July 9: The Daily World Cup Wrap

I look forward to the 2008 Euro Cup and the 2010 World Cup already. I hope World Cup Blog will be at both.

A biento Mes Amis.

Italy were unlucky not to get a second goal before half time but seemed to run out of steam after that where France missed a couple of well made opportunities.

The Italian tackling was awesome, while the french composure with the ball great to watch.

Zizou’s actions will be discussed ad nauseum, however probably his performance in this game will be contrasted with his game against Brazil.

Penalties suck, but like so many games in this tournament, neither side could create many good chances, so its maybe an apt end to the tournament :(

Grosso is the new hero now….wow tis guy is restless.

I hope after this WC FIFA:

-Cracks down on diving/ref mind games. Unnecessary and harmful to the sport, and yet almost everyone does it. Needless. Included in this is faking an injury to stop play. Player should be kept off for at least 5 minutes from injury with an official monitoring the time. No more stretchers because (a) you want to stop the other team’s attack or (b) you are tired.

-No more PK finals. Literally anything would be better. FIFA are so slow-moving it will probably be 50 years until they do away with them. Even people who support countries that are great/lucky at them hate penalties.

-Refs need to encourage players who stay up and fight through illegal tackles by playing the advantage more. Guys like Ribery, Rooney (ball-smashing tendencies aside), Ronaldinho, etc. get screwed if they fight through a tackle and later lose the ball as a result of the illegal tackle while people who go down on contact get rewarded. I remember listening to Balboa CRITICIZING Messi for not going down on contact and fighting through a tackle. This is not the fault of the noble players, but the refs. Disgusting.

zizou played well, unfortunately he will only be rememberedin this final by his “coup de boule”

I hope fifa make the safe comments and treat zidane the same way they did rooney!! oh wait rooneys english, he must be punished more…

If that Italian guy made a racist comment to Zizou he will get his just due soon enough. I think its sad that people cannot play football without being racially insulted and such. It shows that when people are desperate they will do anything to win. Yes Zizou should not have done what he did and paid the price for it, but its very sad to be expected to put up with racial slurs as if it was nothing. Will see what the investigation of the Italian team brings for these mafias.

materzzi is a coward. he said a racial insult to zidane and that should not be aloud. it should be known that zidane is muslim and at this time of difficulty surrounding the religon of an in appropraite slur would upset him.

What? Who’s saying he said a racist insult? That’s the first I’ve heard.

It certainly wasn’t picked up by any on-field microphones, and I don’t think one could trust the French’s report of the incendent…

yeah, one shouldn’t jump to conclusions given that only a couple of people in the world know what was actually said!
(of course if it does turn out to have been something racist then throw the book at him)

C’mon, looks like you never played football. Insults are common to provoke adversaries. Strange how Zizou got into that trap… But check Raybron post. Some interesting comments: «Player should be kept off for at least 5 minutes from injury with an official monitoring the time». «No more PK finals». But you know, FIFA doesn’t really want to change things. This way thay can control the matches…

I liked France but i don’t think i would’ve wanted them to win in the PKs without Ribery, Henry, Viera and Zidane. Those were the guys who got France that far and they deserved to be on the field taking the penalties if they won. If Trezguet and Wiltord won it for the team, it just wouldn’t have felt right.

Evidently, the coach must have been superstitious and somewhat stupid if he substituted Wiltord and Trezguet onto the field hoping to literally repeat history.

insults are common, not in football but IN ANY KIND OF COMPETITIVE SPORT. Zizou knows better

eltomas agreed, zizou’s redcard is absolutely warranted, but does Matarazzi deserve censure also? Some people are claiming the replay indicates he spat on Zidane …

sam,

you are a dumb ass. you can’t possibly think that a man of the increadibly high level of class of zidane would attack a man anything short of racial abuse or possibly an insult to zizou’s wife.

as if the f’ing microphones would catch such comments.

italy make me sick what a disgusting country and people. matarazzi makes me want to vomit. enjoy your victory losers because most of you will be playing in england next year. SCUM.

f u!!!!!

vile and vile and disgusting. losers evens when you win. Italy are absolutely vile.

Insults are one thing, but racial slurs? I mean are those it is directed at suppose to pretend everything is okay?

Where in the world does it say that the Italian guy said a racist remark? This is the first I have heard of it. Everyone needs to admit that Zidane made a very big mistake, and he could have seriously injured the player. It was disgraceful and should be penalized heavily.

Is your actions that define you. Whatever Materazzi said to Zidane was CLEARLY to piss him off but a player like Zidane should know better, is the Final of the World Cup we are talking about gentleman, Zidane with his reaction did exactly what materrazzi wanted him to do, by reacting this way it was the Italian that won…this is why Pele advised Rooney to take it easy. Players like Messi, C. Ronaldo, Rooney, Zidane are always going to be harrased cause that’s one fo the FEW ways that the opposition can stop them.

james, zizou has done comparable acts a few times before (eg. saudi arabia 1998), so he is prone to a ‘brain-melt’. Again no-body know’s why he cracked other than Zizou and maybe Materazzi.

It’s impossible to know what materazzi said. Maybe Zidane will tell it later in his memoires :-) but italians’re known for that kinda «game» and maybe it spit or made a racial comment, whatever, that’s not reason to respond like, I mean, if he got Materazzi’s shin we would have a really serious injury… probably that would ended in civil courts… even if it deserves it you should play by the rules or else it will be a jungle.

This is from sport.scotsman.com.

“…Intriguingly, Domenech ventured more readily into discussions on what happened after Zidane’s headbutt. He had scathing words for referee Horacio Elizondo, claiming that he took the unprecedented step of asking a fourth official to examine video footage of the incident before making his decision.

Domenech claimed: “The referee saw nothing, the assistant referee saw nothing and then we have the fourth official seeing the video replay and telling the referee.”

Italy coach Marcello Lippi defended Materazzi for his reaction to what was clearly a powerful assault, but agreed that the officials had conducted a trial by television.

Lippi said: “You will realise that it was not Materazzi who got the attention of the referee. It was the fourth and fifth officials looking at the video at the edge of the pitch. We did not do anything. They saw it and they called the attention of the referee. ”

So all of a sudden FIFA decided to try something totally new in the last game of World Cup and use the video replay for refereeing which resulted in a red card?

