Jeff Rusnak gives an interesting take on how he defines 2006.
My view is the trigger inside Zidane was set off by goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon’s inspired save of Zizou’s potentially game-winning header just moments before. Zidane had a history of on-field outbursts and knowing that his and France’s best chance of claiming a second World Cup had been denied may have set the blood boiling. Materazzi’s taunt simply caused the top to blow.
So maybe the last word on the World Cup and 2006 should be “Buffon,” for without his leaping, one-handed save in overtime, Materazzi’s insult might have been ignored, France would be world champion again, and Zidane would be memorialized instead as “immortal” and “beloved.”
Zizou is the best-loved French personality according to a survey showed on Saturday.
Zinedine Zidane remains France’s best-loved personality despite his head-butt against Italy’s Marco Materazzi in the soccer World Cup final this year, a survey showed on Saturday.
Zidane came first in a ranking of France’s Top 50 personalities, beating ex-tennis champion Yannick Noah who came in second place, and leaving singers Charles Aznavour and Johnny Hallyday, as well as actor Gerard Depardieu behind.
The footballer had already come first in a comparable survey by pollster Ifop six months ago.
Perhaps Zidane is not so smart as we think he is after all.
What was French soccer star Zinedine Zidane thinking when he head-butted Marco Materazzi of Italy in the World Cup final in July? By giving into Materazzi’s goading for just a few seconds, Zidane managed to get himself ejected from the game, cripple his team’s chances for the title (Italy won on penalty kicks), and ensure that his marvelous career ended in ignominy instead of glory.
Pity if you will poor old Zinedine Zidane: sent off during the World Cup final for a serious infraction of FIFA’s “no headbutting Italians” rule and now reduced to the status of French national hero with enough cash in the bank to enjoy a lifetime of truffles, stuffed songbirds and fine vintage champagne.
Indeed, while the rest of the world was struggling to contain its outrage at Zidane’s unsportsmanlike use of the Glasgow handshake, Jacques Chirac counterattacked with: “I would like to express all the respect that I have for a man who represents at the same time all the most beautiful values of sport, the greatest human qualities one can imagine, and who has honoured French sport and, simply, France.”
Well, therein lies the rub, mon ami. How you view the whole thing depends largely on your national perspective, as nicely demonstrated by a viral email we received this morning.
Catch the fun here.
Sigh…if only this were true and not the result of a Spanish equivalent of an April Fool’s Day joke.
A Spanish newspaper claimed on Thursday that Zinedine Zidane should have been named as World Footballer of the Year and not Italian World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro after a voting blunder.
However, it was all an elaborate joke played by the Marca sports paper on the Day of the Innocents, Spain’s equivalent of April Fool’s Day.
Fifa, the sport’s world governing body, decided to take the story in good faith.
Continue reading ‘Zidane butt of Spanish joke’
Indeed they did…unfortunately.
A bald head striking a blue jersey covered chest is the longstanding image of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However, in the end the glory went to the Italian team, who played consistent football with brilliant defense and excellent attacking. The home team also played well but they were shown the door by the champion team. Nevertheless, the shocker of the world cup was Brazil being knockout by the French team.