compared to Thuram by his manager at former club Lille, Claude Puel, before he had even won a cap for Les Bleus.

Now he and Thuram are playing in a back four also including William Gallas and Willy Sagnol that has conceded only two goals in six matches on the road to Berlin.

Abidal admits he is still in awe of Thuram, who has won a record 120 caps for France and whose only two goals for the national side came in the 2-1 World Cup semi-final win over Croatia back in 1998.

“Lilian Thuram is my idol,” said Abidal. “He has always impressed me even in the days when I used to watch him on the TV.”

Thuram again shone in a World Cup semi-final when he was voted man of the match in the 1-0 win over Portugal and Abidal claimed: “He played the perfect match.”

Abidal believes France have done it the hard way with knockout phase wins over Spain, Brazil and now Portugal.

He said: “They [Portugal] play in a very technical way like Brazil do except they are better defensively.

“We have only been playing the best teams and at this level we have to show how good we are.

“Great players come to the fore at big games and we will be there on July 9. We fought really hard to get here, but the further we go the tougher the matches get.”

Florent Malouda, who has started all Les Bleus’ matches bar the opener with Switzerland, believes over-excitement is the biggest danger for France.

“Right now, we’re all still euphoric, but we’ll have to get our feet back on the ground very quickly,” said Abidal’s Lyon team-mate.

“If we don’t, we can be guaranteed that we will be disappointed in the final on Sunday evening.”

Sidney Govou, another Lyon player who came on as a substitute against Portugal, also cautioned against the feeling of exhilaration.

“We’re all feeling absolutely delighted at the moment, but it would be a shame to get carried away,” said Govou, who was called into the squad as a late replacement after Djibril Cisse broke a leg in a warm-up game with China in Lens.

“We want to lift the Cup.”