On the instant replay I saw, Zidane was going to walk away from the argument, but then Materazzi said something else, so Zidane spun around and headbutted him.

Finally, the italian cheaters won the cup!, i knew it was going the moment that those criminals advanced after the game against australia. Well now the cup is in the hands of mobsters and criminals, lets hope that four years from now it returns to a real team and not a team full of gangster and drama queens.

Whatever we say, France played very well in this final. Too sad to see Zizou leave like this!
One thing to be said: Italy is a “dirty team” and there is no wonder that the “pretty boys” could mess with the greatest of all times Zizou’s head. I hope there will be a commplete follow up on this affaire and hope the actor of the tournament will suffer as well!
Again, Thank you for the great final game Zizou and les bleus!
Bouffon was great as well!

Agree with Antonio’s comments.. The cup is in mafia’s hands!
More so laprimavera’s comments are very intresting… This is probably the first one FIFA has aggreed to look on the video.. maybe in 4 years we will get the decisions on video???? No more acting? Italy will need a totaly new crew to play!!!!
I hope this cup will not change any decisions as far as italian mob’s scandal!

Zidane did indeed head-butt, he had to pay the penalty, just like Wayne Rooney paid for it, Being a superstar and mature enough to be a captain, Zidane should know better than to Head-butt somebody. The ref got the call right. The Italians won this one fair & square, Why should the French be anymore deserving? I guess then Argentina should have won that q-final against Germany.
I am infact glad the Italians won, it was a team effort, there were no superstars or superstar egoes, Way to go, Italy, you have shown the world that you dont need a superstar to win the World Cup.

ITALiA =) . 2006 world cup baby. we did it. FRANCE people need to fall back and stop hating. and for tha person who says “cheaters” . we didnt cheat we won fair and square. we played & tried just as hard as france did.

Mob, Mafia, wtf are you talking about losers? Italy won by kicking more balls in the net than the French, Period, deal with it guys, for 4 years the Italians are the World Champs now. btw, I am a Brazilian Fan.

I din notice i was actually livin in the same country as antonio (tat guy who dunno good football)…I tot italy was all clean tat match, they deserve to win (I’ve seen a couple of elbows from french team, tat was pathetic). And finally the headbutt, wat the hell was tat for? Talkin bout cheaters, huh?

Ash,
No wonder you are so bitter about France.. they are the ONLY team that can kick Brazil’s butt!!!!!
You are the only big loser!!!!!

Great start to the game but what a terrible finish. Italy was out of gas hanging in there and it was France’s to win but Zizou lost control. (for the record: this is not Zidane’s first time he’d overreacted to an insult.)

If you think that Zizou HAD the right to do what he did, as response to an insult you have NEVER played ANY organized sport that has a modicum of physical contact, and should never be allowed to do so.

Guys.. doesn’t realy matter who won and who lost now… Italy has teh cup, and France is going home without a cup! It’s football!!!!
Too sad for Zidan, but he can still play for another year in Italy and show his talent!!!!!

boy you have some nerves asking why i call the italian cheaters, from its president to their national selection players just a big bunch of criminals!

Congrats to Italy who won the World Cup for the 4th time!
It was a shame to see France lose but I guess Italy were the better team on the day:)

It was a great World Cup final that was overshadowed by Zidane headbutt incident.

To read more about the final match or watch a video of the ‘Zidane headbutt’ visit: http://the-soccer-locker.blogspot.com

You wont be dissapointed:)

Josiah

felicitations aux italiens!

football’s a funny old game, and this world cup has been oddly superstitious:
England couldn’t beat Sweden and lost on Penalties,
France beat Brazil,
Italy beat Germany,
and then to cop it all off, that bloody 12 year thing!!!!
(well at least Italy can’t win for another 24 years … right?)

Zizou does it again. I can’t recall if its in La Liga or the WC 98 where he headbutt another player. Though i’m an avid fan of Brazil and France always broke my heart, i still praised zizou for his skills and talismatic approach. I thought, his international exit will be great, but then instead, it will be remembered as a tragic exit of one of the greatest footballer of all time. So sad to see him go that way. After capturing the entire soccer fanatics for his last hurrah, out-skilled all the brazilian team. Including the Portugal team which has 2 brazilian nationalities. He dearly killed(humiliated) every brazilian from coaches(Brazil & Portugal), players to fanatics like me. What a great person to be remembered!

So sad that strange VOICE that whispered to him to play again, didn’t cautioned him what will happen in the Finals.

VIVA ZIZOU!!!

Anyone who posts from the usa talking about the most beautiful game, what are they talking about? What do they know, seriously, balls being slamed and balls being knocked out of a park… Italia are champions and anyone being negative about them is ultimately envious. A well played final and its nice to see Italia return the favor to France from 98, 2000. And I can talk about 1994 again.

Italy wins with class, more than I can say for France. I have been an Italy fan since I was born, I am the first of my family to be born in the U.S. so I am an american. When it comes to soccer my team is Juventus, during the World Cup it is Italy & the U.S. Which I might point out do not forget the womens U.S. team, they are wonderful. The French played a dirty game and I am glad they lost. The French coach is a terrible coach, his response was not that of a leader. He said the Italian player made a meal out of his heading the Italian player, no class. The Italians did not play the best game they have, but they played with heart. Many teams played with heart and represented their countries with a great showing so hats off to all of them that played good and gave all. U.S. is looking better, I just wish this country would support soccer more. The U.S. is slowly getting in to soccer. Go Italy !!!!!

I can’t understand what the French fans are all upset about. The Italians did nothing “wrong” to illict such criticism. Cheaters? Remember the players are not indicted for the fixing scandel, just the administrators in the front office. BTW, France had 3 players on the pitch from Juventus as well. So, if you want to call the Italians cheaters, don’t forget Le Bleu. As for Zidane, anyone who has played sports on any level knows trashtalking is part of the game. If this man deserves to be placed with Pele and Diego M., he should be able to control himself and show himself better than his opponents. Overall, I feel for the French players who were hung out to dry by their captain and I applaud their effort in the PKs without Zidane, Henry, and Vierra. However, viva Italia! Buffon was brilliant and Italy deserves to win this title. I just hope FIFA can find some new officials for 2010 in S. Africa.

just read on a guardian blog that italian papers are saying what was said to zidane by materazzi. and if what they say is true, zidane should have half wasted him while the world watched. sorry, but anti-racism advertising just doesn’t cut it here.

