A final like no other as Cameroon play to honour Foe

Sunday's Confederations Cup final between France and Cameroon will be like no other, an occasion laced with poignancy being held in the shadow of the sudden death of Marc Vivien Foe.

To acknowledge Thursday's tragedy in Lyon, the match at the Stade de France here will be stripped of all the razzmatazz and spectacle that normally accompanies such an event, leaving just the football to act as a tribute to the 28-year-old Cameroon international.

"Everything that's not football, like the closing ceremony, has been cancelled," said Chuck Blazer, president of FIFA's competitions organising commission.

FIFA said the best way to mark Foe's death after his collapse in the 72nd minute of the semi against Colombia was to stage a final imbued with "great dignity".

French skipper Marcel Desailly was not alone among Les Bleus in questioning whether the match should go ahead at all but Roger Milla, Cameroon's 1990 World Cup star, explained: "We had a meeting with the players and directors and decided to go ahead and play in his honour".

Quite how the Indomitable Lions and their Gallic counterparts will cope with the challenge facing them is impossible to say but a recent precedent, when Michael Schumacher won the San Marino Grand Prix only hours after the death of his mother, suggests that for 90 minutes at least they will place grief to one side and concentrate on the job in hand.

France's Manchester United defender Mikael Sylvestre suggested a fitting outcome would be to have "two winners".

"That's a possibility that doesn't displease me," he said.

"It's a final where the match takes secondary importance," he continued.

"We'll all need lots of courage, but the game will be for Foe."

The mourning Cameroon squad made the trip up from Lyon, where they beat Colombia 1-0 to their new HQ in the suburbs of Paris on Friday, electing to stay behind closed doors and forgo the chance to hold a public training session.

The African and Olympic champions have asked and been granted special permission to carry the name of their dead teammate on their shirts.

Cameroon, who drew 1-1 in their only previous encounter with the hosts, would not have been on everyone's shortlist to make the final after their first round exit from the World Cup last summer.

Yet under German coach Winfried Schafer they stunned World Cup winners Brazil and third-placed Turkey and drew 0-0 with the United States before seeing off Colombia.

Striker Samuel Eto'o, lining up for his club Real Mallorca in the Spanish Cup final on Saturday, could well make a quick reappearance 24 hours later for his country at the Stade de France.

FIFA reported that there was nothing in the rules to stop Eto'o, scorer of the decisive goal against Brazil, from taking part in two games so close together.

France have led a charmed life since the start of this competition, being awarded a dubious penalty in their opener against Colombia, and then being let off the hook when Yokan Yilmaz squandered a spot kick in the final minutes of Thursday's semi-final win against Turkey.

In winning that 3-2 the European champions produced some fine football, with the goals coming from Arsenal trio Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Sylvain Wiltord.

And all this without the talismanic Zinedine Zidane.

"The puzzle is to build ourselves without 'Zizou', it's important for the confidence," noted coach Jacques Santini, terribly moved by the passing of the player he had managed at Lyon.

This will be the last Confederations Cup final, for the next edition in 2005 has been renamed the Marc Vivien Foe Trophy.