Monday, July 10, 2006
A Shame.
A veteran. A calming influence. A soon-to-be retiree honored on a world stage.And then.....paaaffff! Like a ball hitting a nail. Head on. All of the air of the event and of France's chances came out in sudden and sad moment when Zinedine Zidane head-butted Italy defender Marco Materazzi. What a meltdown. Materazzi and Zidane were exchanging quips shortly before the incident. I'm sure Zidane has heard all of the possible vile things players shoot at each other to throw off their game. In multiple languages. Here was the World Cup final and some Materazzi bon-mots seemed to have driven Zidane past his breaking point. The French coach, studious-looking Raymond Domenech said he did not know what Materazzi said to Zidane. Whatever it was, Materazzi should have at least a share in the Golden Ball award as best player for having, with just words, eliminated a sure penalty kick goal by Zidane. As we all know, France lost the penalty kick shootout 5-3, with their fifth kick deemed unnecessary.
The funny thing about football (soccer) is that the goat of the final game, Zinedine Zidane, won the Golden Ball. It would have been one thing to award him for top player honors of the 2006 World Cup 2006, even if France lost, if he had stayed in for the entire game. But to have been red-carded on an unquestionably stupid and vicious act and to have probably cost his team the victory...the award just doesn't make sense.
On a postitive note, the much-maligned officiating was nowhere to be seen at yesterday's game. The diving was ignored and incidental fouls were brushed off if the offended team was in an offensive rush. Even on the unquestionable foul by Zidane, Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo consulted with all parties before pulling out the death card on Zidane. I thought he did a fabulous job, thus closing out the 2006 World Cup on a positive note, well at least from the refereeing point of view.
The penalty kick shoot-out? It's a passable rule when you're in the preliminary rounds. But for the final game? Awful. I was rooting for France, up until Zidane's meltdown which resulted in Italy's having a man advantage. With the limited amount of playing time left, Italy wasn't able to take advantage of that opportunity. Imagine the shock had Italy missed any of their penalty kicks? The shoot-out favors the weaker team, which France was at the end of two overtimes, having lost through ejection or injury three of their best players, Thierry, Zidane, and Ribery. Again, even though I was cheering on France to win, it would have been awful if Italy had lost in the shoot-out. I say eliminate the shoot-out, allow 3 more substitutions, including players already taken out of the game, and play on. Sudden death. Until one team scores. Might even give one of the pine-splintered backside bench warmers a chance to become an instant hero.
Wonder if Zidane will be a new entry in Socceranto? May I suggest:
Zidane: A person who dramtically falls from the highest grace in public through emotional stupidity.
Addendum:
As per this source (trust me on the translation), the comments made by Materazzi to Zidane, according to Zidane's brother, Rabah, were of a racial/religious nature. Zidane was born in Marseilles of Berber parents. The remark allegedly made was against Zidane's family, specifically his mother. There were reports that some Muslim web sites were calling for Materazzi's death based on the religious tones of his insults. This is getting ridiculous and dangerous. It's time for these two to make a joint appearance and try to put a quiet and final end to this boiling scenario.
Update (07/11/06):
Materazzi, as quoted in Gazette dello Sport, ""I did insult him, it's true. But I categorically did not call him a terrorist. I'm not cultured and I don't even know what an Islamic terrorist is."".
The Sun, reported it a bit differently. The English tabloid said the explosive sentence was "You're the son of a terrorist whore." What with folks' feelings runing fairly hot over there, Mr. Materazzi had better be peeking over his shoulder quite a bit.
Comments:
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I was hoping you'd comment on this incident. I saw it, and couldn't believe my eyes. It seemed beyond comprehension that a team's most valuable player (intent on retiring, no less) would remove himself from the fight for the World Cup with such commitment. I agree with you that a public appearance is the only satisfactory way to put this to bed - hopefully for once and for all.
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