I only picked 2 out of 4 correctly from the Quarter Final stage, and I should have followed my heart in the Brazil vs France match. I just had a feeling they were going to pull off the upset and they did. Brazil did not look impressive all tournament and were lucky to come away with victories against Australia and Ghana. Their luck ran out today against a French team that all of a sudden looks very impressive, but as I previously pointed out, they were unlucky to have not come out of the Group stage with more points. Zinedine Zidane has hit a purple patch, similar to the one he was in during the 1998 World Cup which France won, and it was his free kick that led to Thierry Henry’s goal. Although it didn’t look like Brazil was any real threat to equalise, Brazil was awarded a free kick late in the game after the referee fell for Ronaldo’s dive. No prizes for guessing who the referee who fell for the dive was. Two free kicks in two games awarded by Luis Medina Cantalejo, one which cost a deserving team from advancing. Fortunately for the French, they didn’t suffer the same fate as the unfortunate Australians. I hope Fifa has learnt their lesson and will not allow this referee to control a match again this tournament.

Oh. What a goal, Thierry Henry!

England’s dream of a second World Cup triumph ended through penalty kicks yet again. They have yet to win a game in the World Cup through penalty kicks, and after battling for 120 minutes in today’s game against Portugal, England put on a less than memorable display in the penalty kicks. Two of England’s biggest stars, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, took disgraceful penalty kicks that were easily saved by Portugal’s goalkeeper. What this match will be remembered for is Wayne Rooney’s sending off in the 62nd minute. It still hasn’t been revealed if he was sent off for stepping on an opposing player’s crotch or for pushing Manchester United teammate Christiano Ronaldo after the foul was called. Either way, a red card was not warranted, and this was another example of poor officiating in a World Cup that will be remembered for poor officiating. England will have to wait another 4 years for World Cup glory, and they will have to do it without their current captain, David Beckham, who has almost certainly played his last game for England at a World Cup tournament.

Germany made it past Argentina via penalties too, but the display of the Argentine team after the completion of the match was something the global soccer community would associate with English hooligan fans, not actual players. I haven’t heard if any action has been taken, but their actions were less than sporting or graceful for that matter.

tcFAP2AX6XM
A little post-game scuffle

Italy 3 - Ukraine 0. I don’t particularly want to talk about this match. Imagine what could have been for the more deserving Australian team who would now be in the Semi Finals if it weren’t for that awful call.

Now for some predictions…

France has all the momentum going in to this match, and Zinedine Zidane is in vintage form. He plans to retire once the World Cup is over, and now that France has a head of steam built up, they will want to make it all the way through to the Final so Zidane doesn’t retire with a loss, but with his second World Cup trophy. For this to happen they will have to beat Germany, who should dispose of the Italians fairly convincingly. Personally, I’m hoping to see some Italian tears at the conclusion of that match.

France 2 - Portugal 1
Germany 2 - Italy 0

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 1st, 2006 at 10:53 pm and is filed under Soccer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.