Going with heart

One game left.

Not the final I expected, nor one that most thought would take place. That Italy is in the final perhaps is not a huge surprise, given that they have been pretty highly ranked for ever and have been playing pretty solid soccer for a long time. France clearly is the bigger surprise: an aging team that returned a lot of the players from the 2002 team that failed to make it out of group play or even score a goal.

So the head says Italy: it has been the most consistent team in the tournament, the most organized, the most dangerous. With 11 goals from 10 players, opponents can't key on one or two. The defense has been magnificent, with no goals surrendered from the play of opponents. And unlike the stereotype of Italian soccer, that of playing only defense with an occasional foray into the attacking half, this team has played aggressive soccer, looking to score as well as defend.

But! France has been playing with heart, especially over the past three games. After the French beat Togo to get into the first knock-out game against Spain, a French fan I met at the bar where I was watching the game said, Spain would be hard to beat: "Too strong, too hard." But win France did, with a splendid effort from Frank Ribery and two late goals from a couple of the old men, Patrick Viera and Zinedine Zidane. Of course, this just won France a date with Brazil. You know, BRAZIL. Of course, all France did was dominate the game, the 1-0 score not indicative of how much France controlled the game. And Zizou was magnifique! His cross to Theirry Henry was perfect and the resulting goal as pretty as any scored in the tournament. Against Portugal, France wasn't as dominant and the game not as pretty, but to my mind that's as much because of the way Portugal played in this WC. Even here, Zidane showed his cool talent, taking three steps to the ball on the PK and blasting the ball past Ricardo.

It comes down to this: I'd really like to see Zidane win this, his final soccer game. He has been such a pleasure to watch this tournament -- not flashy, just brilliantly consistent. I'd be great for his final game to end with him accepting the WC trophy as France's captain.


Of course, if the game comes down to a question of goal keeping, all bets are off. I've been very impressed with Buffon and, though he's not been challenged all that often, whenever he's faced the attack from an opponent, he's been up to the challenge. With Barthez, you hold your breath and pray that he'll make the right decision (come out, stay back??), hold onto the ball (Figo missed a lot of net the other day after a Barthez bobble), and not make that one (or two or three) mistakes that can cost a team. History is a bit comforting here: Barthez has had something on the order of 9 clean sheets in WC play and the last time he played in a WC final, he didn't allow a goal against Brazil. And the French defense is not too shabby, either.

My guess: France 2-1 over Italy.

See you after the game.