A Big Day for Brazil’s Biggest Name

Pele was delighted to see Brazil--coached by his old teammate, Mario Zagallo--advance to the World Cup final with a penalty-kick victory over the Netherlands on Tuesday.

“My friends, this has been a day full of emotions, and that’s what football’s all about,” he said. “Only Brazil can have five World Cups. They have some experienced players. . . . Brazil played very, very well, especially during extra time. They deserved to win.”

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The one Croatian bar in Paris has become a gathering place for expatriate Croatians who enjoyed their team’s surprising World Cup success--and for those eager to join the party.

Torcida serves French and Croatian dishes and has been televising the Croatian team’s games for its patrons on a giant screen. However, it has been running out of room, and anticipated overflow crowds for Croatia’s semifinal loss against France on Wednesday.

“At Lyon, everyone was able to get into the Stade de Gerland to attend our victory over Germany,” said Iluka Tripkovic, a Croatian sports journalist. “But this time, the French are balking at giving up their tickets.”

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Maybe they were just waiting to see whether the bandwagon was going to go far.

L’Equipe, the French sports daily, thinks French fans aren’t all that solidly behind the French team. In a headline in Wednesday’s edition, it said, “Public, will you be there?”

It added, “Since the start of the World Cup, the French team hasn’t been supported in a delirious manner by its fans. There are many explanations for that. One can still hope the dimension of the match [Wednesday] will set ablaze the Stade de France.”