This cup will not be remembered only zizou’s red card will be remembered that’s what the whole world is talking about instead of Italy!

Only two people know what was said, just because it is in print does not mean it is true. Wake up. Like the other person said, trash talking is part of the game. I have been called names while playing sports I did not head butt somebody for it. I punished them with a win. No class, no class, no class. The coach of the French team is a big part of the problem. He should have had a better response then he did. No responsibility taken by the coach or the player, very poor. This was not the first time the french player played dirty. He is a dirty player and does not deserve to have his name spoken with the greats of the game. Players should play with class, win or lose.

Well done Italy. It was a great game thankfully not the crap that had been dished out in last few wc finals. In fact it was a great world cup and also the last 8 featured 7 teams that should have been there with Argentina the only exception. Spain and Netherlands might have something to say about that though
And the great Zizou, when you gotta go you might as well do it in style, no one will forget him and future generations will remember him for this final alone for both the head butt and the penalty.
All in all a great worldcup probably the best after 1986. Well done Germany

Italy won fair and square? Now that’s something new. Although I do acknowledge that the Italians are somewhat clean on this match. But hey, they did get to the final by cheating, diving, and provoking their opponents.

You know what,probably Lippi directed it.When France dominated most of the time on the pitch,it was the high time that these Italian ran their plans.Let Materazzi insult one of the most influential players in the game,wait till Zinedine react and let the ref send him off. What a good plot! Zinedine just fell into that trap, that’s not fair.I feel sorry for him, Zidane is such a great player.I don’t wanna see him leave like this.

To me the player of this WC was Franck Ribery from France. It was nice to see an unassuming, simple player playing his heart out, fast and strong, and with good skills.

So sad Zidane had to go out like this, but i felt even more sad that Ribery was going away unrewarded for all his hard work.

What would have been if Zidane had stayed on 10 more mins.

No use crying over spilt milk. I only hope this anomaly of a bunch of cheats winning the WC won’t get repeated the next time.

I hear some Italians talking about a dive from France. Hey mates, i have a point to clear. You got to the final in the first place because of…. Guess what….

A DIVE. And remember that.

And to the people who created this blog. Guys… Tht was a job well-done. Lots of good discussion. Only wish FIFA had the thought of looking into blogs like this to see why they were being called dumb-wits by all and sundry. if they could implement at least some of the suggestions made here, that would clean up the game.

Nice blogspot. Not so good a WC. And the winner…. Oh don’t get me started again.

okay mike so you are an italian good for you…. your team won the penalty kicks…not the game… i hate that it goes to PK…. most true soccer player’s and fan’s do as well….
but please don’t call italy a class team…. and zizou is not a dirty player ….. whatever your big goon was saying too zidane was what was dirty…. will he tell the world what he said to zidane??? probably not. Zidane was wrong to head butt , but there’s not mistaking or mystery in his action…. materazzi can hide now behing the trophy for all eternity and be a hero for italy without ever coming clean & true about what he said to zizou. shame shame shame

simon
well put Ridery was all over the pitch…. amazing energy and skills

give me a break…the french did start playing better after group play but each time literally handed a penalty instead of earning goals…france’s first goal today was another freebie…fair enough world cup is a combination of skills and luck…

regardless, head butting the italian player away from the game simply displays no class, what more can be said??

wi ku mu – Big goon? You are an idot, and yes I hate it going to PK as well. Italy lost the 1994 world cup in PK’s but I did not whine about it, yes it did suck. Yes he is a dirty player, that was not his first time playing dirty. I am sure zizou was saying some pretty bad things himself. If he is low enough to do something as bad as that I am sure he is low enough to say some bad things himself. Even if he was told his mother was a french whore gives him no reason to do what he did, ever heard of rising above? Both players may have been saying some things they should not have, no player should do what he did. He did something similar in 1998, dirty is dirty. And yes it is good for me to be an Italian. “my big goon”, nice comment. Materazzi is not the hero of Italy, the entire team is. Ten diff players scored goals, that is a team effort. In your little world the conversation went like this….

zidane – Nice play Materazzi, you sure play soccer well.

Materazzi – Burn you French #$@%#@

zidane – Oh my gosh, I can not believe you said suc a thing.

Materazzi – Shut up you %#@%$#*

zidane – Wow, I need to headbutt you so you do not say anything bad again.

Wake up, they were both talking trash.

I hope FIFA will be in big trouble for suddenly basing the judgement on video replay on the very last game for one of the best players anywhere.

I like Zidane more than ever for the marvellous headbutt. PC (political correctness) aside, sometimes you gotta say enough is enough.

Reuters has reported that Thierry Henry has said that “match officials should use video evidence for everyone, not just selected incidents, after his captain Zinedine Zidane was dismissed in France’s World Cup final defeat by Italy”. Hear, hear, Henry. I have always believed that FIFA should take advantage of the latest technology to improve the game by stamping out all the acting that is now rampant. Once players know that video evidence is being used the shenanigans will stop because they know they will be caught, and the video doesn’t lie, does it Thierry? Because it also applies to you.

Mike: did you see the video? Regardless of the verbal exchanges, Materazzi twisted Zidane’s NIPPLES.

I agree, the refs sucked this World Cup. But they sucked for everybody, I do not think they favored a team. I did see one very good ref though, wish I could remember the game he reffed. A play like that should be not tollerated, period. I just wish he would have done something like that sooner so he could have been punished for it. He did his team no justice. Not only did he do a dirty thing but he did not care that he was taking the risk of having a good player get a red card. They could have used him in the PK stage of the game. Italy played a good World Cup, I am proud of them. They played a better first half and France played a better second half, Italy won it in PKs. That is how it went, whoever said skill and luck is part of the game is right!!

Here is a past incident involving Materazzi and racism:

BLACK AND WHITE AND NOT ALL OVER

Monday tasks in Fiver Towers: locate Disprin, prop open eyes with matchsticks, fetch coffee, wipe coffee off keyboard, call IT, regain semblance of composure, check football results, check what Italian fans threw on to various Serie A pitches over the weekend. Coins? Bottles? Phones? Scooters? Corpses? Coliseums? No, this weekend they opted to hurl racist insults. Again. But a righteous player decided to take a stand and today Messina defender Marc Zoro received the backing of the Italian authorities.

