France coach Raymond Domenech tried to soften the tone ahead of tonight's World Cup semi-final with Portugal after defender William Gallas had predicted Luiz Felipe Scolari's side would use every trick in the book against Les Bleus.
Gallas warned that the Portuguese would try to "destabilise" France with "little fouls" and "diving" but Domenech avoided any provocative comments about the Portuguese when he took the microphone after the Chelsea defender had finished speaking.
Asked about Gallas' remarks, Domenech said: 'Portugal can play well, they will cause us problems technically, tactically and physically.
'They have shown they are a good team because they have reached the semi-finals, it would be wrong to dismiss them in that way.'
Domenech, who was France's Under-21 coach when Les Bleus won the 1998 World Cup, continued: 'We are ready for the semi-final, we are feeling exceptionally well.'
Repeating what has become a regular phrase at his press conferences in Germany, Domenech said: 'Our objective remains July 9 (the day of the final) but to get to July 9 we must be better still because Portugal did not get to the semi-final by accident.'
Domenech is expected to stick with the same team that has beaten Spain in the last 16 and outgoing champions Brazil in the quarter-finals.
