France drops Portugal
Good old France gets one more chance at winning the cup. Yesterday saw a French team that was well below the level of the Brazil match, but even at that level, they were able to handle the Portuguese.
There have been some who question the fairness of the match, saying that Portugal should have got a penalty kick for Ronaldo's fall in the box, but on replay, the ref made the right call. Ronaldo was not touched in the air or even as he jumped, yet somehow he flopped all over the place. I think there is a name for that sort of thing and it goes by 'dive' (for a definition, see Italy). Unlike the call for France when Henry was obviously tripped up to prevent him from getting alone in the box, the Ronaldo incident was acting worthy of a day-time Emmy award.
The sad fact for Portugal is they were given at least two chances to tie (or if both were connect win) the match, but on both occasions, they sent the ball over the bar. When French keeper Barthez started playing volleyball in front of goal, Portugal should have made him pay. Forget about calls you thought should have been made and finish the easy shots handed to you.
For France, if they want to earn their second star, they will need to play better against Italy. Henry slept through much of the match and the defense let way too much get by them. The Italians will not let them win with play of that caliber.
There have been some who question the fairness of the match, saying that Portugal should have got a penalty kick for Ronaldo's fall in the box, but on replay, the ref made the right call. Ronaldo was not touched in the air or even as he jumped, yet somehow he flopped all over the place. I think there is a name for that sort of thing and it goes by 'dive' (for a definition, see Italy). Unlike the call for France when Henry was obviously tripped up to prevent him from getting alone in the box, the Ronaldo incident was acting worthy of a day-time Emmy award.
The sad fact for Portugal is they were given at least two chances to tie (or if both were connect win) the match, but on both occasions, they sent the ball over the bar. When French keeper Barthez started playing volleyball in front of goal, Portugal should have made him pay. Forget about calls you thought should have been made and finish the easy shots handed to you.
For France, if they want to earn their second star, they will need to play better against Italy. Henry slept through much of the match and the defense let way too much get by them. The Italians will not let them win with play of that caliber.
posted by Mike H at 8:03 AM
1 Comments:
Mike, I stumbled upon your weblog and I enjoyed reading many of the comments. I am starting a soccer company and you can view my blog if you are interested. Who do you want to win the cup? I'm hoping for a similar finish to the Italy and Germany game in the Final. I really like Zidane (especially after watching his perfect touches in the Brazil game), but I also like Totti and the Italians. I grew up watching Baggio, so my heart is with the them, but I want to see a well played match. I agree with you that if France doesn't get more production out of Henry, they will have tremendous difficulty winning. I think France has one of the most underrated defenses as well. They didn't give Portugal or Brazil anything. Anyways, I just wanted to give you a shout out. Peace and love.
Post a Comment
<< Home