In the 66th minute of yesterday’s clash between Messina and Inter in Sicily, Zoro picked up the ball and walked off the pitch in protest at the monkey chants spewed at him by savage Inter fans. “I was fed up with it,” explained the 21-year-old Ivorian. “It was the classic treatment of black players in Italy – it happens all over the country, Lazio fans being the worst,” he continued, as Inter defender and Lazio old boy Sinisa Mihajlovic whistled innocently and looked at his shoes. Other Inter players expressed their support, however. Adriano and Obafemi Martins comforted Zoro and persuaded him to return to the pitch so the match could finish, while Luis Figo and Juan Veron apologised on behalf of the club. Indeed, even club kingpin Massimo Moratti today praised Zoro as “an intelligent man who acted in a brave and intelligent way”. But not everyone at Inter was impressed: “[Centre-back and Everton legend Marco] Materazzi shouted ’stop that, Zoro, you’re just trying to make a name for yourself’,” revealed Zoro. “I didn’t even argue with him, I’ve no intention of lowering myself to that level.”

The Italian FA have announced that next week all league fixtures will kick off five minutes late so that players can unfurl “no to racism” banners. Not as inventive as Treviso players who recently showed their disdain for racism by painting their faces black; but noble and, of course, absolutely foolproof. Racist loo-laas will never think of turning up five minutes later than usual, or … gosh, totally ignoring the plea. And it seems Italian clubs will never pluck up the courage to confront the all-powerful fans in the Curvas – and boot the belligerent morons out.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/Fiver/0,4022,1652830,00.html

Video of the match w/ Materazzi and Zoro (and other instances of racism): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44H89wyQRu8&search=football%20racism

Azzzzzzzuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrriiiiiiii :D.

and thanks to these blog people, you did an amazing job :).

and Italy are the champions end of story, see you all after four years.

Nipples being pinched – yes I saw the video. Even if he did pinch his nipple you do not headbutt a player like that, show some respect for the game. Many, many, many players jab at other players. Players pinch, players tug on jerseys, players step on feet, etc. It is part of the game, do I agree with it? NO. However you do not do what he did, he is a dirt player. As far as that goes, look in the 76th minute when the Italians were setting up for a free kick, number 7 for france looked around and when he saw no refs were looking he kicked an italian player in the ancle while they were waiting for the free kick to be kicked, is that part of the game, yes, do I agree with it? Again, no. Little things like that go on all the time. if you are going to point out nipple pinching point out ancle kicking as well. I recorded the game, it was happening all night long.

Racist insults – Imagine that, people throwing things on to the fields of a soccer game. Next they will be fighting, having a riot, and having a mob mentallity at a soccer game on the other side of the pond. Wait, this these things have happened before! I do not agree with them either. Racial slurs, like the ones about the Italians in the World Cup before the Germany game? I do not blame the player for walking off the field, I may have done it differently, but he made the choice he thought would make the biggest impression, can’t blame him for that. That is an entire diff blog, “racism in the world”. Let’s stop digging in the past for examples of other games, etc. The fact is this time zidane showed no class and did something he should not have done. I hope he does not do what the coach did and he takes the high road with his response, although I do not see it happening.

to Jak : each and every world cup winner will always be remembered (it is written in the cup itself though)

to Tim : how about Mr Domenech ? Are you sure that he didn’t say these things before the match started : “make a dive near Materazzi, attempt for penalty no matter what because we can not score against them in open play”

Yes they took a dive in the box, you can not score on Italy in open play (not in this world cup, unless you are Italy,lol). A lot of players dive for free kicks and penelty kicks, imagine that!!

Remember, in the U.S. that kind of fan behavior would not be tolerated. They should not put up with it either, but they do. Most of them do. Racial and other things they should not put up with from fans and players.

Its a up and down game when never expected Italy & France came in final. Italy was more confident than their compitator from the start, thay have all the formual to win and they delivered that in perfection. I wish him all the best in their future games.

It is funny how just about every time the Italian team was mentioned, the club scandals were mentioned as well. Did anyone else notice that, why? Why not focus on the positive, the players who had nothing to do with the scandal played great and peeked at the right time and played the entire World Cup as a team, hats off to a great team…..Italy, world champions!!!

Italy may have taken home the cup but France won the match, the outplayed Italy even with 10 men. Just happens that Italy won the PK. However that was forgotten hours ago nes headlines are all about the headbutt. If Materazzi used racil insults on Zidane then he should hand back his medal.

Italy won in the traditionnal Italian football way…cheating decit and ditry games. The world calls football the “beautiful game”, that should come with a caution that says “Not if its Italian football”.
France was the better team, the more attacking team. but agaist 6 defenders who cheat and hit, then what’s there to do

Funny how you guys defending the french team are trying to make your point that a penalty win is not a win!! France’s only goals in this game were through PK. Italy scored a beauitiful clean goal. France didn’t!
going back before, the same happened with Portugal.. The portugees were playing far better than the french.. it was PK that kept france moving through out this world cup and it was the same that made them leave with no dignity just as their captain!

THIS JUST IN! Italy payed out the French team so they could win.

Tell me what you think about this idea instead of penalty kicks: If, after two overtime periods, there is no winner, they play a game of goalie wars. If you don’t know what this is, I will tell you: each team has five players plus their goalie, and the goals are only about 30 yards apart. They could play this for five or ten minutes, goalies can even try to throw it in to the other team’s goal. Each team would probably score 3 to 5 times. This is better than penalties because it is more exciting and actually involves soccer ability . By the way, I was rooting for Italy, but as a soccer player and fan, I hate penalty kicks.

nah, I think Zizou was telling us something, instead of extra time and penalties we should have a royal brawl but (since its football) one should not be allowed to use one’s arm, the result would be a spectacular mix of mad max and irish dancing – and in the end would be perhaps even less arbitrary, and much more satisfying than penalties …

Rest of the world like Kuwait 4 posts above this one and Saudi Arabia.

continued…

Did Kuwait qualify?
didnt think so…save it for the camels nawaf jakaf

hehehe kuwait’s next game is against Australia in Sydney and the stadium will be packed with fans wanting to celebrate making the final 16 in the cup, I think this will be a hard game for Kuwait …

Congratulations to Italy and hard luck to France. Both teams played very well and both deserved to win.France played a bit better but I have to say that Italy’s defense was excellent, best defense I have ever seen, weather you like italian football style or not you have to addmitt that they are well organized and have a great defense. Great final match, the only bad thing was Zidane ending his last minute in the field in that way.Definetly Zidane did it for a reason, but still he shouldnt have fallin in this trap.Although each person is responsible for his actions but I should say that some referees are encourging players to do such actions, for example in portogal and holland match luis figo headbutted one of holland’s players and the referee did nothing (maybe because he is a well known player) ,such actions encourged players to be more violent.In the end I would like to congratulate Germany for their excellent performance with their young prommising team and the great job that Klinsman have done,best of luck to Klinsman and Germany.

