French Are Up To Their Old Tricks
And So Is Spain, Which Exits Early: France 3, Spain 1

By Steven Goff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 28, 2006

HANOVER, Germany, June 27 -- We have reached the elimination stages of the World Cup, which means Spain's elimination would not be far off.

Tuesday night, to be exact. How utterly predictable.

The Spaniards took the lead against a weathered French squad, then collapsed in a way only they could. Frank Ribery scored the equalizer before halftime and, in a stunning final 10 minutes, Patrick Vieira sent the 1998 champions ahead with a deflected header before Zinedine Zidane applied the finishing touches to France's 3-1 victory before 43,000 at AWD Arena.

Les Bleus, an aging squad held scoreless in the '02 World Cup and shut out in their opener this year, will face defending champion Brazil on Saturday in Frankfurt in a rematch of the final eight years ago.

"It's an evolution," France Coach Raymond Domenech said. "This team can, and will, do better. Brazil is the champion, but we're also there and we're going to play. The challenge is there for us."

Spain was supposed to be playing deep into the tournament, but then, it is supposed to be playing deep into every tournament. This was going to be the year it shed its image as soccer's master underachievers and finally fulfill its decades of promise, built by an abundance of talent, perhaps Europe's most spectacular league and the continent's reigning club champion (FC Barcelona).

Time and again, the Spaniards have prematurely crashed out of the World Cup, often in an excruciating manner. It has been 56 years since Spain last advanced beyond the quarterfinals (fourth place in 1950).

"We're hurt because we want to do more," said Spain Coach Luis Aragones, who suffered his first loss after a 17-0-8 record the last two years. "The first part was our match, then our errors cost us."

The quadrennial disappointments tempered enthusiasm for Spain's World Cup ambitions coming into the event. It took one match in Germany, however, to change that outlook -- a 4-0 romp over Ukraine, a side that has recovered nicely to reach the quarterfinals. Since then, hopes had soared from Madrid to Valencia to Seville. No longer would Spain have to endure ridicule from its continental rivals France, Germany, et al.

"That's another World Cup gone, another major tournament we let slip away," Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas said.

France, meantime, seemed so 1998. Eight years have passed since Les Bleus won their only world title, but from the look of their roster and their dependency on names from the past, not much has changed. There's Zidane and Lilian Thuram, David Trezeguet, Fabien Barthez and Thierry Henry.

If you did not know better, the site of Tuesday's match could have been Stade de France outside Paris circa '98, not AWD Arena in this business capital in Lower Saxony.

"They're old; they have to be managed well," Domenech said of his senior class.

History played a prominent role in the buildup to this match, both seemingly in France's favor. There was the record book -- which showed that Spain had never beaten France in a major tournament -- and there was the personal motivation supplied to Henry, the graceful French forward who had a score to settle with Aragones.

Two years ago, during a Spanish training session, Aragones was caught on tape making a racially insensitive comment about Henry, who is black. His penalty? A $3,750 fine.

Tuesday's match was working in Spain's favor when Thuram smacked into Pablo from behind. Upon contact, Pablo did what any wily forward would do: He hit the turf with exaggerated intensity.

David Villa neatly placed the penalty kick inside the left post in the 28th minute, the start of what seemed a big evening for Spain. However, "the French were not dead, not dead and gone," Aragones said. "They're a team that can compete."

The lead did not last the half, however, as Ribery dashed onto Vieira's through ball, rounded Casillas and put just enough on his shot to sneak it into the net before two retreating defenders arrived.

France absorbed Spain's pressure and waited for its moment to strike. It came in the 83rd minute, when Henry drew a dubious foul on Carles Puyol -- "a refereeing mistake," Aragones said.

From 35 yards, Zidane's free kick was flicked by a Spanish defender to the back post, where Vieira nodded the ball off Sergio Ramos and into the corner of the goal. Jubilation for France, panic for Spain -- again.

In injury time, with Spain desperately pushing forward, Zidane ran free on the left, cut back and rifled a 16-yard shot past Casillas.

"We're still far from it, but that's our target," Vieira said of the July 9 final. "We know that we can achieve a lot. No one expected us to win today."

Maybe not, but many expected Spain to lose.