Older & Wiser, the French Foil Espana

France 3 - Spain 1

Excuse my excitement, it has been eight years since the French won the World Cup at home in Paris, and my best friend, a Frenchman, has never let me forget it. Now, for the for the first time since that magical tournament, Les Bleus are firmly in the hunt for the World Cup.

For Spain, France has jsut become the humbling agent for an overly-confident Spanish squad. Sure they looked good in the qualifiers, but they beat up on EASY teams. Given a little challenge, the Spanish defense crumbled, and now they'll have to WATCH the rest of the tournament from the sidelines.

For the French, today's victory means renewed support, hope and vigor for France. The French team has looked weak, tired, sloppy and slow over this tourmanent, but today they were reborn.

And the owe it all to one man.

Zinedine Zidane Or "Zizou" is widely regarded as god for the people of France. Since 1998, when the Algerian born maestro led a young team to world supremacy, Zizou has remained the icon of French soccer mastery.

His time with Real Madrid, will notably dry for los galaticos, marked a time of world recognition and respect for the power of Zidane. But recently, looking tired, old and exhausted, Zidane seemed ready to retire at any game, as he readily told the press he might.

After findind the head of Patrick Viera to break the tie in the 83rd minute, Zidane not only rushed the net in the final minutes, but cut in and out of defenders, crossing up keeper Iker Casillas and sending home the game winner. With his gold cleats flashing, it was easy to forget that THIS Zinedine Zidane was not 18 or 25, but 34! Having already told reporters that this would be his last World Cup and, in all likihood, last tournament of formal soccer, Zidane plays with the constant threat that a loss might be his last game.

And so, supported by a cast of revamped Frenchmen, Zidane leads Viera, Henry and Barthez against the Brazilians next week. This match reeks of the World Cup fianl in 1998, when the French met the Brazilians in Paris' Stade de France, and took home the World Championship.

Now, with Brazil fresh off their 3-0 trashing of Ghana, and Ronaldo still keenly aware of the his country's embarassment at the hands of the French 8 years ago, France must prepared for an impossibly hard second match.

It won't be easy, or clean, but the French are as alive as anyone in this World Cup, and with Zinedine Zidane at the helm, Les Bleus might just be headed for reclaiming the World Title.

* My good friend Tom Rodelli will now be helping me blog about the World Cup for the remaining matches and action of the Tournament. His login name, Zizou, betrays his alliances, and heritage. As a resident of Zurich, Switzerland for the summer, Tom will round out our World Cup coeverage with a distintcly European point of view. I look forward to Tom's many, insightful posts.