Wow, it is all I can say right now, wow! France pulls off the upset of World Cup 2006, with a 1 – 0 win over Brazil. France, the team that failed to score in 2002 after winning at home in 1998, the team that barely escaped the worse group in this year’s cup, dominated Brazil from the starting whistle. Zidane, Makelele and Vieera were dominant in the midfield, and controlled the entire match. Brazil never looked threatening at all, as they started with a 4-5-1 formation with only Ronaldo up top. Brazil was uninspired, and even in the final minutes, didn’t look like they even wanted to win. Probably the best match France has played since the 1998 final against Brazil. We had two other great matches, with both Germany vs Argentina and England vs. Portugal going to penalty kicks after 120 minutes of fantastic soccer. Italy only had the easy match, walking past Ukraine 3 – 0. Ukraine didn’t belong in the match at all, and never should have even been there.
Semifinal Predictions
Match 1 – Germany vs. Italy: This one is going to be hard to predict. Germany is playing well, but not fantastic, but they are at home. Italy is playing as well as any other country, but they have had an easy path so far in the second round. Germany should have the advantage in this match, but Italy is capable of playing horribly through 89 minutes and come out of no where to win. Germany should be able to control the midfield if Ballack is healthy. This should be a tight match all the way through, and I can see one team scoring, and the other team having to throw everyone forward, opening their defense up to counter attacks. Prediction: Germany 2 – 0
Match 2: Portugal vs France: I think everyone is stunned to see France here. I am pretty sure no one outside of France even gave them a chance at winning. They played the perfect match against Brazil, slowed them down and kept possession. They will have to do the same with Portugal, as they depend on speed more than any other team in the field. Portugal played well against England without Deco and Costinha, which was a bit of a surprise. This will be a great match-up in the midfield, really a fun match to watch. If Zidane can play like he did against Brazil, I see them having a chance. Henry is dangerous up top always, and has a good chance of scoring in this match. In the end, I think Portugal will be too fast and too good. This could easily go into PKs. Prediction: Portugal 2 – 1
These are two really great matches, you couldn’t ask for much more. I am excited to see what happens. Two of these teams will be going onto the final. I am having a hard time figuring out who I would like to see in the finals, and I think all possible match-ups will be fantastic.