SPANISH LOSE TO LUCKY FRENCH
Lilian Thuram clattered into Pablo Ibanez from behind in the box and treads on his ankle. Referee Roberto Rosetti shows no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Fabien Barthez goes the right way and gets close to the ball but the spot-kick from DAVID VILLA is rifled hard and low into the bottom corner, clipping the post as it goes on. Close to the perfect penalty. French keeper, 
Barthez, dived the right way, but Villa’s penalty was a ferocious shot that no keeper could have saved.
The French are flattering to deceive, and should Spain not be victorious, it will certainly be an absolute travesty. So far in this torrnament, the Spanish are playing fantastic football. It’s a joy to watch.
As I write this the French have equalised through Frank Ribery. A dubious goal that hinted of offside. 1-1 now at half time. It really promises to be a cracking 2nd half. Enjoy it if you are watching.
For someone who has a vested interest in this game, it’s agony to watch. France are slowly coming back into the contest, but my prediction remains true, that Spain will prevail. Still 1-1.
Spain are the more likely to score the next goal according to many websites and T.V. They say, 46% back the Spaniards with 32% opting for France. 22% are already preparing for the long haul and penalties. I must admit it has peno’s written all over it. It’s an electric game. Really fantastic.
Carles Puyol is booked for running across Thierry Henry as the pair chase a through ball. The Frenchman goes down holding his face. 
Yes it was a deserved freekick and OH MY GOD France have scored and taken the lead with 8 mins to go. Zinedine Zidane’s free-kick is flicked on to the back post where PATRICK VIERRA heads the ball home. There was a deflection and Casillas was wrong footed. Holy Moly what a disaster for the Spanish.
Zidane makes it 3-1 on a counter attack. The French are some lucky team. They will play the Brazilians in the quarters. Spain lived up to their historical name, "the chokers". The best team certainly lost today.
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Very good game. It was strange indeed, but in my opinion, the result was absolutely predictable. Spain played much better with the ball but, in my opinion (I must insist, in my opinion), France had more good chances, Patrick Viera failing to shoot an easy goal in the first half, with 0-0, for instance.
And no, I don’t think that France’s first goal was dubious, I’ve seen it replayed on TV and it was perfectly legal.
As I said before, Spain played well, but it’s obvious that they don’t have an actually dangerous striker and, plus, they didn’t defend correctly against the dangerous French. They will have to improve this kind of things if they want to do better in further competitions.
Anyway, it’s always sad for the World Cup to lose a team like Spain, who play such a good football.
Cesc
Cesc, I have to agree with you. The French did make more chances, but the Spanish played with a lot of flair, and the French just simply closed them down. Brazil should really have nothing to woory about in the quarters.
Anyway It’s sad to see a team like Spain go so early.
How many more teams are gonna get lucky? You’ve said that England, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Brazil and now France have all gotten lucky. Luck is of course present in all sports, but doesn’t play this large a role in the beautiful game. Right now I think the teams with the better clutch performances have advanced. France scored 3 goals, Brazil scored 3 goals, where’s the luck?
Dave, I agree with you, I think that Brazil will beat the French, since (on the contrary of Spain) they have some of the best strikers in the world. But, it won’t be that easy, they will have to avoid the deffensive mistakes that Spain made today. France are not as good as some years before, but neither are they as bad as they seem and, on the other hand, they are very intelligent, so you can’t play them uncarefully.
Charles, I see your point about luck, but in fact it’s true that the Brazilians were a bit lucky today. Ghana had a lot of good chances and, moreover, Brazil was awarded an off-side goal.
(By the way, forgive my mistakes with the language, English is not my mother tongue)
Cesc
Charles, Luck so far in this world cup has been a major factor. Good Teams are losing out because of bad luck. It’s unfortunate, but a fact of life. Brazil now seem to their name on the trophy. I will also not be surprised to see England go very far.