<p> France Beats Brazil at Its Own Game <br/>FRANKFURT, July 1 — At age 34, Zinédine Zidane has prematurely lost much of his hair but little of his magnificent soccer skill, which was on stirring display Saturday night as France ousted the five-time champion Brazil from the World Cup.<br/>It was Zidane's looping free kick in the 57th minute that forward Thierry Henry volleyed into the net for a 1-0 victory, setting up a semifinal against Portugal on Wednesday.</p><p>While Brazil appeared lethargic, almost uninterested — until it was forced into a frantic attempt to level the score — France beat the defending champion Brazilians at their own beautiful game: crisp short passes on the ground, ornamental footwork and an effervescent spirit.</p><p>Brazil, which had appeared in the previous three World Cup finals, winning twice, never achieved its usual joyful brand of samba soccer in this tournament. And now it exits having been thoroughly beaten twice by Zidane and France in the past eight years in soccer's global championship tournament.</p><p>In 1998, Zidane, widely considered one of soccer's greats, scored two goals in a 3-0 victory over Brazil in the final of the World Cup outside Paris, setting off the largest celebration on the Champs-élysées since the end of World War II.</p><p>He is scheduled to retire after this World Cup, but his going-away party has been postponed for at least one more match. He seems free, unburdened by pressure or expectation, exulting in a fabulous deferment of the end of his career.</p><p>On Saturday, Zidane spryly juggled the ball on his thigh. He fired wraparound passes. He dashed vigorously and creatively from one flank to another. And he dribbled intricately around and through the Brazilian midfielders as if they were cones on a practice field.</p><p>" recisely because he's going to retire, he's fully invested in this game," Raymond Domenech, France's coach, said of Zidane. "He doesn't have to calculate anything. Every moment is perhaps his last one."</p><p>Meanwhile, Brazil was left exhausted, lacking in urgency and curiously indolent until the final half hour of play. Ronaldinho, considered the world's best player, was pushed from midfield up to forward, but he failed again to become sufficiently involved.</p><p>Instead, Ronaldinho disappeared into a smothering French defense that used as many as nine men to silence Brazil, and he was thoroughly outperformed by Zidane as a playmaker. </p><p>Ronaldo, overweight and sedentary at forward, did not threaten until near the end, when he began to run with great determination at the French defense. Often, he just stood around. Once, he fell clumsily in the penalty area.</p><p>Brazil's outside backs, Cafu and Roberto Carlos, launched one purposeless pass after another. And, in the closing minutes, Roberto Carlos could only manage to walk upfield as his team desperately needed a goal to force overtime.</p><p>Afterward, Ronaldo walked disgustedly off the field, not bothering to shake hands with Zidane, until now his teammate at Real Madrid. Midfielder Zé Roberto fell onto his back, his hands covering his face. He seemed shocked in defeat and was no doubt tired from having chased Zidane all game.</p><p>The exit of Brazil, considered by many a heavy favorite to win the tournament, allowed France to join Portugal, England and Germany in the first all-European semifinals since 1982.</p><p>"I wasn't prepared for defeat," said Brazil's coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira. "It never crossed my mind we wouldn't come to the final. It's a very hard moment."</p><p>arreira, who led Brazil to the 1994 World Cup title, said in a bristling way that losing was always the coach's fault. He would not say whether he would continue as coach. He wondered aloud whether Brazil had adequately melded its individual brilliance into a team. </p><p>Meanwhile, the victory continued an extraordinary resurgence for France. It had departed in embarrassment in the first round of the 2002 World Cup, without having scored a goal. Many believed the team had aged indelicately after winning the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European championship.</p><p>Before this tournament, Les Bleus, as the French team is known, received harsh criticism from the French news media and fans. Some players even said they no longer wanted to play in Paris.</p><p>And when France struggled early in group play, Domenech, 57, was jeered during introductions before a victory over Togo. The lingering tension was apparent Saturday when Zidane refused to speak with reporters at a news conference after the match.</p><p><br/>"We needed a great match and we delivered," Zidane was quoted as saying to Reuters immediately after the match. "We knew we would have to be fit physically and we were. We fought closely together for a well-deserved victory. Now we'll try to win a place in the final. We don't want to stop now. This is so beautiful, we want it to carry on."</p><p>France has also received criticism from the far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, head of the anti-immigrant National Front. Le Pen, as he has done many times, has accused the team of using too many black players. And he has said the squad was not sufficiently respectful in singing the national anthem.</p><p>The World Cup victory in 1998, achieved with a diverse team with backgrounds in the former French colonies, was considered a victory for multiculturalism and a repudiation of Le Pen's position.</p><p>That team was widely hailed while winning in its own country. And this one is already being embraced. The victory brought tens of thousands of people and fireworks to the Champs-élysées.</p><p>"The public supports the team," defender Lilian Thuram said earlier in the World Cup. "They don't ask what color the players are."</p><p>In the second round, a somnolent French team awakened with an impressive victory over Spain, ignoring the racist monkey chants made by some Spanish fans and the whistling at "La Marseillaise," France's national anthem.</p><p>On Saturday night, there were no political or racial tensions, only a soccer match between two of the world's best teams. France struggled early, attempting to play long ball. Then it undertook a Brazilian style of possession, building up confidently through the middle and along the wings.</p><p>In the 45th minute, Zidane cut so sharply near midfield that he left a pair of Brazilians, defender Lúcio and midfielder Gilberto Silva, sprawled on the ground.</p><p>In the 57th minute, Zidane waltzed around a flat-footed Ronaldo near midfield, flicking the ball over his head and heading it to a teammate. Eventually, France won a free kick and Zidane set up on the left flank, about 30 yards from goal.</p><p>His kick kept floating like a hot-air balloon toward the far post, where Henry was left startlingly unmarked. He volleyed the ball without obstruction and France had the only goal it needed.</p><p>"They had more patience than our players," Parreira said. "They were not playing hastily."</p><p>Of Zidane, he added: "He moved all the time. He made it hard for our players. This was decisive." </p><p>Asked to explain the play of his star midfielder, Domenech said: "He is Zidane. You seem surprised. I'm not surprised at all. I know exactly what he's capable of doing."</p><p>And so does Brazil.</p><p></p> |
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