do you think, when scolari had been the coach of brazil, brazil would have won this match. i think so, in fact.
I could also say if Houllier, Le Guen or Wenger were coaching France, they would have won by a larger margin.
Yeah, and if Scolari would have replaced Arena as the US coach, the US would have beaten Ghana then pulled their biggest upset ever against Brazil, taken France to penalties and won, and would beat Portugal and face Germany with a chance for revenge over 2002. LOL !!!!
From the kickoff: I immediately sat up and said, "THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT!" And it was. France displayed a knowledge of their opponent, skill, and a winning spirit that was unbeatable. Zidane took control and led his team to victory. Brazil failed to show any initiative. This leads me to ask, "What is it w/ this WC? Why does team after team fail to play with urgency?" They may be tied, they may be losing, but still they refuse to press, to shoot. How else can you win? Why are so many teams playing like this, Brazil, of all teams, included? As to the debate about whether Ronaldinho or Zidane is the better player. They are both excellent, the cream of the crop. Ronaldinho has a few more years on his career, yet. But their performances, as with many others', point out how important the rest of the team is in helping the stars shine. Club teams that play with them day in and day out are more familiar with their moves and preferences. They help/enable/display the superstars more than these 'allstar' teams assembled for country matches.
While I'd still consider a few select players - Pele, Platini, Cruyff, (et al if I weren't drunk) as significantly better than Zidane - for this one match, anyway, Zinedine performed as an immortal. I'm not sure why there are any fans of football resisting such a moment. The sheer will to triumph of Paolo Rossi is the only performance I can recall from my personal cup viewership that rivals Zidane's against Brazil. Accept it for what it was, and be grateful you got to see it - all the yapping about defense, Viera, Makelele, blah blah blah, is just that: yapping - it misses the point. Anyone watching, and most especially the "uninformed" - that is, those without preconceptions about what "should" have happened, saw the truth of Zinedine's magificence. Yes, Viera and Mak worked and their work created the canvas upon which Zinedine painted. But never question who held the brush in this match, nor who was responsible for the masterpiece. It was one of those moments only players of immense talent can grasp, and Zidane some sure grasped it. p.s. I coulda run into that cross and come less close to blazing it over than a til-that-moment very average Henry did. Trez would have handled it just fine. Let's not start looking for ways to blunt Zinedine's class by implying Henry's finish from 12 feet out was some wondrous feat of skill. It wasn't. it was a gimme.
http://www.bild.t-online.de/BTO/sport/wm2006/aktuell/07/02/ronaldinho-top-model-alexandra/ronaldinho-top-model-alexandra.html to many sex for ronaldinho? weak legs?
Thanks for confirming this 'Red and thanks Advanti for confirming that Roberto Carlos is a liability. The Guardian's match commentary reported that the Brazilian defense looked like "furniture" on the Henry goal. An accurate image. Here's my impression of Roberto Carlos on the goal: Yes, that's a genuine Lazy Boy...
I was cautiously optimistic going into this match and i wasn't disappointed! i just wish i could have seen it live...watched it twice yesterday and France deserved the win. Pure class all around, the team played well as a defensive unit and there always seemed to be someone open to pass to. Very well done! As for Brasil, it's a shame cuz they have loads of talent but they just seemed to go through the motions. What exactly happened on the goal? 3 Brasilians marking 5 Frenchmen. Someone mentioned that it was a failed offside trap, but the ones that didn't move were in the front closest to Zidane. IMO Brasil just didn't account for the ball arriving at the back post and the wall of defenders was poorly placed.
The great Platini said what Zidane can do with a football, Maradona can do with an orange! Against Brazil in '90, Maradona dribbled past 5 Brazilians b4 assisting Cannegia in a match with hardly any other name to remember in the ARgentinian team! Zidane's performance was amazing, but you've got to give credit to the other French players for beating Brazil! Zidane was hardly marked, and had room to roam around. If France qualifies for the finals, watch how the Italians man mark him out of the game, with just 1 player, just like Euro 2000.
I think this is an insult to the other French players, Viera and Maka in particular. France won this match, not because of Zidane's brilliance, but because the midfield and defense prevented Brazil from playing its game. It was a total team play. There was nothing special about that assist. There were 5 French players in motion as supposed to 3 static Brazilians. Against Brazil in '98, there was nothing spectacular in scoring 2 corners with a header. France pulled through to that finals without Zidane! Zidane has been amazing, but not even close to the level of Diego or Pele. If you had surrounded Platini with all these professional talents who are superstars in Juv/Chelsea/Bayern/Lyon he would have performed maybe even better. But I raise my hat to Zidane in the last 100 mins with France.
This part.... ...explains this part. This match was mostly about the slow and inept Roberto Carlos and Cafu, and the strong defense of Viera, Makelele, Thuram, Sagnol, Gallas. The rest of it was window dressing. Au revoir!
