I gotta say, Frenchy was brlliant today…Zidane will be remembered for what he did today, this was the greatest thing he ever did for his country, i couldn’t believe my eyes, nobody on the field could either, what an absolute freak of a man…nobody has ever made Brazil look so stupid…Ronaldinho was looking for a place to hide out there…what class Zidane is
Frenchy is the real champ in the soccer world…that coach too, Domenech, what a great visionary he is, he reads the game unbelievably well, like myself when i handicap a game, except he has to adjust strategy while the game is going on, but he saw the same weaknesses i saw in Brazil, and took advantage of them, not a lot of coaches have the balls that he has, he is all instinct, nothing gets done by the book
I like this move today…Frenchy is up 1-0 with 15 minutes left in the game…what would most coaches do in that situation…sub in defensive players like Argentina did against Germany and try to hold on…yeah, thats what most coaches would do…what does Frenchy do…throws in 3 forwards to go for the kill…pure genius…he is really on the ball
Barthez and that defense is sharp, nothing gets through there, they completely dummied Brazil…here’s a little trivia…when was the last time Brazil got shutout in the World Cup, and who shutout them out…the answer is, Frenchy in 98 World Cup final, almost 8 years to the day
France’s record against Portugal…4 games played, 4 wins for France…combine that with the fact they just beat 2 very similar playing style teams in Brazil and Spain, and things don’t look good for Portugal…its also important to remember that France is the only team left with Champions on their roster, so they have a big advantage over the other teams in experience, and they are playing like champs too
As for Italy and Germany
Assuming the game will be fairly officiated…
You gotta give Italy a big shot in here…if anybody can break the Germans mentally, it’s Giusseppe, he can be irritating as hell…
Germany goes into this game at a disadvantage…
1-They are playing at home, and some would consider this their greatest advantage, but it also means that expectation and pressure on the them is high.
2-Germany has faded slightly as this tournament has gone on, Italy has just hit their best stride.
3-Germany has beaten Italy 0 times in 6 games in international competition, not including friendlies, but they did play a friendly just a few weeks ago, before this tourney started, and Italy smoked em 4-1
4-Italy again find themselves in a position where they play an opponent they know they can beat, and Italy is feeling good about their chances of winning this tournament, and their defense is at full strength, and players are well rested after the easy Ukraine game, while Germany had to battle hard to get by Argentina
5-Klinsman as a coach hasn’t done much, he’s a bit unproven, although doing well so far…but as the games get more and more difficult, the strategy and tactics of the coach come into play, and Lippi from Italy really knows his stuff
Now before this tourney started i said Germany is the team to beat and should be the favourite playing at home, runner up in the last World Cup, winningest soccer nation in Europe all time, etc, etc…but Italy looks like they can do a number on Germany in here as this thing unfolds
Its looking like an Italy/France final, they are playing the best ball at the moment and feeling really confident