FRANCE - BRAZIL

98 FINAL REDUX

FRANCE BLANK BRAZIL, AGAIN

FRANCE 1 BRAZIL 0

The Lowdown: It seems unthinkable now, but France nearly failed to qualify for this World Cup. Zidane and Thuram had retired and they looked inept in taking few points from their early qualifying matches. Then the turning point: Zizou decided to come out of international retirement for a curtain-call on the stage he had once conquered, and Thuram and another veteran or two joined him. This gave les bleus the spark they needed, and how well I remember their pivotal 1-0 victory in Dublin courtesy of a brilliant Henry strike that effectively ended Ireland's qualification hopes while bolstering France's. Yet in the early rounds in Germany the ghosts of the disastrous 2002 campaign had not been exorcised as the French struggled to top what was arguably the weakest group in the tournament. As a result, everybody wrote them off, including me it must be said. Big mistake. They bamboozled an overconfident Spain with a deserved 3-1 victory and shocked favored Brazil in a match they always looked in control of. Brazil were criticized for lacklustre performances throughout this tournament and many felt they flattered to deceive against Ghana in the round of 16. On this day their weak defending on aerial balls caught up with them when Henry found himself all alone on the end of a brilliantly curved Zidane free-kick on 57 minutes, and he wasted no time in deftly leaping to one-time it into the roof of the net for a 1-0 lead that France never looked like relinquishing. Brazil fought back with desperation, but nothing could save them; not some vintage dribbling in the box by Il Phenomeno(and subsequent diving), not Ronaldinho's oh-so-close free kick, not the introduction of Robinho, not the referees letting late fouls go uncalled in a final effort to will everybody's favorite team and FIFA's darling to victory. It wasn't to be.

Match Rating: 4 out of 5. Epic rematch of the 98 Final, but could have used more goals and it's always disappointing when the champions go out with a whimper.

Man of the Match: Henry was very effective and scored a wonderful goal but let's not kid around here, Zizou aka God was man of the match. He seems back to his old self, putting some brilliant touches on the ball and delivering perfectly for teammates, including the kick that Henry finished. At one point he volleyed the ball over an opponent's head and headed it on the fly to another French player, and he also took in a pass and eluded two defenders simultaneously with his famed foot roll-over spinaround technique that I can't adequately describe and which led me to exlaim out loud, "Wow." He is the greatest player I have ever seen in my lifetime. I can't speak for Maradona and Pele because outside of highlights I haven't seen them play but for my money he belongs in their company as one the three greatest players ever. If he lifts the trophy again he may even merit consideration as the new king.

Disappointment of the Match: A surprising number of pundits tipped France to upset Brazil and Brazil's weaknesses showed today, particularly the defending on aerial balls. Henry was scandalously left alone to slot home the winner with the nearest player being about 3 yards away and another Frenchman at that. There was another occasion where Viera leaped unchallenged to head a ball wide. How you can leave players of that caliber so unmarked on set pieces is unbelievable. France could have put in another 2 goals with a little bit of luck. Back home in Brazil all of the blame is being put on two people: Coach Parreira and Ronaldinho. Even though he won them the 94 tournament Parreira's pragmatic approach has always been vilified. Ronaldinho entered this tournament the undisputed king of world football but exited without scoring a goal(I think) and having failed to do anything of note. I think his problem may actually be his selfless nature. There is no doubting his quality and he is always willing to lay passes off to teammates. However, today he should have played ballhog. He's the best player on the team and in the world but he failed to take the game by the reins. It's not easy when you are double-teamed every time you touch the ball but great players have to expect and overcome that. The Brazilian papers rightly lamented that Zidane and France played like "the real Brazil."

Huh? Went to Bohemia Beer Garden in Astoria, Queens the night after the match and it was filled with Brazilian fans decked out in team colors and flags. They must have been a sorry sight, right? Wrong. They were cheering and carrying on as if they had won the game complete with booming drums and "Ole, ole, ole, ole, Brazil...Brazil" chants. One patron shouted out, "You lost." The retort was "so what?" Seriously, nothing gets a Brazilian down. Not inflation, not rampant crime, not another loss to France. Life's a neverending carnivale, apparently.

The Fallout: It's unthinkable that mighty Brazil could have a footballing nemesis, a bete noire that they can't overcome, but France are it for the samba boys. Les bleus have now knocked them out of World Cup 86, 98, and 06, and the last two held them scoreless. Interestingly, some other football nemeses(is that proper plural, I love the word nemesis btw) have emerged at this cup. Portugal appear to have replaced Argentina for England, and Germany are now Argentina's nemesis. Maradona told the Argentines before Saturday's game that Germany had made the whole nation cry at World Cup 90. Well, they did it again. France to play Portugal for a place in the final.

Extra: France look very good indeed. I had pegged them as too old after their earlier performances but they looked very classy on this day and thoroughly in control for most of the match. Portugal-France should be epic. I hope we don't see an Italy-France final, aka Euro 2000 revisited, because it would surely end on penalties. Poor Nike. Their Joga Bonita campaign was heavily invested in Brazil and only yesterday they released a new commercial featuring a Ronaldo retrospective. Another recent release stars Wayne Rooney. Whoops. At least they still have the street-ball ad where Henry does that ridiculous move(seriously, is that real?) to roll the ball into the net. In other news, although I initially liked Adidas' Jose +10 ads they are now completely played out.