SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - This was not easy to admit: France was the better team.

"Brazil played poorly. We deserved to lose and France deserved to win. It's as simple as that," said Maria Imaculada Moretti, an independent video producer. "We can accept losing, but it's hard to accept such a humiliating defeat."

Her feelings following the 3-0 loss in Sunday's World Cup final were echoed by fans and sports commentators throughout South America.

Brazil "succumbed to France's absolute superiority," said sports commentator Fernando Calazans of the O Globo newspaper.

For Juca Kfouri of the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper, France's victory was "just and impeccable."

He said Brazil played an "apathetic game, apparently oblivious it was disputing the final of a World Cup."

"The game was a tribute to the player who knew how to handle the ball with intelligence and elegance, and that player is Zinedine Zidane," said commentator Alberto Helena, also of the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.

Zidane scored the first two goals in France's rout.

"Brazil left all its talent, ability and creativity in the locker room," wrote Jose Trajano of the sports daily Afinal.

In Argentina, Brazil's loss was banner headline news. "Brazil Weeps" and "Rio is an ocean of tears," said the Buenos Aires daily Cronica.

Former Peruvian soccer great Teofilo Cubillas, in a column in the Lima newspaper El Sol, said: "At no moment during the game did Brazil deserve even a tie. ... In all my soccer life I have never seen a Brazil team like this one: without personality, sense of purpose or motivation. Their arrogance was properly punished by the 3-0 loss."

The coach of Chile's national team, Nelson Acosta said "Brazil was a big deception."

For some Brazilian fans there is an unexplained mystery behind the loss.

"It was all too easy," said Rogerio Jelmayer, an 18-year-old high school student. "If you ask me, the Brazilian team was pressured into losing."

There was also much discussion concerning Ronaldo's health. Brazil's team doctor said Monday the star striker went into convulsions for a half-minute just hours before the game.

Dr. Lideo Toledo said he took the 21-year-old star to the hospital for a battery of tests that included an electrocardiogram. Ronaldo also was ailing from knee and ankle injuries.

He was initially withheld from the starting lineup but then said he could play.

"Ronaldo could barely walk, much less play," wrote sports commentator Renato Mauricio Prado in Monday's O Globo newspaper. "Brazil lost because of a gross medical error and I hope someone will have the courage to come forward and tell the entire truth."