Pourquoi Zizou?
I must admit that during the earlier stages of the World Cup I was a fan of several teams. This includes England which looked good on the field even though they seemed unable to score with their endless shots on goal. This also includes Ghana, especially in their match up against Brazil. It’s good to see nations from other continents advancing in the World Cup and it also makes things more interesting. But one team I was NOT cheering for was France.
But the more I watched them, the more I found myself inspired. Zizou looked crisp and masterful in his touches and Ribery (aka Scarface) sprinted throughout the field with fervor and passion. I also liked their style of play. Too much of soccer is marred with diving and operatics. This is the reason why I detest teams like Italy and Portugal. I didn’t watch Brazil this year, but I recall in a previous world cup where they resorted to the same behavior and it’s also why I’ve never been a fan of them.
But France did not resort to this (granted there will be players that will do this but, as a team, it did not seem like it was their policy). There was no dirty, subtle play like that of Gattosso on Ballack or like Ronaldo. But, of course, what about Zizou headbutting Materazzi?
Italy should be celebrating on their win but I feel that France was the better team. Their play was more inspiring at the endless shots during the 2nd half were just begging for a goal. I have to credit Italy on their beautiful goal in the first half while France has only scored in that past two games with penalty shots.
Anyway, I, like many others, find myself wondering what Materazzi said to Zizou to elicit such a reaction. I find myself torn between the thoughts of ‘Nothing he said could excuse such a reaction’ to ‘He must’ve said somethig that deserved a response’ to ‘How could he be so stupid to fall for such tricks!’ Irregardless, it was sad to see his international career end like this. I’m glad to see that he still won the Golden Ball which he very much deserves.
Well, I can’t wait until 2010 in South Africa where the next World Cup will be held!
July 10 2006 09:51 am | ?:]
July 10th, 2006 at 4:09 pm
Disappointment.
I didn’t get to watch the whole game, but I saw Zidane’s head-butt action in video clips later in the day. I think this is similar to Mike Tyson’s ear-biting incident with Evander Holyfield. I really don’t think there’s much going back in terms of cleaning up his reputation.
Granted, Tyson had problems before and perhaps Zinedine Zidane didn’t (I seriously don’t know). I have lost much respect for him from the flagrancy of this incident, although I understand that he is a talented athlete.
Something must have set him off, but was a physical altercation warranted? Lots of great athletes are brought down for things either within the sport or outside. We can at least say that his judgement was rash and that the heat of battle played some role.
This, in contrast to many famous athletes such as John Daly who have histories of spousal abuse. At least Zidane is not one of these.
I do agree with your analysis of the French team. I strongly feel that they were the most fair in terms of fouling and faking. They seemed to always be after the ball and not the player. They didn’t take dives, but jumped up quickly if they had fallen to go after the ball and attempt to continue/progress the play. Germany was also a great team in this regard and I enjoyed watching every minute of the World Cup that I had the opportunity to see.
July 12th, 2006 at 7:48 am
Accoding to recent news, FIFA president said that Zidane might be stripped of his award. It’s so sad that the lasting memory of his famous career will be this incident. (BTW, who head butts? why not throw a real punch in the face if you’re going to get a red card for it? I guess that’s the true mark of a soccer player.) No matter what is verbally said, racial slurs, comments about tu mama, as a world-class athlete, Zidane should have been thinking about his team and how they needed him on the field in the championship game, the last game, the last time he would play with his teammates.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
Updated news reveals that Materazzi insulted his sister and mom. His mother has been admitted to the hospital the previous night. I’d say that Materazzi picked the wrong time to insult his mom.
October 6th, 2006 at 4:54 am
i’m Chinese
i’m come here in a coincidence
then i saw this video of the Sex in the City
it’s really interesting,i like it!
my english is poor…—_—