Take a look at this:
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldFootballNews&storyID=2006-07-09T221434Z_01_L09458110_RTRIDST_0_SPORT-SOCCER-WORLD-FINAL-ANALYSIS.XML

no… it doesn’t appear that true fans hate it going to penalty kicks, or we would change the rules of soccer to end games in a manner more resembling SOCCER!

In the overtime, have them play 9 vs. 9 for 15 minutes, then 7 vs. 7, then 5 vs. 5 and keep taking players out until someone scores. the reason it is such a low scoring game is because there are so many players on the field and defending is easier than scoring.

Why did Zizhou headbutt Materazzi?

They should have got Wiltord pretty early in the match. It was a mistake to replace Ribery and Henry. They were as crucial as Zidane himself, to score a goal. The worst part was that they were forced to replace Patrick Vieira. Now just a couple of strikers were left on the field. May be Zidane didn’t want to lose the match while he being present on the field. So, probably he deliberately got himself red carded.
The most saddening part of the match was when the French coach, Raymond Domenech was standing there watching the Italians grab the cup, celebrating. He stood there still, petrified watching them. His stillness and silence reflected his sadness.

To all Italians here: Yes you won, conrats, WC is yours. But please do not think that Italy has a class, or they play anything that resembles footbal. You have been nown for ages for cheating, diving, begging referee for cards, penalties, and for provocations. You have no class, you won today, but you still will be remembered by everyone (except italians) as cheaters.

France – you are real champion! Zidane is great. Henry, Vierra, Ribery! I even respect Zidane more now for this. Materazzi deserved this, and he very well knows this. Racist!

http://lemmemuse.blogspot.com/

check this out:
http://lemmemuse.blogspot.com/

let me plau Devil’s advocate here
all of emm are viifyfing italy here and saying tht catanicio style will be back but hello wasnt the first goal a dive didnt italy score in every game tht they played tht they didnt conceed is not there problem coz they have cannavaro and buffon
even cannavaro was troubled by ribery and henry so wats the fuss all abt and wat a sad way for zizoo to end his career

Italy started the match with a flurry of fouls…dangerous tackles. One of the fouls of course resulted in a PK. Now, some might dispute that call but if you watch the video, you will clearly see a knee belonging to Materazzi jutting out to obstruct Malouda. The penalty for that bad act was justified.

Another act of sensless violence was comitted by Cannavaro against Henry. An unsuspecting Henry was blind sided by a horrible block from Cannavaro to prevent him from breaking away. It took quite an effort to restore Henry’s faculties. The refery in my opinion should have carded Cannavaro but he didn’t. Any questions?

The same Cannavaro unleashed an avalange of slurrs against Zidane in addition to breast pinching. As cool as Zidane is, he lost it and delivered the mother of head butt that floored Cannavaro. I still think Cannavaro faked the hard fall in typical Italian dive fashion. If he was trully harmed, he would have needed a ton of Smelling salt and brace to continue playing. Yellow belly cowardly dive I dare say.

It was too bad to see Zidane in that fix but he did what he had to do to the scoundrel Materazzi. It probably cost France the cup but some times a man can only take so much. The point I have laboured to make is that the Italian team played real dirty…thug like. They stole the match and robbed fans of a fun and satisfying world cup final. I would have saluted the Italians for their success if they presented a class performance. Instead, I am disappointed and sad for Zidane and the French warriors and all lovers of beautifull football. I conclude by saying that Italy went home with the loot and France the Glory.

LOL @ Krishna. Leaving the field because he didnt want to lose… riight. Something in the Ganges water I see. Or maybe something you’re smoking?

Zidane let the bastard have it because of a racist remark. And given Materazzi’s history it makes complete sense. My only regret is that if he had to get red carded, he shoulda worked over Matersleazy that he’d end up with stitches.

The 3 games Italy deserved to win were against Czech Rep., Ukraine and Germany. The rest of them were butt-ugly and even downright devious. WC 06 will be remembered for the gracious hosts and a poorer-than-90 final and a less-than-deserving winner. USA had their number despite suffering the referee’s make-up red card. And remember the disallowed goal?
GO GARLCKY DIVERS!

Zizou does it again. I can’t recall if its in La Liga or the WC 98 where he headbutt another player. Though i’m an avid fan of Brazil and France always broke my heart, i still praised zizou for his skills and talismatic approach. I thought, his international exit will be great, but then instead, it will be remembered as a tragic exit of one of the greatest footballer of all time. So sad to see him go that way. After capturing the entire soccer fanatics for his last hurrah, out-skilled all the brazilian team. Including the Portugal team which has 2 brazilian nationalities. He dearly killed(humiliated) every brazilian from coaches(Brazil & Portugal), players to fanatics like me. What a great person to be remembered!

So sad that strange VOICE that whispered to him to play again, didn’t cautioned him what will happen in the Finals.

VIVA ZIZOU!!!

Ugh.. meant worked over Cannavaro.

Before you go on making your silly jokes about Zidane, go read what the Cesar of football Frans Beckenbauer said about the Zidane incident

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world-cup-2006/speculation-rife-over-what-enraged-zidane/2006/07/10/1152383666505.html

In the end yes Italy won…but the question of a real football fan should be how did Italy win?
Fifa must investigate what that racist Materazzi said to Zidane!!

