France 1-0 Brazil

Gina is absolutely right. It is indeed a very, very, very happy day for me. I am dancing in a coffee shop, chanting "I told you so, I told you so, I told you so" (okay, I predicted a score of 2-1) and everyone is staring at me.

France is one of the only four teams that can beat Brazil, the other ones being Germany (when they are playing in Europe), Argentina and ... Uruguay (granted, that was in 1930). Brazil was completely shut down by the French defense (probably the best defensive system right now in the World Cup), being able to shot at the goal only four times during the last twenty minutes, usually only to be blocked by Fabien Barthez, Lilian Thuram, Willy Sagnol or William Gallas. Call this desperate moves.

For the entirety of the game, France basically put the pressure on Brazil, piling shot upon shot on poor Dida. Zidane was obviously the Man of the Game. I swear, the man was ubiquitous. Zidane passes to Malouda, passes to Zidane, passes to Makelele, back to Zidane, to Franck Ribery, all while going forward. Ribery was also quite fantastic, facing alone the Brazilian defense.

And what can I say about that goal by Thierry Henry? It was such a difficult feat. Volley by Zidane to a wall of attacking players. Viera tries to head the ball, misses, the ball lands on Henry's foot (I had actually typed "Thierry's"), who lobs it above Dida and ...

GOAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!

Ronaldo totally dived at one point, not that it mattered, since Ronaldinho failed to score on free kick. The constant remark during the game was about how fat Ronaldo had gotten.

(Me: See, [Diana,] Alex cares!
Alex: I not only care, I believe)

I also caught part of the Portugal-England game after Aaron woke me up. The game was in the middle of the second half. Everyone, particularly Luis Figo, looked exhausted, meaning they would most likely go to overtime and penalty kicks. ABC showed Wayne Rooney getting redcarded, which was not surprising, as Rooney is a big crybaby. As I arrived to Café Agora, I was unsurprised to hear that Portugal had won. Let's face, England's goalie is shite.

I was actually surprised to hear Marcelo Balboa make his only relevant comment during a game, when he asserted that FIFA ought to award one additional substitution for each team, should the game enter overtime.

Semi-finals predictions
Germany-Italy: Germany has a game very similar to France's. Strong defense and strong offense. They will shut down Italy. 3-0. They can be brutal like that.

Portugal-France: Total repeat of the 2000 Euro Cup final. 2-1

Which leaves the final between France and Germany. The last time France and Germany played was the semi-final of 1986, where France lost 2-0 (France went on to win the 3rd place match against Belgium). And before that, the 1982 final, where Platini choked during the penalty kicks and later lost against Poland during the third place match. I don't want to predict a winner for the final match. All I can say is, it's going to be tough and magnificent. But wouldn't it be nice if Zizou could end his career with another World Championship?