How? How can a two-time world player of the year do something like that? How can this well-revered man, this calm-collected magician do that? 15 years of reputation-building hard work has crumbled away, in one moment of sheer stupidity and arrogance. Zizu, no sorry, Zidane (I cannot call him by his nickname anymore - he is no longer affable) was the least likely player to do something like that. Okay fine, if a hot-head like Rooney went and did something like that, it's understandable, but a man of such stature and repute to go and head butt an opponent- it's literally unbelievable. It highlights how one moment of sheer frustration and arrogance can almost destroy a career. It's shocking, and for me, extremely disappointing. It saddened me to see the Les Bleus' maestro walk off into the tunnel after that farcical and unnecessary action. I have no sympathy for him, but the sheer shock of such an act as eluded me, eluded everything, even the Italian victory (no offence to any Italian supporter).
Apart from that, the final of the World Cup finals was decent, better than the finals of the recent past. There was enough controversy and a penalty shoot-out always promises an exciting night. The French penalty was, according to me (and most others) not a penalty. The ex-great Zidane executed the penalty with a tinge of over-confidence and haughtiness, and then what saved him was well, luck. Otherwise the contest was pretty even. Italy some what dominated the first half, which was exceptional. The French kind off dominated the second half of the second half, and a bit of the extra time. Much of the latter part of the match was stale, apart from some head butting incidences. Anyway, Italy seems to deserve this victory, at least definitely over France. Italy have played good football. All credit to them for this historic win.
We have come to the end of another world cup. The 64 matches have just flown by, and I can't believe that this mega event has actually concluded. Apart from the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony and the Brazil disappointment, Germany 2006 has been fantastic. Some of the greatest world cup goals ever, created in some of the best stadiums in the world, in a tournament that highlighted globalization, the fraternity of men (at least off the field) and the rise of female football-lovers, this world cup has met, and in some cases exceeded all expectations. And that is always good. Isn't it?
22 comments:
this match went against everything i had hoped for in zidane..my last comment is redundant...a truly great player..stooping down to such a shameful level..to me it looked like materazzi just held the man..was there something more that he did or said that angered the great zidane?!?!??! i see no other explanation for his act..he's the man who always keeps his cool..it hurts to see such arrogance amongst one of the greatest legends in football history..
it was disgusting, disappointing and outright outrageous! how could such an experienced player loose his cool and commit such a horrific foul??? zidane, considered to be one of the world's greatest players! like you said, it might have been expected out of rooney, but not the captain of the french team! its quite definitely because of him that france lost, they lost all their spirit. and imagine entering penalties without zidane, henry and ribery! shocking! but still, it was a really good match, apart from the head butt (which i still havent gotten over!! and i wont for a looong time). it was soo uncalled for! neway, congrats to italy, who deserved to win and needed a few hours of happiness before going back home to scandal. Yay italia!
ps... why in his last ever match?? why! who wants to end a glittering career like that??? WHY!!
pps... hooray for us female football lovers! proud of us!! :D
well 12 hours have passed now and im getting over the headbutting incident.
this kind of reaction amongst fans is very common when such a revered player commits such a foul act. however when people say that"i hav lost all my respect for him" and "ex great" and "a moment which can destroy an entire career" - well thats just in the heat of the moment.
even i was shocked yestrday but come to think of it there have been many incidences like this - david beckham in 1998 - sent off......maradona in 1994.....viera(countless times:P).....the intial reaction is tough defintely..but as time goes by , it heals everything.
i will still think of zidane as one fo the best players to grace the game. in the history books when they sing his praises , it may be mentioned that he ended his career in disgrace but i dont belive 1 moment can destroy 15 years of service. no way. what anish , eddie hav said is comletely wrong possibly because that was on the spur of the moment. anish has also said its "understandable"for sum1 like rooney to do that.
no it isnt! that shows that one has to judge players on reputatilon rather than what happend on the pitch. (a mistake which refrees hav committed this wc, condemned by sepp blatter).
oh btw if ull dint know zidane was sent off in the 1998 world cup against morroco for stamping a player. they cursed him then....i think he answered them pretyy well..better keep ur mouths shut......
a great final and world cup no doubt with deserving winners.well done italy and cannavaro who should win the golden ball although pirlo is also in the running.