I am surprised how many people do not raise questions about Brazil's defense on the free kick leading to Henry's goal. Isn't it bizarre how 5 defenders stood motionless, most visibly Roberto Carlos, who did not lift his head for a full minute leading up to the kick - he was holding his knees and staring at the ground. Not to say France did not outplay Brazil - but there have been plenty of games where the better team does not win, so at the end of the day, this play is all that separated these two teams - and it is worth asking questions about the strange behavior of RC on that play.
This has been raised a few times already, if you go 1 or 2 pages back. No one understands why RC remained rooted in his spot! But you need to understand that it was a curving ball. It always seems like it will never get to you! A few Brazilians tried to play the offside trap, while others went for the ball. There could have been an offside, but the rush was sudden. It was the kind of play that needed only a slight touch to make a difference. Henry happened to be at the right place at the right time. The rest is now history.
Indeed, this is the key moment and the strangest thing I have seen in football in a long time. I have addressed this earlier in this thread and a few others have agreed with us. One could say that if RC did not commit this stupidity the match could have gone the other way. But Brazil this summer needed the kind of wake up call that they would never have understood unless it was the shock of getting knocked out. But it is too late then isn't it? I think that Big Phil would have sussed this team out early, given them the wake up call and the hammer and gotten them to eventually play beautiful, winning football. As a result of the wake-up call of getting knocked out in 2006 Brazil will I predict win it in 2010... Especially if Scolari leaves port and sets sail for his native Brazil after today's loss...
beautifulgamer and kotto_bass, thanks, I looked through this thread for talk about the free kick mystery defense, but couldn't find people discussing it. To me it does not look as stupid as it does look bizarre to see RC bent over staring at the ground for such a long time as if he was injured or nauseous and not even pick his head up when ZZ struck the ball. As for the other 4 Brazilians stranded on the top of the box, I refuse to believe Brazil could have blown an offsides trap so badly - it's usually one or maximum 2 defenders who mess up, but 5 out of 8??? (or 3 out of 8 if the plan was to pull the trap.) I just want to stir the conspiratorial pot a bit - this reeks worse than the strange vertigo spell Ronaldo had in the '98 final - oddly vs. who else but la France?
kotto and mario - perhaps I went overboard with the hyperbole, but my basic point is just this - yes, the French defense was excellent, though they were rarely really pushed by Brazil, and yes, Mak and Viera were good in the midfield, all of which created the space and opportunity for Zidane to shine. In that space, Zidane's performance was breathtaking, and I'm not sure why anyone would feel the need to downplay such a last gasp of quality from one of the great players of the past decade by insinuating that what Zinedine did was easy because of all the guys around him. And as I said, I can think of many players better than Zidane, but fewer performances (that I got to see personally) of this quality, especially at the WC. It just makes me sad that some feel compelled to respond to "What a performance by Zidane!" with "Zidane wasn't that great, it was everyone on defense!" The two are not mutually exclusive. I personally think that's a really mistaken analysis, but that's more of a philosophical disagreement.
Let's watch the finals. If Zidane performs exceptional, then he gets extra credit. We're not downplaying his performance. He had some nice touches here and there, with too much room to roam around. There wasn't anything legendary about his performance. Same as the Portugal game. He just seems to be above all the other players in that position. It just gets annoying when people make comparisons with Pele and Maradona. Maradona in '90 dribbled past 5 Brazilians b4 assisting Cargegia, in a game that was tight, and Maradona marked all day. Now, that is a legendary performance.
Among other things, Platini is known for being jealous of Zidane (who is 10x the player he could ever hope to be). I'd say Zidane is up there with Pele and Maradona in an all time top 3. That however is true.
Zidane is exceptional is a fact. Zidane already dribbled much Brazilians, Spanishs, Italians in a row in his career and he never cheated or shoot a goal with his hand ! Maradonna was a great dribbler but that's all he was a cheater and his performances was under drugs. Zidane is much brillant , humble and clean not Maradonna ! The very best is Pele and after there is Zidane.
I'd agree with that - and Maradona wasn't just Marked, he was MARKED. And I'd still take Platini and Tigana over Zidane and Viera every day of the week and twice on Sundays, let alone elevating Zinedine into the rarified atmosphere occupied by Diego and Pele...
Platini may be 'jealous' because he never won the WC but as a player I'd take him anyday over Zizou. Have you actually ever seen him play ? I don't underestimate Zidane who is legendary status but Platini could do everything Zidane does and even probably more... Except dribbling and ball control Platini was superior in every aspect of the game.
Let's not forget that Zidane is playing with superstar defenders and midfielders in the best teams in the world, and has enough room to roam around. I can't count how many times when others have stepped up, and Zidane is simply anonymous in the team. Platini was mostly surrounded by home based players, and his performance at Juv. is legendary.