[mr.karmalicious]

Apparently, Zidane has said that the Italian player insulted his mother. It's just on Digg, though, so we can wait for confirmation.

 

[greenhorn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr.karmalicious France had multiple faults called on them when Italian players were the ones who faulted. I don't know what the hell you were watching, but you simply can not say that Italy played fairly. Did you watch ESPN or ABC? I was watching Univision, so I might have seen some things you didn't. One of the worst parts was when France was about to score, and an Italian guy jumped down from behind and kicked his ankles, preventing him from scoring a goal. There were multiple occurences where an Italian player kicked a French player, and then fell down and cried about it. Multiple times when an Italian player kicked the feet out from under the French. MANY times when they tripped the French. Many times when they simply stepped on top of the French's feet to stop them from moving. Anybody who's watched Zidane knows that he does not get angry easily. He didn't hit that one guy just because he had grabbed him and held him for no apparent reason, he did it because he was tired of the Italians acting like asses towards them for the entire game. They played HORRIBLY. That was the worst game, as far as playing like jackasses goes, that I've ver seen. I've never seen any team play that dishonorably.

Let's not forget that the first penalty transformed in min. 7 by Zidane was a gift given to the French as a consequence of a perfect diving. This was obvious at the last replay. The two Italian defensers did not even touch the French guy.

 

[plainsong]

Maybe I was raised differently, but I'd find it hard to believe it was just an insult about his mom.

You American guys, think back to little league - even back then you had to put up with talkin' smack from the catcher and catcalls and stuff. The first plave to go was naturally you're mother, and if you wanted to have a go by trying to lob the pitcher's head off or something, assuming you weren't thrown out, you'd get a reeming from your coach, and your parents (especially if your dad was a ball player himself and knows all the tricks).

The point is, that's little league. You learn then what starts a fight and what doesn't (in the interest of sportsmanship, ideally nothing starts a fight, but we all know there's times when you need to clear the bench). And Yo'momma insults are just lame.

So that's at the child's level, and Zidane is at the elite level. You _know_ the result will be a red card. You know this ref has done it before and will do it again. What kind of insult is worth ending your carreer on such a bad note?

If it really was a yo' mamma insult, that is soooo lame, and I'd say for whatever reason, he wanted the red card.

 

[raymondlin]

The irony is that the players goes back to Italy tomorrow and there is a strong chance that their own respective clubs will be relegated 2 divisions for match fixing !

 

[JahJahBinks]

Zidane is not a high school kid.

 

[calaf]

poor Zizou, I felt so sorry for him. That red card did spoil a very good final. The Italians completely run out of steam after their incredible first half (69% possession!) and in OT they couldn't even get close to Barthez, but then delivered their best PKs performance in history: they must have been training the whole week, and it was very interesting to see which players were chosen for the penalties: no forward and no offensive midfielders.

No matter how it ended, I felt it was a remarkable World Cup. It seems to me that passing speed and very aggressive pressing were the Italians (and French) winning traits. Not exactly futebal bailado but still the best show in the world!

 

[ojnihs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by raymondlin The irony is that the players goes back to Italy tomorrow and there is a strong chance that their own respective clubs will be relegated 2 divisions for match fixing !

If it does happen, they're contracts are immediately ended and they become free-agents. There is already talk about many of them taking positions in Real Madrid and other powerful club teams. It's not that bad of a deal if you ask me.

Zidane made a stupid mistake, that's the bottom line. He's known for his temper, but he should have known better. It was his last world cup game, he should not have gone out like that, he's much too good of a player to have gone out like that.

 

[JahJahBinks]

From wikipedia:

"His team members later reported to French media that Zidane was reacting to a racial slur from Materazzi"

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JahJahBinks From wikipedia: "His team members later reported to French media that Zidane was reacting to a racial slur from Materazzi"

Also from Wikipedia...

Zinedine Zidane
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Due to vandalism, editing of this article by anonymous or newly registered users is disabled (see semi-protection policy). Such users may discuss changes, request unprotection, or create an account.

 

[JahJahBinks]

Here's the streetfighter version:

 

[Sladeophile]

I was indifferent with this final. I could care less about these two teams of whiners and fakers. Oddly enough, the only guy that doesn't fake getting hurt and seems to be tough as nails, is the one that gets tossed. I guess if I had to pick a team I "wanted" to win, it would have been Italy, but I really didn't care. Interesting decision by Zidane to get so easily offended or whatever it was and do something he knew very well would get him a red card. You have to wonder what went on in that bald head of his. You gotta hate seeing it end in PKs when the French were so dominant in the last half of the match though. Both of those goalies were schooled, the Italians were super lucky with the missed PK.

Anyway, glad I watched this year, lots of good games.

 

[dhp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr.karmalicious I really didn't see what you saw, but I'm not really a soccer fan either. I'm just happy for my Italian friends. Still, no excuse for head-butting a guy when your team needs you. I can agree with that. I agree with his decision to headbutt the guy, but he should not have done it when he knew very well that he would be taken out of the game, which would most likely result in a defeat for his team. A very foolish decision on his part.

well, his ejection didn't lead to the loss, the missed PK did

greenhorn, don't forget about the obvious attack on the french player shooting inside the box and then getting called on france. that more than makes up for it.

jahjahbinks, that's awesome

 

[Sladeophile]

Personally, I feel his ejection completely led to the loss. It was huge! First off, Zidane is the veteran captain that everyone fears and was much of the inspiration for the great French play that got them there in the first place. Second, he would have made his PK for sure. You never know who they would have chosen to shoot if he were still in it. The French just looked totally deflated. I also thought it was interesting that they pulled Ribery when they likely knew it would end in PKs.

Just an insane way to end an illustrious world cup career...

 

[mr.karmalicious]

What?!?!?!?! I agree with Sladeophile!?! Impossible!

Really, though: I think that France would have at least tied at the PKs, if not won, if Zidane had stayed. Zidane would have definitely kicked, and he would have definitely made a PK. The one that the French missed... wow. Just... wow. It was inches from, if not on, the line. It was so close. I felt horrible for the poor guy who kicked that one. I don't know why they took Henry out, either: he's a better scorer than most of the French team...

 

[Error]

I'd just like to point out that Trezeguet, who was the French player who missed his penalty shot was a substitution for Ribery not Zidane. So I don't think that Zidane's ejection was directly responsible for the loss, even thought I'm sure it did hurt morale. If Ribery had stayed in, and if Zidane had not been ejected the result might have been different, but those are two very large ifs. I also am not sure how much difference Henry would have made in PKs. By the end of the first overtime he had to lay down on the middle of the field, because he was too tired to walk back to the sidelines.