Unclassy ending for Zidane, but it's not the first time that he does something like that. He was also red carded by mexican ref Brizio in USA 94. Sure its his last.
The italians, true to their nature, get a well deserved win.
Is this WC the one with less goals through the tournament? Something needs to be done...
ossobuco wrote:Yeh, it goes against everything I've read about him to date.
Actually, he was known for such .... years back.
(So I wonder, what the Italian told him, after that tackling.) (Not that it could be an excuse!)
I'm a blank slate re soccer history, it just didn't fit what I've been reading in my cursory way. It's strange to follow all this closely without tv or local radio program, at least that I could find, and sans much knowledge of the game. It has been a learning experience via a2k and the FIFA live commentary.
This sucks big fat donkey dick (as A used to say).
<sigh>
I have a really bad taste in my mouth.
Now I can go back to getting the same kind of disappointment from the Boston Red Sox.
Joe(ended with a whimper of PKs)Nation
Unfortunate for Trezeguet too! He was the one that eliminated the italians in the EURO 2000, and after the french fans critized Domenech for not placing him in the starting lineup well... they will be disappointed.
I wonder if Domenech's decision to keep Barthez in the arch was a good one too.
The Zidane thing was just totally bizarre. Why ever would he do that? It didnt even make any sense - I mean, theres no way he could have gotten away with it. What a way to end a career. What could have driven him to do that?
I saw his arm kept bothering him, after that foul earlier - much later in the game, the doc still had to spray it. So perhaps irritability of being in pain? But still... so unprofessional, for a veteran player... odd. (Yeah here too people were talking what might have been said to him)
Watched the game with Cs and a friend of hers and we were joined by an English girl and a German, and we all supported France. If that isnt European unity...
So the 1974 final again this afternoon - THAT was a fine match, niet vaar, nimh?
I'm new to soccer, and I really enjoyed the World Cup. I started watching cause of the Socceroos. After they were eliminated, I took on France as my surrogate team. I had no idea soccer could be so exciting.
I was wondering if pks to end a game are a common occurance? It kind of bothered me because it seemed, to my untrained eyes, that France outplayed Italy most of the game, but then lost on the pks.
I get the impression that if I really get into the sport, I'll have to get used to feeling both euphoria and frustration quite often.
el_pohl wrote:Unclassy ending for Zidane, but it's not the first time that he does something like that. He was also red carded by mexican ref Brizio in USA 94. Sure its his last.
The italians, true to their nature, get a well deserved win.
Is this WC the one with less goals through the tournament? Something needs to be done...
I am sure Materazzi said something too offensive to him, however this does not justify his reaction, especially in his last game.
Congratulations to Italy for winning their 4th World cup.
Not only in Italy (saw just some video on tv) all hell is let loose - even here in our small suburbian village there are fireworks (more in the town, I'm sure).
They've had to close a number of streets in Toronto. Sorta coincidentally there was already an Italian festival on the go.
I expect to find one of my neighbours sleeping on my front lawn tomorrow morning. He started partying 4 hours in advance of the game. He'll be over the moon now.
I think the Zidane career ending was icky. I presume he was enraged and frustrated, and will soon be kicking himself, if admitting to that or not. Wasn't that the italian captain he chest-butted? Still, control - even channeling - of rage is part of what sports is about, to me. Which is why I think it is icky to leave like that, even if it is over trash talking.
I thought it was good, after what I gather were past lost important matches via the penalty kick shootout business, that the italians made all their kicks.
Meantime, I'm liking the game so much - even with the sort of controlled play going on in the World Cup - I may try to buy a small tv.. having recently given my little used good Sony TV away to my garden helper in northern California. (Dyslexia has an old tv he said I can have, but it's big and space is going to be a problem here.)
Italy is deservedly the Champion.
The first half penalty kick against Italy was as dubious as the penalty kick for Italy against Australia.
Zidane, what a way to waste a good-bye game!
I think Zizou is the most carded footballer in WC play.
He got 5 cards in 6 games this time (4 yellow, one red).
This was the cup of the midfield, so the team with teh best defense-midfield won.
Where have all the forwards gone?
And BTW it gets to be tiring about France "proposing the game". They played with only one forward, for God's sake! And Domenech pulled Henry when he brought Trezeguet.
A short list of striking dissappointments:
Rooney
Van Nistelrroj
Ibrahimovic
Baros
Pauleta
Borgetti
Cristiano Ronaldo
Ali Karimi
Owen
Larsson
Prso
Donovan...
Shevchenko, Henry, Ronaldo, Adriano, Van Persie, Robben, Toni, et al weren't so bright either.
That leaves us with Klose and Torres. Too little. Way too little.
Wonderful WC...truly the world's beautiful sport...
Way to go Azurri
Next year I hope more people join in on the World Cup competition here -
http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=75328&start=0
won this year by Patada Veloz, with Lord Ellpus finishing a well-chosen second.
Well done, Azzuri. I'm crushed that my hero, Zidane, got himself tossed from his last game, the world cup final, for an unnecessary act. And I'm baffled by the action as he's a notoriously levelheaded player. I'm quite sure that the player he headbutted said nothing that he hadn't heard before. I almost got the feeling, in the last game and in this one against Portugal, that Zidane really didn't want to carry the team anymore, or at least, that he wanted them to do it without him.
I totally agree with you fbaezer, I expected so much more of the great strikers of this still beautiful game.
Regarding Zidane's headbutt, probably Materazzi said something about his retirement. I can't think of anything else that could have driven him to that. Someone will interview him. Unfortunately his abscence, including Henry's, Ribery's, and Vieira's in the last minutes where decisives.
The match summarized the lasting image that this WC will have on me. Few goals, defensive strategies, shaky refereeing, red cards, and disappointment of Latin-America teams. But, the merriest one by far.
This was the first game of pro soccer I have watched. I loved it! It was very entertaining. Not to mention, that stadium is impressive as hell.
I took a leaning to the French. Being completely new to watching the sport, I thought what Zidane did was fantastic. Sure, it wasn't classy nor sportsmanlike. But it added excitement! And it will leave people talking about him for ages! Smart, if you ask me.
Plus, I like seeing some roughhousing and was amazed at how many guys were going down. Woo hoo! Reminds me of hockey back in the day when I still enjoyed watching the pros.
And...I couldn't help thinking...some of those people take this thing a bit too seriously (that is putting it mildly). It's a game after all. It's entertainment.
And this game satisfied.
You're used to hockey, flushd.
