ROTTERDAM, July 1 (Reuters) - French midfielder Emmanuel Petit may miss Sunday's Euro 2000 final with Italy because of a fever, France's coach Roger Lemerre said on Saturday.

Lemerre told a news conference a decision on Petit would be taken after assessing the player's health on Sunday.

'There is some worry because he has a cold and he has had a fever but it is too early to make a decision,' said the coach, adding all the other players in his squad were fully fit.

Petit had missed two matches because of a sore left knee before returning for France's 2-1 semifinal victory over Portugal on Wednesday.

The French coach refused to drop any hints about his starting line-up but could decide to field only two defensive midfielders in Didier Deschamps and Patrick Vieira if Petit were unavailable.

In that case, France might play with two men up front - most likely Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka. Another option would be to hand over Petit's ball-winning role to Robert Pires.

France's impressive back four - Lilian Thuram, Laurent Blanc, Marcel Desailly and Bixente Lizarazu - should start the match with Zinedine Zidane taking care of the playmaking duties.