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Is this the end for France?

I truly hope so. I also look forward to the end of England and Ukraine, cause they all play such boring, depressing styles of soccer.

Absolutely, I just can't see France staying with Spain they way they've played so far.

Stroke.. I AGREE! ::shock::

FIFA should swith Germany and England..let Australia take Ukraine's place..and Netherlands in for France.

Zidane wills France to victory after another dubious PK gave Spain the lead.

The Netherlands, and now Spain. So much for my picks.

I never took Henry for a cheat but when he faked getting smacked in the face, getting Puyol cautioned and then getting the free kick that lead to their second goal I lost all respect for him.

Agree Bazza. We're quick to criticize the officials, but the acting (diving) must be difficult to detect coupled with the size of the field and the speed of the matches. Three men to supervise the actions of 22 at that level could be no easy task. They have tried too hard to use cards to protect the stars, but I only recall 2 cards issued for diving. Both of those dives were in the box (ie, Adriano of Brazil).

It is also disheartening to have our announcers complement the ability of players to "sell the call" (Henry and the winning tally in injury time of the Italy vs Australia match). Two games ended via acting ability. Granted the Australian defender made a bone headed decision to slide in the box. At a lower level, we may have awarded an indirect for such a play.

Remember Croatia in 2002? I believe a springboard was issued with every checkered kit.

Allez les blues

Mark, you are absolutely correct. Marcelo Balboa is the worst for that. He talks about "selling" a dive well!! Instead of getting at the refs, FIFA needs to be getting at the players. For instance, France might be through at the expense of Spain, but if video evidence proves Henry faked getting hit by Puyol, which he did, then he should be suspended for that game.

Put him in a room with Eric Cantona....he'll take care of 'em!

Wait a minute.......Viva la France!!!!! They are both Nike compatriots!

Yes, finally some recognition for the refs. I am sick and tired of Balboa's advice about foul tactics and players who are cheated by the refs. And Wynalda's arrogance is even worse. His feeling is that " there are 2 kinds of refs - bad and worse." Well, there appear to be many alleged professional players who try to cheat their way to victory.

The cheats need a slap, not just a yellow card
By DES KELLY, Daily Mail - June 28, 2006

Football's justice system seems to be modelling itself on the British courts. The sport seems more preoccupied with protecting criminals' rights than punishing the lawbreakers.

After two national teams behaved so disgracefully at the World Cup they set a record low for indiscipline, there were people clambering over one another to shift the blame away from the players.

Suddenly these misunderstood souls were 'victims' who had been preyed upon by a ruthless authority figure.

In the hunt for an excuse for the shameful 16 yellow cards and four reds racked up by Portugal and Holland, everyone opted for the easy option; it had to be the fault of the man in the middle.

Never mind that the referee was surrounded by a dysfunctional kindergarten of cheats who spent the entire match diving, head-butting, shirt-pulling, elbowing, complaining, time-wasting and generally kicking lumps out of one another. There was certainly no need to punish them for it!

The pundits claimed the Russian official Valentin Ivanov should have dealt with the endemic misbehaviour in a more measured manner, that he needn't have stamped his authority on the game so early and should have used more discretion. Blah, blah, blah.

Perhaps he should have also paused for a moment to remember how little Arjen Robben suffered when he was five years old because — and get this — mummy turned up 10 minutes late for his first school team match.

Yes, Mummy took away Arjen's self-esteem that day. Mummy ruined his life. So now Arjen throws himself to the ground at every opportunity to 'express himself'. He doesn't mean to cheat. He just can't help it.

Why the ridiculous excuses? Let's blame the true culprits. The players behaved like spoilt brats and they were punished. The only more appropriate sanction would have been to slap the backs of their legs and send them up to their rooms without their tea, but since that response is banned by FIFA, the referee had to wave his cards.

Yes, there have been some shocking mistakes made in Germany, most noticeably by our own Graham Poll. But referees are bound to slip up when players set out to con officials and steal decisions at every single turn.

The phrase being lazily bandied around every TV studio after Portugal's win was that the official had 'lost control'. From my vantage point, this referee was one of the few participants who could actually remember what the word control meant. Everyone else seemed off their heads.

You are right on the money 2004striker.
Sadly, it is typical of FIFA which is run by bureaucrats and not true football people, like Blatter. They come before every World Cup and say "we want the refs to clamp down on this and that" and when the refs do it they don't back them up they step aside and stab them in the back.

What do they need to "clamp down on"? Just discern between what is a foul and what is theatrics. Play on! Tell Henry to get his butt up and tell Puyol to carry on.

World Cup analysis............so far -

'England? Terrible. It's almost fitting that Captain David Beckham threw up on the pitch. Brazil? Smug to the point of apathy. Ukraine? In the World Cup because of a lucky draw.
Portugal? Made an impact only because of their assaults. Italy? Wily enough to wiggle their way through even after being shown red, albeit only with a pounding penalty kick in extra time. France? Has some of the best strikers in the world with Henry and Trezeguet -- but only allows one to play.'

http://www.dwworld.de/dw/article/0,2144,2073071,00.html

I guess you like the winner of Germany - Argentina.

You have to like Germany's chances. Many of those players will be transfer targets after this is over. Podolski has just signed for Bayern, so that won't happen but who wouldn't want Klose, Schweinsteiger or Schneider on their team in the EPL???

Who wouldn't want a guy named Schweinsteiger on their team?!

SCHWEINSTEIGER!

and that awesome mohawk he's sporting