- gomezzz
ps : the penalty wasnt excuted with over confidence.....he simply knew buffon was goin to dive so he put it rite thru the centre. when u chip it cheekily like that and it comes off , its a physological blow to the opponents. suddenly haughtniess comes in to it!!.jeez......
Zidane was wrong in letting rage take control of him, a few minutes before ending his career. However, thats no reason to denounce his entire career. We'll always love him for what he has done. I actually feel quite sad for him. I can't find any reason for him comitting such an act. Materazzi might have said something to enrage him. It is so tragic to see that a man who has carried France thus far did not receive a medal & will not receive the Golden Ball that he had deserved. It would have been so depressing if France had won and he had not been alowed to life the trophy or even participate in the celebration.
Adieu Zizou.
Zidane needs to learn how to control his temper!!!!! Other than that, the world cup has been fantastic(Except for brazil missing out, of course). I actually approve of the sport now!! Hooray for me!
Zidane has enthralled us for 15 years. Fine. His breath-taking touch, and unbelievable passes have unlocked defenses and caused France to win the 1998 World Cup and the 2002 European Championships. Fine. Well Done Zinidine! His 57 million pound transfer to Real Madrid - Wow. Fine. He is one of the greatest footballers in the world. FINE! For not enough visible reasons, to go and blatantly and emphatically head-butt a fellow sportsmen, and then plead his innocence. Not Fine! Yes, its true, you cannot take away any of his past achievements, but to go and do something so out of control, and basically well so 'mad' and bizarre, in the greatest stage of football - the world cup finals, being CAPTAIN of the team - IS NOT FINE. I repeat - ITS NOT FINE. Yes people make mistakes, but some mistakes are inexcusable. This is one of them. Yesterday, as Govind said, I was saddened by the fact that such a great player can actually do something so,so uncalled for, something against the ideals of a football match, and something against the spirit of sport. It's irrelevant as to what Materazzi said. There is no need for an attack. Words should be countered by words, not actions.
About the penalty, to assume that the goal keeper will dive is a sign of overconfidence. If the ball had struck the bar and NOT crossed the line - people would have said that Zidane's penalty was very casual and that he was over confident. Just because he was lucky enough for the ball to cross the line, doesn't mean that he was not over-confident. Ideally, a penalty should be well dispatched in any direction with decent power beyond the reach of the goal keeper, irrespective of whether the goal keeper dives in the right direction or not, and irrespective of where the penalty taker thinks the keeper is going to dive.
And it was not the red card, but rather the head butt instead. Beckham's 1998 red card and Viera's 'numerous red cards' were definitely NOT as blatant and disgusting as Zidane's head butt.
Also remember, reputations are made over time, and not just concocted over time. Zidane's reputation has almost been rubbed off for that bizarre action. What makes a player great, is not only his skill, but his temperament, his passion and his sportsmanship. Zidane has faltered, and in my books has lost that title of 'great'. Sorry for being so judgmental, but this is what I strongly believe.
okay...zidane god damn it GOT the FIFA golden ball award...he didn't miss it...i knw what he did was "wrong, uncalled for, terrible, horrific, not him, disgusting, disappointing and outright outrageous."but.... c'mon his act cannot put down his g8 talent.... people are saying zidane is no more...crap... he ll always be remembered like pele and maradona for his memorable finals in 98' and even 2006 for the good and the bad. it will all kool of as time goes by... chill.. zizou is still great and surely a legendary player to come across the world of football.
PS . it was the BEST HEAD BUTT in football history and we ll probably never 4get it.
