Dethroned
One single lapse of concentration by the renowned defender Roberto Carlos, saw Henry all clear to score the winning goal to dethrone Brazil of their Championship Crown.
It was a completely new and rejuvenated French team, playing as a single unit. You could sense the purpose of winning in this team. Brazil never seemed to be in place for the match. The first half was good enough, but I was expecting Brazil to improve in the second half. The man of the match, Zinadine Zidane was just impeccable. After being sent off for a match, he seemed to have bounced back with vengeance now. He when clubbed with Henry, became a formidable pair. After many many matches, I saw Henry actually trying to go fetch the ball and move ahead with his deadly pace which was lacking for almost all the world cup matches I saw him playing. This match, I actually saw the Henry we so often see playing for Arsenal. And what a match he chose to come to his normal form !!!
Brazil were not taking the initiatives in the first half, and were pushed further back when Henry scored that goal, delivered to him by the beautiful free kick taken by Zizu. Brazilian players never seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Infact, they hardly were seen in the 18 yard box of the French. It might look like some good defending by the France, but I think it was mostly some very poor game by Brazil that cost them the match. It was very sad to see Ronaldo "diving" 3 times to fool the referee for a penalty kick. Brazil were getting that desperate !!! It showed the lack of confidence they had in themselves. And France now seems to be the only team that has always beating Brazil in the World Champsionships.
I am really surprised by the rise of France in this World Cup. This encouraging rise by the French can definately inspire them to atleast stake their claim on the Golden trophy. I see a lot of resemblance in this French team and the Aussie team we saw in the 1999 Cricket World Cup. That Aussie team had a wading captain in Steve Waugh, and the whole team wanted to gift the world cup to him. I see the same rise and passion in the Frence players for theyir beloved captain Zizu. It wouldnt be a surprise if Zizu actually lifts the coveted trophy. But a lot of this depends on their rivals Portugal ...
Playing without the game maker Deco, and an ailing Ronaldo, who had come back from a knee injury, Portugal gave a great fight to the strong England team. The match surprisingly was evenly poised, though i expected it to be a easy walk through by the English. Portugal, playing their first quarter finals, with Scolari being their manager had a great history in their favour. Scolari had been the nemesis to English team in the previous 2 encounters, one in the previous World Cup with Brazil, and the other with Portugal in the Euro Cup, knocking out England in both the instances. The tally now just increased to 3 !!!
Oh, what a tournament Frank Lampard has had !!! He has had more than 30 attempts on the goal, with atleast 10 definately being really strong and easy ones, and he has yet failed to convert them into a goal, including the final penalty kick chance he had against Portugal. It must have been so devastating for this best England player of 2005 !!!
Even after Rooney was sent off controversially, the match didn't lose its pace. Neither did the weight tilt towards Portugal, who were playing with 11 players, and was really surprising that they still failed to score a goal. This says a lot about the defense of England. But unfortunately, they couldn't score a goal, with both Beckham, being substituted for injury, Rooney, being sent off, and Owen not playing with injury. Gerrard, Lenon and Lampard tried all they could and still couldn't score a goal.
Ricardo, the man for Portugal, was what made the difference for these 2 teams. His 3 great saves, landed Portugal into the semis against France. It didn't really look like Portugal were playing better football than England, but it was the goalkeeper, Ricardo that made all the difference when it really mattered.
Its gonna be a very good match between France and Portugal, with the last 2 matches of Portugal being marred with controversies. Hopefully, there shouldn't be any such controversy this time around, and we get to see a good battle.
Its so amazing that all the 4 teams that i predicted to reach the semis are knocked out !!! Well, I guess I am really bad at predictions :p From the teams that have made it to the semis, Germany, Italy, Portugal and France, I expect to see a Germany v/s France final with France beating the home team in their own capital.
It was a completely new and rejuvenated French team, playing as a single unit. You could sense the purpose of winning in this team. Brazil never seemed to be in place for the match. The first half was good enough, but I was expecting Brazil to improve in the second half. The man of the match, Zinadine Zidane was just impeccable. After being sent off for a match, he seemed to have bounced back with vengeance now. He when clubbed with Henry, became a formidable pair. After many many matches, I saw Henry actually trying to go fetch the ball and move ahead with his deadly pace which was lacking for almost all the world cup matches I saw him playing. This match, I actually saw the Henry we so often see playing for Arsenal. And what a match he chose to come to his normal form !!!
Brazil were not taking the initiatives in the first half, and were pushed further back when Henry scored that goal, delivered to him by the beautiful free kick taken by Zizu. Brazilian players never seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Infact, they hardly were seen in the 18 yard box of the French. It might look like some good defending by the France, but I think it was mostly some very poor game by Brazil that cost them the match. It was very sad to see Ronaldo "diving" 3 times to fool the referee for a penalty kick. Brazil were getting that desperate !!! It showed the lack of confidence they had in themselves. And France now seems to be the only team that has always beating Brazil in the World Champsionships.
I am really surprised by the rise of France in this World Cup. This encouraging rise by the French can definately inspire them to atleast stake their claim on the Golden trophy. I see a lot of resemblance in this French team and the Aussie team we saw in the 1999 Cricket World Cup. That Aussie team had a wading captain in Steve Waugh, and the whole team wanted to gift the world cup to him. I see the same rise and passion in the Frence players for theyir beloved captain Zizu. It wouldnt be a surprise if Zizu actually lifts the coveted trophy. But a lot of this depends on their rivals Portugal ...
Playing without the game maker Deco, and an ailing Ronaldo, who had come back from a knee injury, Portugal gave a great fight to the strong England team. The match surprisingly was evenly poised, though i expected it to be a easy walk through by the English. Portugal, playing their first quarter finals, with Scolari being their manager had a great history in their favour. Scolari had been the nemesis to English team in the previous 2 encounters, one in the previous World Cup with Brazil, and the other with Portugal in the Euro Cup, knocking out England in both the instances. The tally now just increased to 3 !!!
Oh, what a tournament Frank Lampard has had !!! He has had more than 30 attempts on the goal, with atleast 10 definately being really strong and easy ones, and he has yet failed to convert them into a goal, including the final penalty kick chance he had against Portugal. It must have been so devastating for this best England player of 2005 !!!
Even after Rooney was sent off controversially, the match didn't lose its pace. Neither did the weight tilt towards Portugal, who were playing with 11 players, and was really surprising that they still failed to score a goal. This says a lot about the defense of England. But unfortunately, they couldn't score a goal, with both Beckham, being substituted for injury, Rooney, being sent off, and Owen not playing with injury. Gerrard, Lenon and Lampard tried all they could and still couldn't score a goal.
Ricardo, the man for Portugal, was what made the difference for these 2 teams. His 3 great saves, landed Portugal into the semis against France. It didn't really look like Portugal were playing better football than England, but it was the goalkeeper, Ricardo that made all the difference when it really mattered.
Its gonna be a very good match between France and Portugal, with the last 2 matches of Portugal being marred with controversies. Hopefully, there shouldn't be any such controversy this time around, and we get to see a good battle.
Its so amazing that all the 4 teams that i predicted to reach the semis are knocked out !!! Well, I guess I am really bad at predictions :p From the teams that have made it to the semis, Germany, Italy, Portugal and France, I expect to see a Germany v/s France final with France beating the home team in their own capital.
Yeah..soccer is really an unfair game...
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