I wonder if now they would not send Juve, Milan and Lazio back to lower league. Any ideas if the fact that Italy “won” WC, might affect judges decision?

again!
WHY ARE YOU TALKING OF RACISM!!!
WHO TALKED OF RACIST EPISODE???
NOONE!
SO STOP INVENTING!

sorry “soccer-fan”
but only the team managers are investigated, not the players.
The WorldCup is coming to ROMA anyway

Mercury….are you still ALIVE….? Or are you choking in your VENOM?!??

What a sore, bad loser you Americans are. Italy’s display in the final was a showcase for sportsmanship (”tough but not rough”)

I know where you’re coming from: after being used to see sissies with sofas strapped to their chests crashing at each other for an odd shaped ball….you’re obviously confused.

Your deep rooted hatred for anything Italian & Italy (that’s a classic case of racism on your part) turned you into the vile person you are now, seeing what you want to see (Materazzi’s knee…? gimme a break)

The most beautiful part of this Italian victory is your reaction: you made my day!

I just *love* to see you choking in your own venom….you can join your Aussie big-mouthed friends for that!

Watch the replay of the game & LEARN some classuy football…..go Italy go!

Italy didn’t play well yesterday, they were tired and suffered france’s good attacks. But in the end we won It,and i’m only happy for this.Congrats to France,they played an excellent football

WAR!!!
To see who really the winner, i think both sides should go to war. it would be more interesting to watch. Cheaters vs patriotic nationalities.

Correction, it was Materazzi not Cannavaro who unleashed the avalange of slurrs against Zidane. My appologies.

Marcolini,
You are a true Italian as I can see a true calciatore. Unlike some who pretend to be Italians.

Tristan,
War is not the solution, but if it comes to that who do you think will win?

Italy are the world champions, Lippi is the greatest coach I wished he took over italy for a very long time. When Zidane was playing Juve and Lippi was his coach, they did amzing things together.
But, today France did not deserve to lose the game, because they were the better team, and remember the ref did not call for a clear penalty Malouda on the 51st minute. And frankly most calls went against the french.

A nasty end to such a beautiful tournament!!

Zinedine Zidane ruined his entire reputation by one stupid act, because he lacked self-control. If not for himself, at least for the sake of his team. That was mean! Letting down his entire team, because he cant take a piss.

Purrrffff!! It shouldnt have been him. Its simply frustrating to think that it happened to such a wonderful and talented player. He made the worst of his blessings!!

Italy deserved this win. They played mighty well. Highly impressive defence. And like always, had it not been for that penalty, France would never have scored!!

And like I repeat time and again, Anger Management is a crucial lesson that football players need to focus on.

Anyways, its all over and Italy won their 5th WC? I think its 5th.

Congrats to Italy! They played well and they won! That’s a fact, and I am so glad they won instead of France. Not that I hate France but I just don’t like the way they played, all the way from their match with Spain until Portugal at semi final. Didn’t seem to me that they were good.. Seems like they made it all the way to final through PK, and with the same trick to gained penalty/free kick.

To comment on the comment made by antonio from malaysia posted at 5.33am, i cant believe such racist statement could come from you, my countryman! Italy won, that’s a fact and it has nothing to do with who they are, as you claimed. They played well and they won, its just a game. So get over it!!

And well done to Germany and Portugal. It was a good match, clean good match! You are the best!

Italians are traditional cheaters. Its a win by cheating and making French players fall on the ground by side-kicks.
Worst game in the history of World Cup Soccer. Infact, Marco Materrazi is the villain of World Cup 2006 held in Germany. This so called win by Italy is a shame on the history of World Cup. Its a victory for Cheaters. Black Day for Soccer all throughout the world.

France is the genuine Champion.

24 Oct 2000
see how clever is Zizou with the head:
disqulified for FIVE matches for this head butt that broke the cheekbone of Kientz during Juventus – Hamburger Champions League match

http://www2.raisport.rai.it/news/rubriche/coppe978/200010/27/39f9b255055ea/zidane.jpg

lot of class uh?

blah-me It’s Italy’s 4th world cup.

Marcolino if I could buy you a beer and sit down to chat over the game I would! Congrats to Italy

PRAGYAN
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS…
BO BO BO BOBO
ITALIA ITALIA!!!
CAMPIONI DEL MONDO
CIAO CIAO

Brazil, Argentina, France, Germany, Portugal, England et al —- they are good to play with as they follow ethics. But, Italy has won by foul.
Italy is no way a great soccer nation. They are thugs who have fooled the referees and the world on the 9th of June, 2006.

Its 9th July 2006 not 9th June… BTW, I would like to congrat the Italians. Sorry for Henry tho, he’s the only one tat is good to watch on French attackin.

The charge of racism is only speculation at this point. Other speculation involves a “nipple tweak”. We will have to wait and see what Zidane says, if anything.

By the way Joseph from Malta, I don’t think you can make sweeping generalizations about Americans’ feelings about Italians based on a few message board posts. Americans love Italians. If anything, you could make that comment about their feeling of the French due to recent political events. Maybe it’s just their honest opinion about a futbol game they watched.

Ale_Nesta: Do I need to remind you of your players’ black history? Remember that elbow Mattrazzi gave to Sorin, it almost took his eye away. I am not questioning if Zidane acted wrongly or not, but rather we need to know what that racist Mattrazzi say to make the man come back from walking away to hit him??

Italian football is nothing but cheating (just look at your constant football scandals and the racism in your football league) and hitting (well, you do that in every game).
You have the world cup (congrats on that) but you definitely gained no one’s respect

Best moments in the game:

1) Zidane’s making Buffon look like a clawn with the Penalty kick

2) Pirlo coming all the way to Buffon to get the ball (Man of the Match!! that was so funny)

3) Totti disappearing from the game completely

but do you know what Sorin told to Materazzi before he was hit?

You are so funny..

By the way I forgot the 2 match of stop Zizou earned for stamping on Saudi Arabia’s Fuad Amin in WC 1998.
I don’ want the respect of a racist as you are!
Yes racist against the Italian.

