7/1/2006: France 1 – Brazil 0
What is about France owning Brazil ? Brazil hadn’t lost a World Cup Games dating back to the 1998 Final when France dismantled them 3-0. That’s eleven World Cup games, including the Brazilians successful 2002 campaign that saw them win their record 5th championship. Back then, everyone blamed the loss on the bizarre circumstances before the game involving Ronaldo’s fainting, how that had thrown the team off balance, how they looked like they had lost their footballing compass, etc, etc. But what will the excuse be this year ?
I for one think that France and their system just happens to match up very well against the Brazilians. The French just seem to have Brazil’s number. Their tactical formation simply neutralizes vaunted Brazilian attack. They do just enough on offense to win. Thierre Henry, one of the classiest players in the world, scored a brilliant goal off a free kick. Of course, it helped him that he was left completely unmarked, but he still had to finish (Lampard are you listening).
The French have made an incredible turnaround in the space of 200 minutes of football. After playing like crap in their first two games of Group play and languishing for 70 minutes or so against Togo, it looked like certain curtains for Les Bleus. But somehow, miraculously enough, they finally broke through with two goals to ensure their passage to the next round, and from then on, things have changed dramatically in their favor.
First came the game against Spain, when after falling behind by a goal, Ribery made a great run off of a pass to Vieira, got the ball back on the return of the 1-2, and caught Spain flat-footed trying to play the offside trap. He made a fantastic move to get past Casillas, and since that point forward France have never looked back. For the rest of that game and for the entire Brazil game, France’s defense, led by Gallas, Makelele, Sagnol, and Vieira have simply shut the opposition down cold. You can say all you want about Zidane’s wonderful performance, and it has been great to see the old maestro back to his old tricks, but for me, the French defense has proved to be the real Maginot line.
Against Brazil, France turned the tables completely and didn’t allow Brazil a shot on goal until very late in the game. Yes that Brazil. Simply an incredible performance from Les Bleus. It is more amazing given that Barthez is about as inconsistent and shaky a goalkeeper as you can find at this level and at this stage. They shut down Ronaldinho and kept him confined to making his patented passes way out on the wings where he couldn’t harm them. When Ronaldinho had a chance to score on a free kick late in the game, he hit it just high.
Of the teams left in the tournament, France just feels like the only team that can possibly beat Germany. I don’t think Italy can, even though they’ve had the easiest path to the semis. I think Portugal will be dead after their game against England, even though they get some key players in Deco and Costinha back for the semifinal.
France looks to be on a roll. Their tournament run could very well wind up with them winning the whole thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment