Zinedine Zidane scored his second goal of the match on the stroke of halftime, and France leads Brazil 2-0 with 45 minutes left to play in the World Cup final. Brazil, still looking to find its rhythm, did not seriously challenge the French after Zidane’s 28th-minute goal. A long ball for Ronaldo produced a fine punch-save from Barthez, who collided roughly with the young Brazilian. Brazilian defender Junior Baiano was yellow-carded in the 34th minute for a hard foul on Djorkaeff, and Didier Deschamps was booked four minutes later for a challenge on Rivaldo. Bebeto managed to get behind French defender Marcel Desailly on a cross and sent a soft header straight to Barthez in the 40th minute. Two minutes later, Christian Karembeu took a long shot that bounced off a Brazilian defender right to Petit in the box. The Arsenal midfielder teed the ball up and blasted a shot toward the near post that just glanced off a Brazilian defender and went into the side netting. Guivarc’h timed a run perfectly in the 45th minute and got behind three defenders to run onto a long ball from Lilian Thuram. The forward rushed his low shot though, and it was well-saved by Taffarel. France won a second corner, and Djorkaeff’s kick found Zidane again free at the near post. He made no mistake, powering a low header straight in past Taffarel for the two-goal lead. On the stroke of halftime, Roberto Carlos took a long free kick, but his powerful shot was deflected out by Deschamps.