France, Colombia and Cameroon are in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup. Brazil or Turkey will complete the foursome.

　　While France and Cameroon were sure of advancing even before their finalsgroupsmatches, Colombia needed a victory against Japan in Saint-Etienne on Sunday and got it on a 68th-minute goal by Giovanni Hernandez, who took advantage of a defensive blunder by Japan to shoot the South American champion into the last four.

　　France, the defending champion, thrashed hapless New Zealand 5-0 in Saint-Denis to make sure of winningsgroupsA ahead of Colombia.

　　In Thursday's semifinals, France will take on the second-place team fromsgroupsB. Unless Cameroon suffers an upset and loses against the winless United States, which was to be played late yesterday, France's opponent will be either Brazil or Turkey, in Saint-Denis.

　　"They are all quality teams," French captain Marcel Desailly said.

　　Colombia will face the winner ofsgroupsB in Lyon.

　　Japan would have gone through with a draw but the Asian champion had to blame its sloppy defending for going out.

　　Midfielder Yasuhito Endo turned over the ball in his half and the Colombians suddenly swarmed forward to score, with Hernandez controlling the ball and turning to slot a left-footed shot past goalkeeper Seijo Narazaki.

　　Shortly before Colombia's goal, Japanese striker Naohiro Takahara struck the post with a finely timed header and Zico's team pressed forward in the final minutes in vain.

　　"I'm very proud of the team," Zico said. "They played a great game today. We just didn't turn it into a great result. We only made one mistake and that caused us to be eliminated."

　　Hernandez' strike was Colombia's fourth goal in two matches after a 3-1 win against New Zealand on Friday concluded a 13-month scoring drought. Coach Francisco Maturana's side had not found the net in five games, since May of last year in a 2-1 loss to Mexico.

　　"Minute by minute, my players are reaching their top level," Maturana said. "Advancing in this party will help this team grow. We're here to have fun. Japan was a top-notch opponent and that makes this win even sweeter."

　　France got goals from Olivier Kapo and Thierry Henry within a three-minute span early in the first half. Djibril Cisse, Ludovic Giuly and Robert Pires completed the rout in the last 20 minutes.

　　Giuly, who also had two assists, said his team "was growing more powerful" as the tournament progressed, even without star Zinedine Zidane.

　　"It's important to score goals in which the entire side is involved," coach Jacques Santini said. "The goals were the result of nice collective moves. Our goal of making the second week of the tournament has been achieved."

　　"We are here to defend the title from two years ago and we'll do everything to make it happen," said Pires, whose team completedsgroupsplay with a perfect 3-0 record.

　　On Monday, Turkey (1-1) will look for revenge for two losses it suffered against Brazil in the World Cup last year. Brazil beat Turkey 1-0 in the semifinals before winning the title for the fifth time, while Turkey finished third in its biggest soccer success in history. Brazil (1-1) must win to advance, while Turkey only needs a draw.