Allons Enfants de la Patrie....
Le jour de gloire est arrivee!
- La Marseillaise, French National Anthem (for complete lyrics click on the post headline)
Eight years the Swampmeister was lucky enough to be in France for most of that year's glorious World Cup. The host country showed unity, played decent football and wound up celebrating its new hero Zinedine Zidane - (c) photo: Shaun Best, Reuters) - during the mad victory celebrations his image was laser-projected onto the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysee!
This year I've been in Germany for most of the Copa and enjoyed being a supporter of Tunisia. However, once they were eliminated (as was ol' Sweden) my allegiances shifted....again. We were blessed with tickets for the Spain-France game in Hannover because under the somewhat confusing ticketing rules - Spain had won the group that Tunisia was in.
It was one of the best games in the tournament so far and the stadium was awesome, purpose built for soccer. And it reawakened my passion for les Bleus. It didn't hurt that I was traveling with my French cousin and his wife. Merci beaucoup! The skills of Zidane, Thuram and Henry are pure aestethics.
Ribery dishing it out to Spain(c) AP, Kai-Uwe Knoth
One of the new players - France has a perfect mix of age and youth - is Franck Ribery. He moves like lightning and is the most part of the great five man midfield. In the game against Spain he scored the all important equalizer just after the Spaniards had taken the lead. Today's WP has a great portrait of a man with a fascinating life story.
In the subsequent games against Brazil and Portugal, he wreaked more havoc. The game versus Brazil also saw the best of Zidane - in a game full of ridiculously talented players, he outshone them by a mile. It will go down as one of the greatest performances of all time.
Who's Your Daddy?Zidane and Ze Roberto
(c) Charles Platiau
Tomorrow in Berlin, France takes on Italy, who knocked out the hosts Germany (my fourth choice team after Sweden, the U.S., France, and tied with Tunisia) in a thrilling semifinal. It was a heart-breaking moment for the Germans, who now have to try and settle for third place in the "consolation" game against the other losers, Portugal. This World Cup was supposed to mean so much for the German geist, economy, and the plan was to win it. In a later post, I will address all this and the issues surrounding the California-based coach Klinsmann.