First Shock

There has finally been a shocker in the World Cup. World Champions Brazil are out of the tournament! Well, it's not as big a shock had say Ukraine beaten Brazil, but France had been out of sorts in this tournament till this game.

In truth, they were never in the match against France. They looked strangely out of sorts, and perhaps overconfident. But take nothing away from the French. They defended resiliently, and tucked away the chance that counted. Zizou had answered his critics with a storming performance today. He totally commanded the mid-field in which Brazil looked second best.

I swear if someone who didn't know any of the Brazillian or French players but knew the reputation of the countries in terms of footballing terms, he would have thought the France team was the Brazillian team. That is a testimony to how good the Frence were playing. The only downside is that I still think Frank Ribery is over-rated. Besides not being the best looking bloke around, I think he does not have enough craft to be a good player. People who don't know soccer think that a player who can dribble is a good player. It's true that he might be eye-catching and exciting, but in this player, he doesn't posses the craft to create much or skill to put in the final pass or decisions to pass at the right time. Often he dribbles into good positions and wastes the possession there. He also can't finish when Henry put him one-on-one with the 'keeper. I think he is over-rated, exciting as he might be.

Anyway, back to the good points about the French performance. I'm happy that Brazil got knocked out only because I have my money on Germany. But I don't know if I should be happier or feeling more worried - that Germany now don't have to face Brazil, or that Germany might need to face a resurgent French side. If France continue to play the way they did, Portugal shouldn't be a problem for them. I think they would make it to the final, and I hope they meet Germany there.

There might be a conspiracy theory about having only European teams in the last 4, but they have always been the biggest footballing continent in recent times haven't they? Well done to Europe, especially France and Germany!