What did Sorin say to Materazzi?
that his arms looks like a well used note book? or that he is as dirty as they come? please enlighten us

In fact I love many things about Italy; it would take me a long time to count them. However, Football is certainly not one of them, because it’s classes, it’s ugly, it’s full of violent and shameless acts and plays

Italians did play well in the first half, suffered a penalty that didn’t exist (watch the video again! Materazzi didn’t even touch Malouda), scored a good one on corner kick and controlled the match until the pause, then played passively in the second half and extra time, but they resisted to the French siege(the French played quite well in this part).Then came the penalty kicks. Italy won not in the best way, but they eventually made it, without being helped by the referee(who says that Italians are usually helped by referees clearly doesn’t know the late history of soccer). So please stop saying that italians have cheated since they even suffered an inexistent penalty, and accept that Italy has been the best team of the cup, if not the most beautiful (watch Italy-Germany again if you are not sure).

you are so clever in defending zizou also if I demonstrated that he had violent episodes during his career, inventing words that Materazzi should have told to him.
You are so full of hate that you cannot understand the irony that I’m using with the Sorin episode.

Italy tied with the USA. While beautiful sometimes it definitely was not persistent.

Zidane wins the Golden Ball :-)

When was the last time -if any- an italian player won that reward?

It’s so funny: Everybody is speculating on what Materazzi said to Zidane. Yet the two people who were involved have been silent. What are you psychics?

Even Beckenbauer started making speculations. What a jerk. That’s not what an official does.

At the beginning of the game, Zidane wouldn’t even lift his glance at the Italians. There is a racist. Cannavaro kept on smiling at him, waiting to shake hands and Zidane didn’t even look at him. What a hero!

Domenecq is a sore loser. He was always mocking the referees, which make one fifth of his salary. But the refere is like a judge: You have to respect him and his decision is final.

Everybody talks about Italian divers. How did the French score in the final: With a dive.

Italy won. That’s what counts.

1990 Salvatore Schillaci won both golden ball and golden shoes

1982 Paolo Rossi won both golden ball and golden shoes

two winners on 7 editions not bad uh?

other questions?

Ultor: that was a clear penalty, he tripped him with a slight hit on the foot.
Italian got so much breaks last night, it all starts with not carding Canavaro for his faul play against Henry early on and with the constant hitting from italian defense that went w/ out a card and the clear penealty that was not given to France

Germany vs Italy: There was only 10 minutes of excitment in that match (read Beckenbauer’s response to that game)

You are right Ale_Nesta
Schillaci and Rossi
such un classy winners when compared to the other winners (Zidane, Ronaldo, Romario, and Maradona) there is a difference here, they belong to teams that are known for their CLASSY football, unlinke the miserable forwards you mention

a winner is a winner you asked for a golden ball winner and I answered (by the way you didn’t mentioned Kahn, do you think he’s classy too?).
“Miserable”…
can you explain some concept without offending anyone?
maybe you think it’s classy offending the others to valorize your ideas.

Please stop racism. Its a slur on the human race. And i thought sport was a way of throwing off such shackles and getting friendly with everyone.

The germans have learnt, Italians. Its better you don’t forget World War II. Stop being such snobs.

Ok go ahead. Call me all your choicest names. Abuse my country.

But please stop playing football.

Cheats. Divers. And now Racists.

Three cheers to Zidane.

The winner of hearts.

If there was something racist said on the pitch, FIFA could set the tone for the future, by stripping Italy of their undeserved title.

They played well i agree. But then they remained in the competition by cheating australia .

By the way, this video has the best replays of events leading up to the first French penalty, including an angle from behind that I haven’t seen in the last clips.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=a8u5CfM__l8

Personally. I don’t see any contact there that’s remotely worthy of a direct free kick. Materazzi goes in with his leg, but then draws it back at the last moment so as not to make a foul. There was some contact, but nothing remotely resembling a direct-free-kick foul.

How do you all know that Zidane lost it over a racist comment? Did he say antying?

Zidane, despite his poor act, deserved this award.

Cristiano Ronaldo Told Zidane to Head butt MATERAZZi so that Zidane would get a red card. just like how he told ROONEY to push Him!!
And then I winked right after. did you guys see that?

We must all blame ronaldo!

Italy deserved to win. They scored the only legitmate goal in the game. something needs to be done about all the diving!! It’s a black mark on the game. Zidane should be ashamed. Don’t forget that these are all professional players. No comment from anyone should make you do something that gets you a red card and puts your team at a disadvantage. Zidane doesn’t deserve the golden ball!

HAHAHAHA Kuwait and India lol HAHAHAHAHAHA the french lolololol You guys are so funny! ViVa Italia!

Italy has fooled the Argentine referee and the whole world on the 9th of July, 2006. This is no World Cup match at all. Italians indulged in kicking the French players. Shame on Italy! The Italian team is a good representative of Italian mafia, who has no ethics.

Materazzi — the real villain of World Cup 2006. Hope the FIFA recognizes the foul-mouthed Italians by conferring a prize called “The Best Foul-Players’ Team”.

this site is biased and the authors/admins/moderators like most blogs ive seen have deleted my posts that say anything bad about zidane.

clearly this site is driven by a biased group of zidane lovers.
figures…

Here is your chance to look at human garbage called Materazzi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq6HosVlskQ&search=materazzi

Boy, I had no idea what a “goon” Materazzi is. He looks for trouble.

NEWAR from KUWAIT and the 2 from INDIA:

You all are angry, discriminant people!
You need to do some research on history and look inward at your own countries and what has happened on your own soils.
And you need to learn more about France – they are one of the most unaccepting countries in the world today – despite most of their exceptional international team being of colour, they are very racist and unforgiving to those of minority. The only reason they have such a large black population playing for their country is because of all of the African countries they muscled. “French” Polynisia – once a slave country to France – Ivory Coast – once a slave country to France.
I have many friends that are of Middle Eastern descent that have lived a large part of their lives in France and they will be the first to tell you that racism lives and breathes in that country.
Please educate yourselves before coming on what is supposed to be a positive way to discuss a wonderful game and tournament and look like a fool.
I am embarrassed for all three of you.

