Eyebrows were raised by some Gallic supporters at the decision to assign Luis Medina Cantalejo the match after France knocked his fellow countrymen out of the competition in Tuesday's 3-1 last 16 win in Hanover.

Yet French veteran defender Lilian Thuram said he had faith in the ability of the 42-year-old, who awarded Italy a stoppage time penalty against Australia, to be completely impartial in Saturday's game.

"I trust the referee to be the guardian of the game's integrity," the 34-year-old cornerstone of France's experienced backline said here on Thursday.

"I don't think it's necessary to question the work of the referees," the Juventus player added.

FIFA's decision to hand the match to Mediona Cantalejo comes after heavy criticism by France coach Raymond Domenech over what he deemed unfair rulings by referees against France in the first round matches.

France had a solid appeal for a penalty against Switzerland turned down and a goal from Patrick Vieira against South Korea disallowed.

Domenech had also questioned the brace of yellow cards picked up by captain Zinedine Zidane and Eric Abidal in those games which ruled the duo out of their last group tie with Togo.