<p>I hope the French do not look past the Portuguese. Beating them seems like a necessary first step if Zidane & Co. wish to make it to the finals. Once there, I agree that Germany, assuming they overcome to boredome of playing the Italians, will benefit a great deal from the proverbial "12th man". However, one factor we cannot underestimate is France's desire to prove that 1998 wasn't a fluke and that 2002 was! Of course, nobody can truly predict what the Magician (Zidane) is saving for his last encore!</p>
<p>I'm glad Italy won, and I was hoping they would do so. However, I admit that I wasn't too sure if it would happen against Germany. The next game should be interesting between Portugal and France.</p>
<p>OMG WHAT! GERMANY NOOO!!! AHH!! WHY WHY WHY!</p>
<p>I am now officially rooting for France to win the world cup. They sure as hell better beat Portugal tommorow</p>
<p>Argh! England and Germany both are gone. How disasterous!</p>
<p>I predicted that Italy would win over Germany (i mean seriously, has anyone not noticed that Italy has an EXCEPTIONALLY STRONG defense AND not to mention that their offense is DECENTLY STRONG). </p>
<p>I however am not so sure about who will win between France and Portugal. I am rooting for France, however, simply because Portugal eliminated England (LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!!!!!)...I was so sure that England would at the very least reach the semifinals. Oh well... i hope David Beckham will still play in the 2010 World Cup. (I want him to win one world cup.) </p>
<p>But i digress...</p>
<p>All i can say is the Zinedine Zidane is a SOCCER STUD. As is Thierry Henry. I am rooting for FRANCE to WIN IT ALL. I just want Zidane to end his career on a high note.</p>
<p>By the way, Tetrahedron are u enrolling in UMich??? OR are u just here for the spirited soccer discussion thread???</p>
<p>The Azzurri's defense is technically superb to any other team in this World Cup. I think that the French have built enough momentum to beat the Portuguese but Domonech does have a tendency to make completely asinine substitutions .</p>
<p>I just got back from France, and the French went wild when Togo and Spain and Brazil were defeated. If France makes it to the finals, I'm going back to France with just my passport and cash to celebrate with the French. ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!! (That means GO BLUE, which, interestingly enough for us UofM ppl, is how the French root for their team.)</p>
<p>Portugal and brazil play quite similar football so......</p>
<p>I will be headed to France on Sunday...for my honeymoon. So if France can beat Portugal tonight, our honeymoon will be off to a slying start! hehe</p>
<p>omg u are so lucky! I'm headed for France around the end of july so maybe there will still be some leftovers of the celebrations if they win lol</p>
<p>It's such a rush watching the game in the bars in france b/c they're so crowded and everybody is so fired up!!!</p>
<p>Allez les bleus! 1 more to go</p>
<p>zidane is awesome. i'd have his babies if i were female. :-D</p>
<p>Italy vs France...not the matchup I wanted or expected but it will be a good game...It'll be tough for France considering what Italy did to Germany but we'll see Sunday</p>
<p>as for Germany...hopefully they can make their people somewhat proud by a 3rd place win which I think is possible (very likely)....I HOPE! lol</p>
<p>France has already proved that their 98' win was no fluke but they have the chance to show that there is still some spark left in the aging veterans. If they win, it will be the greatest conclusion to the career of one of the most celebrated and elegant players ever to have performed on the pitch.</p>
<p>Vive la France! hehe!!! Ok fellow Wolverines, my WIFE (wow, that sounds strange) and I are about to leave for the airport to catch out flight to Beirut and on Sunday, we are off to France for our honeymoon. That's right, we will be in Paris for the finals, so if France wins, we will be celebrating with a bunch of senseless frogs! LOL!!! We will be back in 3 weeks.</p>
<p>Anyway, take care of each other and I will drop from time to time to say hi.</p>
<p>Frogs! I haven't heard that one in a long time! LOL. Since this game will be the last of Zidane's career, I can't see any reason to not root for France this timee. Plus, I like saying "Allez les bleus!" ;)</p>
<p>oho both teams (italy. france) will play against my countries team, in september, muahahahahahaaaaa we will destroy them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>in september...for what??</p>
<p>Anyone gonna follow the Eurocup 08'? I'm looking forward to that once the world cup is over</p>
<p>The Euro Cup is awesome. It is basically the World Cup minus Brazil and Argentina! Seriously, 10 of the Wortld's top 16 teams are European, so the EWuro Cup is always very entertaining.</p>