JP

since when is the mafia supposed to have ethics India? you idiot, look at your own backyard before you criticize others

your country harbors terrorists and you come to the US building gas stations to fund the jihad. That to me is corruption and the mafia doesn’t kill innocent people like the coward suicide bombers in your camel strappon country.

racism cannot be tolerated on or off the field, by players coaches or fans or people ignorant of the world cup

racism in general is not condemnable in any instance, everyone on this forum should be ashamed of themself

fifa had a huge campaign “Say no to racism” on the field and have a particular department to deal with racism

Materazzi broke all conventions of human decency and fifa rules

he should be punished accordingly

half of you on this board have broken it too, come on people

this really reminds me of when rudi voller called a player a the n-word and then he spat in his face

the player who spat got the red card

you shouldn’t spit in one’s face, but i think that racial slur is 100 times worse than the spit

Both teams were deserving of the Cup. Italy had a brilliant run — they were consistent and in all areas throughout the tournament. However, France played better in the final. Sometimes the team that plays best does not win.

It seems the referee relied on a video replay and consultation to issue Zidane the red card. I wonder if the referee’s action is sanctioned by FIFA regulation for officiating. Obviously the referee didn’t witness the great headbutt nor the event that led to it. That being the case, he could not have based his action on sound evaluation and fair judgment. I presume it isn’t valid to use a video replay to make soccer calls since this is not standard practice. Is there any opinion on this issue out there?

I saw Materazzi wrap his hand around Zidane. Who knows what his motive was and what foul utterances followed. Clearly he provoked Zidane beyond mortal understanding. There’s a limit to ones endurance and it’s no surprise that Zidane reacted in a manner others thought he shouldn’t have. Personally I thought he should have followed the butt with a kick to the mouth. Maybe that would have taught (Mighty rat)Materatzzi a lesson in humility.

Given the circumstance, I think the referee should have cautioned both Zidane and Materazzi and resumed play. He would have been a hero for preventing what turned out to be an ugly stain on Zidanes illustrious career.

I boldly state that this referee was not consistent with his calls at all. He favored the Italians for the most part. Clearly he waved off a penalty on Malouda that could have given France a big lift and security. It’s sad that the outcome of the final was marred by poor officiating.

The Italians won again by hook and by crook. They took home the highly priced trophy like bandits and left behind rubbles of shattered emotions of a game gone bad.

I am by no means a hater of Italians. I am simply appalled by the extreme unsportmanlike behaviour. I wish things were different. Inspite of every thing that I have said, I must now extend my congratulations to the Italians for their victory. When the smoke clears, it’s all about winning.

Okay, so if I understand all of you correctly, racism shouldnt be tolerated, but violence and fighting should?

Look in the mirror. Calling Italians names and stereotyping makes you a racist.

to Mercury, it is amazing what you say, “italians bandits” “robbered the trophy” But what France did more than Italy to win the WC? or we should give them the trophy just because they have Zidane playing the last match? What unsportmanlike behaviour are you talking about? I assume you are referring to what ZZ did?

this is another of example of why refs should be able to review the video for ANY issue… fouls leading to red cards, controversial goals, etc.

I just read this Materazzi quote:

“I did not call him a terrorist. I am not a cultured person and I don’t even know what as Islamist terrorist is.”

http://www.rte.ie/sport/2006/0711/materazzim.html

Italians… help me out here. I’ve never been to Italy, but is it such a backwater country, cut off from the rest of the world that people do not know what an islamic terrorist is?

@mike: Interesting fact you found about india. Camels? jihad?

“and the mafia doesn’t kill innocent people”

Are you drunk so early?

You know, in 2004, nobody asked Totti what the Danish player said to him when Totti spat on him.

Totti was kicked out of the tournament, and yes, he was provoked and terrible things were said to him…

Yet, only Totti suffered… How come it’s only an outrage when it’s Zidane?

Do you seriously think Rooney wasnt provoked also? etc.

extreme unsportmanlike behaviour?

you say that like the Italians are the only one who had any…

You shouldnt label. You know the U.S. had to apologise to the association for their behaviour in this cup? read about it before judging another nation and calling THEM unsportmanlike.

Materazzi shouldnt have said whatever he said, sure, but everyone talks crap. the thing he said was only called into question because of zidane’s head butt. if your gonna criticize him you might as well criticize the other players of the sport who say stuff like that but dont get caught.
besides materazzi is only one player. how does this one player’s actions reflect badly on the whole team when there are clearly good people on the italian side?
italy played better in the tournament
france played better in the final
materazzi said something, zidane retaliated
its simple: italy won no matter how much you criticize their team for diving, racism, ect. get over it

I do agree I don’t know much about sport, but by the movement of Zidane, I can tell that he is a good soccer player. I believe he did what he have done on July 9th for a reason. And he is professional enough to keep everything for himself. That shows he is a good character. This is the first and probably last game I saw Zidane play, but it’s the best game because he is the best player, a star from the soccer legend. I admired him and I think he does deserved the golden ball!

Wtf, Materazzi’s comment is laughable. He is known for playing filthy football and I wouldn’t put it past him to have a filthy, racist mouth as well. Not that it justifies what Zidane did, but still, the theme of this World Cup was say no to racism for pete’s sake. But I’ll watch the Zidane interview before I roll out the final judgement.

What a bunch os French Whiners! France out-fouled Italy 24-17! France got 3 cautions vs Italy’s 1! What match were you guys watching? Italy should have won 1-0 but the ref gave France an unmerited penalty kick. I’m sure Zidane is an inoocent little lamb who never trash talked, never got a yellow or a red card and never got kicked out of a match! What the hell does it matter what Materazzi said? So, if Zidane had a gun in his hand, he had the right to shoot him? What twisted logic? This is prima facie whining by a bunch of very poor losers. It’s too bad all this whining is taking away from a great Italian victory by a team with an impenetrable defense. Forza Italia!

FOR PEOPLE TAHT SPEAKS ABOUT ITALIAN RACISM!!

Why people speaks without knowing what’s real happened?

Materazzi haven’t said terrorist…algerian…or other thing that people hope that he said!

This is the the real racism, versus ITALY! In these days many have said most ugly things to the Italians!

I’m tired!

If Materazzi it had given the head to Zidane, it would have been spoken about provocation? about racism? NO
you would have only spoken about the bad Italian man!!!

They have discussed, Materazzi has said something to his sister (not a good thing but I think that it happen often during a match) but zidane instead answering or ignore it, has reacted with his head. It has mistaken, nothing excuses.

I’m Italian and I’m not racist as all italian people!

I’m also WORLD CHAMPION!!!

Bye