Brazil and Les Bleus: Part Deux

So am I the only person thinking Bruce Arena will be the new coach for The New York Red Bulls? Why would they keep ass't coach Richie Williams on staff unless the new coach wanted him to be a part of the new coaching regime? I'm just saying, that's all...

The final quarterfinal is now set, w/ a French team most of us left for dead playing some inspired soccer to knock out arguably the hottest team in the tournament, Spain. What a disappointment for the Spaniards once again, as I had them penciled into the quarters and even giving them the slight nod over Brazil. However, Zidane and Henry will the French to victory, and the rest of the supporting cast stepped up to take Les Bleus into the most eagerly anticipated of the 4 quarterfinal matchups. Any chance Henry will send Spain's Head Coach Luis Aragones an olive branch after the coach's racist remarks against Henry a few years back? Yeah, me neither.

I know lots of you are more interested in the Argentina/Germany game, but whenever you have the past 2 Cup winners squaring off, it's the best possible matchup.

Brazil still didn't look great today, although 3-0 is a score 99.9% of the population would be happy with. Still, Brazil hasn't yet fond any rhythm for other than a few minutes at a time. Ghana played very well today and were unlucky not to make the game closer were it not for a couple of great saves by Dida. By the way, how many times can we be subjected to the media's headlines of "Going, Going, Ghana?" They used it after the U.S. was knocked out, then today...hopefully this is the end of it.

Okay, I've got some stuff to do that isn't soccer-related, so I've got to close now. The games are off for 2 days, but don't worry, I'm not taking a break. I'll be back tomorrow to break down the first 2 quarterfinal matchups, and I'll get the next 2 done on Thursday.

As always, feel free to post your comments or drop me an email at soccertalk@hotmail.com

See you tomorrow!