Posted on Tuesday 27 June 2006
I had a feeling at the start of this match that France was going to win this thing. Spain shows flashes at times of how brilliant they should be. But, in the end, they always duck out earlier than they should–and things are starting to get late in the World Cup. It was time for them to make their exit. France obliged with a couple late goals to send them packing 3-1.
I always start thinking that things are going to be different this time, but they almost never are. Brazil will probably win the Cup. England will lose somewhere on penalties. The sun will come up tomorrow. Spain will get knocked out earlier than expected by losing a match they should have won.
France has its own funk to deal with, but for now, they live to fight another day. It should still be interesting against Brazil. Both teams may actually show up ready to play. I’m looking for Brazil to put on the first real demonstration of what they are actually capable of, though. Losing to Brazil in the quarters is no great shame, and France seem more intent to avoid another shameful tournament rather than actually thinking they can win it.
Brazil, on the other hand, act like they already have won it and are just playing some exhibition matches for the fans. It’s about time for them to show up. I thought Spain would have a chance to upset them, but I don’t think France has it in them. Brazil will Beat France then Portugal (or England on penalties), then Italy.
It’s starting to look as inevitable as the sun rising.
I just returned from a business trip to the US and I had a chance to watch ESPN’s post game. It was really really bad.
The young announcer in the middle did not know how to pronounce the first name of Zinedine Zidane. What a laugh, maybe without thinking, this guy (i won’t name him because he does not merit mention) started to pronounce the first syllable of Zinedine then hestitated and skipped to Zidane… It was clear he had never pronounced the name.
Anyone that follows soccer with any frequency would know that the pronounciation is “zin a dean”
If ESPN staff cannot pronounce the first name of Zidane, I wonder how much they really know about football.
I don’t buy into the common perception that Brazil is invincible and neither I believe do France, who have a fairly good amount of experience at defeating the Brazilians.
Adriano and Ronaldo look good against Ghana but let’s see how good they look against the likes of Thurham. I can comment a bit about that because I watched Adriano against Juventus earlier this year. He is easily distracted by a quality defense and certainly France will go man up against both Ronaldo and Adriano.
I predicted a month ago that Brazil was going to have a tough time to win this tourney. France will give the Brazians there first real test of the tournament and don’t be surprised if France get past Brazil.
The French tactic will be to always hold numerical superiority while defending the scoring area and to man up on Ronaldo and frustrate Adriano. For Brazil the key is Kakà, it will be up to him to find the one or two holes that might open up in 90 minutes and put one in.
For France it comes down once again to Zidane. Can he move the ball quickly towards the opponent goal and create advantageous situations for a France that won’t be attacking very aggresively.
I think France will upset here.
They know nothing. It’s been sad. They’re constantly inventing players such as Michael Beckham. Too many infractions to even begin listing. My biggest problem with them is they just can’t shut up. Nothing worse than some ignorant fool (except for two ignorant fools, I suppose–which is what we get) with a never ending stream of nonsense (his PK had the accuracy, it was just a little high????–what the hell does that even mean? Just let the game speak for itself. There’s no need to give your 2 cents on every little action–especially when your 2 cents is wrong anyway.
I understand the Canadian viewers, used to the one man (British) announcer doing the match, were outraged when they lost the feed and had to put up with the comical American version for a bit. Now they can see what we have to deal with.
And the sad thing is, ESPN doesn’t even seem to realize how rubbish they are. It’s a complete disrespect to the football fans in this country.