Why Brazil Lost: Zidane's Freekick vs Henry

[neutrino]

I may not be as observant as other football-crazy people out there, but I received a forwarded mail showing stills of Zidane's free kick from the quarter final match. Henry was free to do almost anything in the space he had, but if you notice closely, one of the Brazilians (supposedly Roberto Carlos) was bending down holding his knees, and just started to "wake up" when Henry put the ball in.

Posting all those stills here will take a long time, so check out this video.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EM737ikdmjo&search=henry brazil france

(Notice the last Brazilian at the right).

 

[BobG]

Like a true defender, once beaten, he makes sure he's nowhere near the scene of the crime, leaving his poor goalkeeper holding the bag.

 

[George Jones]

I think that this defender had his eye on the French guy outside the middle of the penalty area.

 

[shmoe]

From replays on tv I'm fairly certain it was Roberto Carlos and I'm fairly certain he was either tying his shoes or adjusting his socks.

I'm also fairly certain Roberto Carlos had the ball go between his legs while standing on the line during the '98 final, but can't seem to track down a video.

In an earlier match in '98 World Cup I'm also fairly certain Robert Carlos attempted clearance from the back with a bicycle kick that ended up conceeding a goal.

I'm fairly certain Roberto Carlos has the worst defensive abilities I've seen in a supposed world class defender, so I'm not sure him following Henry would have helped.

 

[NateTG]

France outplayed Brazil in general during the game. It's easy to pick at a particular spot in the game and start making representations.

Notably, neither Zidane nor Thierry is not responsible for making sure that the Brazilians have time to adjust their shoes or whatever.