France defeat Brazil 1-0

France defeated Brazil 1-0 with a Thierry Henry goal on Saturday to reach the World Cup semi-finals. Henry, left unmarked in the area, volleyed home a free kick from Zinedine Zidane for the winner after 57 minutes. This was a classic French performance which brought back memories of the 1998 World Cup finals where they stunned Brazil 3-0.

For Soccer Pundit, this was a high quality game in which France imposed their style while five-times champions Brazil, aiming to reach the World Cup final for the fourth time in succession, looked nervous as the game played on. Brazil did show more initiative at the start by winning possession and threatened after 11 minutes as Ronaldo headed a Ronaldinho free kick over.

France, gradually winning more balls in midfield and gaining confidence, began to dominate their opponents before the break. In the second half, France began where they left off, which is the consistent pressure on the Brazilian defence and not giving them the time and space on the ball. From their midfield dominance, they were rewarded with several clear chances to settle the match. Vieira headed a Zidane free kick wide before Henry headed into the net, also from set piece, only to be flagged offside. Shortly after France scored, Juan almost doubled their advantage with an own goal as he sliced a clearance aiming at a cross by the ever-dangerous Franck Ribery.

Clearly in control, France thrilled the crowd with fluent moves and despite Ronaldinho's efforts, including a free kick over the bar, they savoured a deserved victory. Before the match, this was a result which Brazilian fans could never imagine. Their team has gone on a run of 11 straight World Cup finals wins and France "barely-make-it" passage through the group stages did not instill fear into their opponents nor make them a hot favorite. However, they did not count on the great Zidane to recover his wizardy and Vierra's outstanding form to transform France back into a formidable unit.

The signs of Brazil faltering were actually on the wall as right from the start, the samba was missing and it was only an outstanding goal from Kaka that saw off Croatia rather than a convincing performance. In the match against Japan, Brazil finally showed some of their capabilities but Japan is not a top-flight opposition. Against Ghana, the 3-0 victory was also flattering and glossed over the insipid performances of the midfield. The Ghanians were not defeated by Brazil, rather they failed themselves with their poor finishing and defensive lapses when they went all out.

A Brazil, supported by a defence to reach thus far, is bound for failure as their culture is to play attacking football, not to defend well. Their famed one-touch passing being reduced to pumping high balls into the penalty box was a disgrace to their proud tradition. Ronaldinho has been an utter disappointment so far and has not shown soccer fans why he is the best footballer in the world. The fact that Brazil allowed Zidane to roam in midfield without closing him down showed that they did not have the tactical awareness to put things right and for this, their coach is solely responsible.

Soccer Pundit feels that it is justified that they lose the crown as world champions. Meanwhile, France proceed to meet Portugal and in Scolari, they will face a master tactician...