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The coach of the dejected World Cup champions, Carlos Alberto Parreira, took responsibility for the loss to France in the semi-finals, while French strategist Raymond Domenech couldn't find words to describe his joy for the victory and praised the play of his veteran players.
"I would like to thank the players. I didn't do my job, because my job was to reach the final. In Brazil, the national team coach is blamed when they lose, so I believe I will have to go down that path. We were not prepared for such events, now it's very difficult for all of us," said C.A. Parreira.
The last coach of a South American team also praised the French play: "We lost to a very strong team, which played flawlessly. It should be embarrassing for world football, as there should have been at least one South American team in the semi-finals. We made silly mistakes and it cost us. We didn't expect to be eliminated so early. Henry and Zidane were very dangerous. I am not worried about my contract - we will deal with that when we return to Brazil from the World Cup."
"It's very sad when a team used to winning experiences such disappointment. Now it's time to calm down and think about what's next and the future of Brazil," said last year's best player in the world, Ronaldinho, who didn't demonstrate his usual game during the championship.
France's national team coach Raymond Domenech, after their third victory against Brazil in World Cup history, expressed his joy vividly: "It was extraordinary. Sometimes words are lacking to describe what you experience. I fought for the ball with them, I fought against them. Veterans still manage to demonstrate something. It won't be easy against Portugal, but let me enjoy all this now. Such wonderful moments are only provided by football."
"We had to play well and we did. We knew we had to be in good physical shape and we were. We fought together and achieved a deserved victory. Now we have to try to win a place in the final. It's so wonderful, we just want it to continue," said Zinedine Zidane, who was selected as the best player of the 1998 World Cup final, as he prepares to end his professional football career after the World Cup.
T.Henry, who scored the winning goal, expressed his hope that they managed to outsmart their opponents: "We played well. We didn't steal anything from anyone. We had a strategic plan and it worked perfectly. After the failure of 2002, we wanted to show people that we are not so bad. As for the goal, it was simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time, my job was simply to send the ball into the goal. But the goal is not the most important thing, the most important thing is that we can play as a team."
