There are few things sadder than a dog that has seen its day. And few more glorious than proving the smart money wrong. Whatever the outcome of the World Cup final, Zizou -- if he can re-retire and keep himself retired -- will be one of soccer's bigger legends. In secular France, he is already a god.

LES BLEUS DE ZIDANE S'OFFRENT UNE FINALE DE RÊVE
CONTRE L'ITALIE (1-0)
[ZIDANE'S LES BLEUS OFFER ONE FINAL DREAM AGAINST ITALY (1-0)]
July 6, 2006 (Le Monde)

ZIZZZZZOUM !
Imparable !

ZIDANE FIRES FRANCE INTO WORLD CUP FINAL
AS PORTUGAL PAY THE PENALTY

MUNICH July 5, 2006 (AFP) - Zinedine Zidane fired France into their second World Cup final appearance in eight years, scoring the only goal in a 1-0 semi-final victory over Portugal.

The French captain shattered Portugal's dreams of a first ever appearance in the final after coolly converting a hotly disputed [?] penalty midway through the first half at the 62,000-seat Allianz Arena.

Pfft ! Hotly contested by whom? Señor Scolari? So sorry, referee Larrionda got it right. Thirty-two minutes in Zizou takes a two-step run-up and -- though the game played out -- the game was settled. And the sense of this was more than a percentage play on first goal. M. Zidane is simply a man who will not be denied.

Les Bleus were on the back-foot the second half but Seleçao could not finish its down-field forays. Holding the Portuguese scoreless was clearly not the same proposition as denying the Togolese. And folks, that, in the end, is what it is about. Not smart money, not stats. It is heart and having enough to win.

Play-by-play can be found here.

We wish M. Zidane bonne chance against Italy this Sunday.

PFFT (What is this?): Allez vieux ! 5 | Rayonnement français 5

Bonjour,

Rien à faire de ce divertissement d' hilotes juste bon à engraisser les multinationales yanks (CocaCollabo et Cie).
A bas le foot !
A bas la mondialisation yank !

Good luck to ? your country in Iraq !

Does anyone know what M. AB/AY is going on about? Apparently he doesn't like football, likening the players or audience or both, it's not clear, to Helots, a class of slave owned by the state.

Even France ahead is not enough to calm his fevered imaginings of a world threatened at every turn by Coca-Cola. Perhaps, M. AB/AY is off his meds today, or, perhaps M. AB/AY enjoys playing the clown. Who can tell?

DGB

@DGB

Bonjour,

1)Pour moi l' honneur de la France ce sont , par exemple , ses très nombreuses médailles Fields qui la classent au premier rang mondial.

2)Ce divertissement d' hilotes est l' illustration parfaite de la manière dont les multinationales yanks entendent abêtir le Monde.

3)Avant de parler monsieur DGB devrait étudier la comptabilité de la FIFA qui fait qu'elle est tenue par les répugnantes multinationales yanks (Nike , Coca-Collabo etc) .

4)Pour les médicaments j'ai encore le choix d'en prendre qui soient scientifiquement contrôlés .
Ce qui n'est pas votre cas si j'en crois votre bandeau de la DEA qui met en garde les Yanks contre les truands.
Admirable système libéral yankee qu ' ils prétendent imposer au Monde alors qu' il fait leur malheur à eux...

5)Je constate que Pave n'est guère prodigue de compliments quand il s' agit de succès industriels français:je m'attendais à un bravo à Airbus lors de la commande EADS-Eurocopter par les Yanks de Pave .Cela ne mange évidemment pas de pain yankee de féliciter la France au sujet des hilotes , illustration de la répugnante mondialisation yank

Good luck to ? your country in Iraq !!