Zidane made a mistake... a huge mistake... but for what it's worth I'm sure even he knew the consequences of his actions. He came on to the field for extra time in a somewhat heated state it seemed and quite obviously his rage got the better of him. But even so to a large extent I agree with Gomes and Govind in the sense that I don't think the recent head butt has completely overshadowed his apparent skill and mastery of the game. I was beyond disappointed with him... true and quite frankly I bet he's probably equally disappointed with himself. It was completely wrong for a captain to commit such an unnecessary foul at such a stage in the competition. Just for that I think Italy deserved their win. Otherwise it was a really close competition.
Regarding your blog post... I do think you overstated some facts. That it overshadowed Italian victory... I highly doubt it. It's a huge moment for them to redeem themselves in the game of football what with all the scandal regarding their club football. I can’t see any Italian supporter being overly mortified with what happened… maybe I’m wrong.
Coming back to the whole business of head butt and well red cards in general…You say Zidane's whole career was destroyed... well what about Figo then? That was in this world cup as well…Portuguese captain, almost retiring, head butting in the match against Netherlands. Only difference was that he was only given a yellow card. FIFA decided to let him play in the match against England. A bit lucky don’t you think? Now see I’m not saying Zidane didn't deserve the red card. He did. And so did Figo although he didn’t get it and it didn’t overshadow his career… did it? Do most people even remember that? So would you say Figo has gone against all the ideals of football? Are you being quite as harsh on him as you are on Zidane? Sure this was the world cup finals and all that… bigger game if you want to put it that way… but if it comes back to the ‘ideals of football’… well then there is a lot to question isn’t there? What about the numerous dives and calling for fouls that clearly did not take place?? I mean cristiano ronaldo is one of best players from what I can see… but he does tend to destroy the flow of the game by his infamous antics don’t you think? But does that make him any less of a player? Now the Portuguese fans would probably not think so would they? I’m not against Portugal or anything… it’s just that these seemed like classic examples! O and to say getting a red-card is understandable for someone like Rooney… honestly for a person who has as huge a reputation at stake as him… to simply treat him like a child who is occasionally moody and to in a way learn to ‘tolerate’ his mood swings is ridiculous. He made a fool of himself. He shouldn’t have committed the fowl. His team needed him. He knew it. Stupid mistake… he should just admit to it. And I really don’t think people should just forget about the fowl saying ‘ah well… it was Rooney… what’s to be expected?’…even he deserves better than that!!!
Regarding the penalty Zidane took… I don’t think many players can take such a crucial penalty so coolly as did Zidane even when faced by the world’s best goalkeeper, Buffon. Zidane must have known what angle he was aiming for. The fact that he almost narrowly missed it can hardly account for his overconfidence. Perhaps his luck… yes. In any case…he needed to get that penalty in and at the end of the day… he did his job.
Talking of the French penalty which I suppose u and others think should not have taken place… Let’s see… the one that was awarded was indeed controversial but I think that just brings it down to really bad refereeing. I thought the referee frankly was crap… France might not have deserved that penalty but they did deserve a penalty for a foul on I think it was Viera in the box. I think it was also in the first half of the game. But whatever it was… thanks to a referee who probably thought he was redeeming himself... the French didn’t even concede a free kick!!!! There were a few more fouls on the French team in the first half that the referee completely overlooked. My dratted memory is not letting me remember the name of the exact French player that had about four or five Italian players attacking him for the ball and the free kick for that was awarded to Italy. Honestly… to the refs of the world cup… Bravo… they made a mess of it...!!!
Female football fans…glad for the recognition…as Juhi said: Very proud of us!!;)… but I was sincerely disappointed in Shakira… I mean in this world cup she was almost a mascot for all female football fans… I mean she was a woman actually involved in it… and guess what she didn’t even know what a penalty was… ach how stupid is that?!?!?!
Anyway… this world cup was interesting to say the least… it completely eclipsed the wimbledon btw!! It seems almost like the end of an era…until next time…!
About my blogpost - the zidane incidince overshadowed the italian victory for me.
