France Expects…

Africa’s surrogate team, France, clashes with World Cup holders Brazil this evening, in what might just turn out to be the match of the tournament (so far).

As Daryl points out over at WorldCupBlog, quarterfinals are the best, because the teams are quality but the stakes aren’t as gruesomely high as in the semis.

France are resurgent, while Brazil are barely awake. Not that it much matters, when it comes to Brazil, who, one feels, could beat all comers with a half-asleep B side. WCB reader Rivelinho puts this all nicely in perspective for us with his recent comment on the Brazil blog. They’re little, yellow, different, better.

But France have beaten the champs in big games before – they are, in fact, the last team to have produced a win against Brazil at the World Cup, way back in the 1998 finals – and SA Logue smells an upset. Allez les bleus!

• LiveBlog: France vs. Brazil