World Cup: Old Zidane sensational, Young Rooney stupid

Portugal march on to the semis after defeating England 3-1 on penalties. This was following a 0-0 game which was turned on his head when Wayne Rooney was sent off in the 62nd min. Rooney was fighting for the ball with Ricardo Carvalho, Carvalho fell and then Rooney trod (stamped?) on Carvalho's groin. Cristiano Ronaldo sprinted to the referee, apparently to demand a red card. Rooney turned to Ronaldo and pushed him away, right in front of the referee! Talk about stupid! He was in danger with the incident with Carvalho already, and then he go and push another player. The referee had no choice. But give credit to England. They kept Portugal at bay with only 10 men for about a hour. In a game largely void of clear chances, the best one even fell to England. Unfortunately, it fell to Frank Lampard. From Steven Gerrard’s corner in the 53rd min, the Chelsea midfielder found himself unmarked near the penalty spot. He tried to volley the shot, which hit the ground and over the bar. The best chance of the game wasted! From there, the game was largly quiet till the penalty shoot-out. England have even won a single shoot-out in the World Cup. I know, amazing isn't it! Ricardo was the hero for Portugal with saves from Lampard (yes, him again), Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. When Ronaldo tucked away the winning spot-kick, it was already over. Portugal were a little lucky because till Rooney was sent off, England were the better side. In fact, Portugal didn't really have a chance till the sending off. England played well even with 10 men, but they missed their penalties. And when you hit only 1 penalty out of 4...I'm sorry but you deserve to go. Portugal will meet France and they will have Deco back. Good, because they really miss him yesterday.

A masterful display by Zinedine Zidane gave France a 1-0 win over Brazil. Zidane swept a free-kick to the far post in the 57th min, where it was volleyed home by Thierry Henry. As usual, the Brazilian defence was no where to be seen. A deserve win for France as they were by far the more dangerous side, everytime a cross or freekick went into the Brazilian box, France looked dangerous. Brazil hardly had a sniff at goal. In fact, they were lucky to have 11 men in the game. In the 44th min, Zidane created a chance for Patrick Vieira. Zidane skipped past 2 tackles, before slipping the ball to Vieira who was racing clear of Brazil’s back four. Brazilian defender Juan brought down the Juventus midfielder on the edge of the area and got a yellow card. It should have been red! Vieira was clear and Juan did what he had to. Unfortunately, the referee didn't. After-all this is Brazil. Brazil only had one real chance in the game. In injury time, Ronaldo fired a shot (I think the only one he had on target the whole game) which Fabian Barthez parried. William Gallas got to the rebound just ahead of Adriano to clear. A clear win for France, and with Zidane in this form...who wants to be Portugal?