The Figo headbutt - According to me, Zidane is a better, more reputed, more successful footballer than Figo. I saw Zidane as the present 'magician', who could 'unlock' defenses. Figo, on the other hand a I find over-rated. He is a good player, great in his prime, but class is perpetual. So his head- butt made less of an impact on me, and I guess the rest of the world, than Zidanes. Zidane was at his peak, wiht a chance to lead his side to world cup glory. On the other hand, Zidane's head butt was more aggressive and blatant, and really really not needed. It disappointed me, and to me that is not greatness. Apart from the head butt, his plea, and his attempt to coax the referee out of something so blatant was unbelievable. It was to a certain extent, taht he dint accept his mistake. And that is not great. Maybe it was in the heat of the matter, but 15 years of experience must have taught him better. But now, I guess not.
Ronaldo, Rooney are not great. The former is a cry-baby and a diver, and the latteris almost like this arrogant kid, who cant stop swearing. Zidane never had this image. Fine, Rooney and Ronaldo are both talented and skillful, but once again there is more to being great, acc to me, than just skill. "honestly for a person who has as huge a reputation at stake as him… to simply treat him like a child who is occasionally moody and to in a way learn to ‘tolerate’ his mood swings is ridiculous." Good definition of Rooney. Besides tolerating his moods, what else can we do? When it comes to on pitch behaviour, Rooney has no reputation and nothing to maintain. He can go head-butt who ever he likes, it wont affect me as much as Zidane's head butt did. You see, it's Zidane's greatness that has made the head-but so, well 'Hara'am', as they say it here.
I dont agree with any of the penalty explanations given in the above comments. If he was so calm and so collected,and so sure of himself, he shud have calmly placed the ball into the center of the goal. A chip was not required. To me he was trying to be 'over-cool'. That is not necessarily required. The world cup finals is not the time to do something cheeky and over-cool. That's my belief. And when the ball hit the bar, I bet Mr. Zidane had his heart in his mouth, and was not 'cool' about it.
Regarding the refs, yes this world cup has seen the worst of them. Maybe, we need to take advantage of new technology. What refereeing in football now needs is some technological solution to these descision-problems, whcih will not in any way, interrupt the flow of the game.
Thanks for your comments, finally there is some substance on these comment-pages.
figo headbutting in the netherlands match was not such a great deal, because before that already a dozen or so fouls were committed. when i heard that figo had done such a thing (i didnt see that match), i was quite shocked that the captain of a team could do that, and almost didnt believe it. but like anish said, figo, although he is a really good player, isnt as great a player as Zidane. zidane completely lost it. today in the papers it said that materazzi called zidane a "terrorist" and thats why he headbutted him. so what???? hes played for 15 years for crying out loud. such an experienced player should know better. if you'll read the gulf news today, theres an article called "porqoi, zizou?" which explains the psychological aspect to the situation.
if i continue, ill just be repeating what everyone else has said. just one more thing... zidane is still considered great. all his years of greatness can NOT be erased by a foolish act. it is just a blemish on a brilliant record. and its such a shame that it had to happen, especially in his last ever match, in the last 10 minutes. (shakes head)
about cristiano ronaldo... edwin, the guy dives brilliantly. 'nuff said. he's a master. and portugal was the most entertaining team of the tournament, u have to admit.
and rooney... im sorry, but he really needs an anger management course. it will do him good.
oh, and its so nice to know that france has already forgiven their dear zizou...
mistakes are inexcusable ...they arnt unforgivable. theres a difference.
once again i state the 1998 incident when zidane was sent off for blantantly stamping a morrocon player. it was as disgusting and horrible as the headbutt incident, the reaction was the same. people like anish said "in my books hes lost the title of great" ...zidane answered them quite well.
anish seems to be be shocked by the incident only because he didnt expect zidane to do such a thing. (read ur own entry lifes greatest lessons) zidane dint fulfill ur expectations.
you have made it seem like its on for rooney to go headbutt someone..but its not for zidane.its the same thing!!!!...both players should get equal treatment after that. you seem to lost because of ur expectation of zidane not doing anything wrong.
oh btw you have no idea in hell what he said to the refree and please he wouldnt hav tried to coax him out of it. the other french players perhaps not him and its pretty obvious he going to hav to accept his mistake ..he hasnt spoken abt that yet so u cant assume he hasnt.
one more thing....i just want you to name to us who u think are the greats of football....
anyways although not a very good entry it has provided plenty of scope for debate. and oh its excellent to see girls commenting on football:P......weell donee!
- gomezzzzzzzzz
ps: if the penalty had gone on without a hitch everyone would hav praised zidane. u say ideally a penalty should be put in the corners. theres no such "ideal" as that. many penalty takers put it down the middle. to assume a keeper is going to dive and put that down to overconfidence is ridculous. the chip is prefeered to the shot (down the middle) because a shot comes at u much faster and the keeper has a chance of seeing it then. (its difficlut to exlain over a blog:S). a chip is also done to deal a physologcial blow to the keeper who couldnt keep it out. nothing to do with over confidence and haughtniess.
no comment on rooney and ronaldo. (ill go on for ages if i do)...read ur previos blog..itll explain why ur so "dissapionted"
chill out guys.....he's human. Its hard taking shit like that under pressure.
Let the man be and remember him for his football skills.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt5Wcl49E-w
Maybe we all need to see that again. Too much aggression for my liking. And damn he looked angry and ferocious. Great sportsmen dont do that.
I respect his skills, his great football talent and the fact that he has enthralled me, but that, to me is inexcuseble and unforgivable.
yeah i saw it again ....makes no difference any more
you've got it wrong this time..........
i have got this wrong according to you...
but i respect your opinion...u do make sense...but i donot completely agree with it..but its cool...good tussle!
:P cheers!...blog on!
Question: Who here can actually believe that "ITALY !?!" won the World cup of 2006 ???? ITALY are the WORLD champions???? ITALY!?!think about it ITALY??!
c'mon their victory was totally overshadowed by zidane great head butt...i can't believe it man, italy now is the best team in the world!!!!
(contd from 'r o m i t'..) ...and has been thrice before. if theyve done it before, its obvious that they had it in them to do it again.
but i still think spain should have won. and if they hadnt made it through, germany should have won. they were favourites for the cup this year any way. oh, well. its over.
Before the world cup, very few of us could have imagined that Cannavaro would be lifting that trophy on the 9th of July. There was England, Brazil, Argentina and Germany. Surely all of these teams wouldn't fall in one world cup. It had to be one of them, even though SPAIN ROCKS.
But if you think of it, there was nor reason why the Italian team didn't deserve to go all the way. Just because they aren't THAT popular doesn't mean that they aren't good. If the same team had performed well in a German or English jersey, everything would have been so realistic. Come to think of it, I think Italy beat the Germans 4-1 before the world cup.
ummm jus back to jrod - germany were never favourites..they were getting thrashed left right and centre before the world cup (4-1 to italy is one of the matches they lost)....klinsman was under heavy pressure from the public and media etc ect..basically they were not favourites.
spain played well , yes...with a young team they are sure to be around at euro 2008 and world up 2010.
italy without deserved the cup. they were champions three times b4 but twice in the 1930;s so tht doesnt count too much:P......but hey , well done italy!
- gomezzz
ps: englands coming back ...just watch .
btw anish we r really depending on ur blog to pass our time these holidays :P so thanks a million for tht from evry1:P:P
which reminds me i hav to updte mi space:S..ok byeee
Back from england and having read "atleast" 150+ pages of football gossip (Ribery is joining arsenal?!) --- gary linnekar and the england 66' genration think that zizous headbutting was justified (matzi insulted his mom and sis!?) and that Italy deserved to win...
That's a great story. Waiting for more. » » »
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