Zidane
This match will forever be remembered for one single action and less for the winning team. Much like the Chris Webber timeout of yesteryear, so will Zidane's thoughtless moment overshadow a well played game. Obviously Zidane was frustrated, he had a perfect opportunity to put France ahead for good but was denied by a wonderful save by Buffon. In addition France had been outplaying Italy since the start of the second half and truly deserved the go ahead goal but could not find it. But after an ordinary man to man defense by Materazzi and what seemed to be some typical trash talk Zidane did the unthinkable. I don't care what Materazzi said, I don't care if he dropped something about his mother or his sister or his wife or any other family member you can not get ejected from the game there. You are the captain of the team in the most important game you could possibly participate in as a soccer player. And in addition you are minutes away from a penalty shootout which you would be the first person for France and possibly the world to shoot. You killed your team Zizou and you should be ashamed.
An American Analogy: Say Larry Bird is in game seven of the NBA Finals and he's already announced that he is retiring after the game. Now they are tied in overtime and for some reason the NBA has decided to have a best of 5 three point contest to decide the game after the first overtime. After a relatively normal box out, and completely away from the play Bill Lambeer and Bird say a few words to each other then Larry walks a few steps in front of Lambeer turns around, winds up and headbutts him in the chest and gets ejected. Leaving the Celtics without their best three point shooter to help them decide the biggest game of the year. And leaving any fan with the final lasting image of the player getting ejected, and their team losing because of it.
1st Half Penalty Kick
Alright I was rooting for Italy I said this last week so I am biased but that was a complete dive. The contact on the play wasn't enough to kill a mosquito and Molouda tripped on his own feet. So needless to say I was ticked off. And then while Zidane's little chip shot might have been deemed brilliant by the broadcast team, I thought it was an unnecessary flare. As seen in the penalty shootout as long as you strike the ball well it is almost impossible for the goalkeeper to make the save, to put it bluntly it was a risk that was lucky to go in.
In all honesty as a person rooting for Italy, Molouda was fouled in the box in the second have by Zambrotta and was not awarded a penalty, it was probably a make up call by the ref.
Rest of the 1st Half
For the rest of the first half the Italians dominated. The French sat back on their one zero lead and inspired zero counterattack. The Italians looked the better team for the first 45 and appeared almost unguardable during corner kicks and set pieces. The Materazzi equalizer was well deserved and well struck and at the half the Italians deserved no less then an equal score.
Rest of the Game
Something happened after half time to the Italians though, maybe they took some Tylenol PM or something but they came out flat and tired. They sunk back almost all of their midfielders into the defense leaving Luca Toni the lone attacker with occasional limited help from Alessandro Del Piero after he was substituted on. With the exception of Luca Toni's free kick header goal which was called back on a very close offside call, the Italians did nothing to impress or even threaten French Goaltender Fabien Bartez. The French were the much better team throughout the second half and the first overtime. And even as a person rooting for Italy at the start of the second half I thought the French deserved to win and would win. And then Zidane laid on hios headbutt and the flow of the game and the karma of the game pulled a 180. The Italians didn't dominate the last ten minutes, but they atleast weren't being dominated anymore and now they deserved to win because atleast they played with class.
Penalty Kicks
Unfortunately for the French they were without their three veterans, Vieira, Henry and Zidane. One to injury, one to exhaustion, and one to stupidity. In addition the Italians have the better goaltender so the French went into the shootout behind. However, Buffon looked lost on penalty kicks the whole day, guessing the wrong direction everytime. Fortunately he was bailed out by Trezeguet pummeling the crossbar and the Italians perfection with their kicks. In the end I am glad Italy won, they outplayed and deserved to beat Germany in the semis and the classless act by Zidane ruined France's karma. I thought Fabio Cannavaro held the Italians defensive front together throughout the tourny and was deserved of the player of the tournament but they gave it to Zidane for some reason, weak.
This match will forever be remembered for one single action and less for the winning team. Much like the Chris Webber timeout of yesteryear, so will Zidane's thoughtless moment overshadow a well played game. Obviously Zidane was frustrated, he had a perfect opportunity to put France ahead for good but was denied by a wonderful save by Buffon. In addition France had been outplaying Italy since the start of the second half and truly deserved the go ahead goal but could not find it. But after an ordinary man to man defense by Materazzi and what seemed to be some typical trash talk Zidane did the unthinkable. I don't care what Materazzi said, I don't care if he dropped something about his mother or his sister or his wife or any other family member you can not get ejected from the game there. You are the captain of the team in the most important game you could possibly participate in as a soccer player. And in addition you are minutes away from a penalty shootout which you would be the first person for France and possibly the world to shoot. You killed your team Zizou and you should be ashamed.
An American Analogy: Say Larry Bird is in game seven of the NBA Finals and he's already announced that he is retiring after the game. Now they are tied in overtime and for some reason the NBA has decided to have a best of 5 three point contest to decide the game after the first overtime. After a relatively normal box out, and completely away from the play Bill Lambeer and Bird say a few words to each other then Larry walks a few steps in front of Lambeer turns around, winds up and headbutts him in the chest and gets ejected. Leaving the Celtics without their best three point shooter to help them decide the biggest game of the year. And leaving any fan with the final lasting image of the player getting ejected, and their team losing because of it.
1st Half Penalty Kick
Alright I was rooting for Italy I said this last week so I am biased but that was a complete dive. The contact on the play wasn't enough to kill a mosquito and Molouda tripped on his own feet. So needless to say I was ticked off. And then while Zidane's little chip shot might have been deemed brilliant by the broadcast team, I thought it was an unnecessary flare. As seen in the penalty shootout as long as you strike the ball well it is almost impossible for the goalkeeper to make the save, to put it bluntly it was a risk that was lucky to go in.
In all honesty as a person rooting for Italy, Molouda was fouled in the box in the second have by Zambrotta and was not awarded a penalty, it was probably a make up call by the ref.
Rest of the 1st Half
For the rest of the first half the Italians dominated. The French sat back on their one zero lead and inspired zero counterattack. The Italians looked the better team for the first 45 and appeared almost unguardable during corner kicks and set pieces. The Materazzi equalizer was well deserved and well struck and at the half the Italians deserved no less then an equal score.
Rest of the Game
Something happened after half time to the Italians though, maybe they took some Tylenol PM or something but they came out flat and tired. They sunk back almost all of their midfielders into the defense leaving Luca Toni the lone attacker with occasional limited help from Alessandro Del Piero after he was substituted on. With the exception of Luca Toni's free kick header goal which was called back on a very close offside call, the Italians did nothing to impress or even threaten French Goaltender Fabien Bartez. The French were the much better team throughout the second half and the first overtime. And even as a person rooting for Italy at the start of the second half I thought the French deserved to win and would win. And then Zidane laid on hios headbutt and the flow of the game and the karma of the game pulled a 180. The Italians didn't dominate the last ten minutes, but they atleast weren't being dominated anymore and now they deserved to win because atleast they played with class.
Penalty Kicks
Unfortunately for the French they were without their three veterans, Vieira, Henry and Zidane. One to injury, one to exhaustion, and one to stupidity. In addition the Italians have the better goaltender so the French went into the shootout behind. However, Buffon looked lost on penalty kicks the whole day, guessing the wrong direction everytime. Fortunately he was bailed out by Trezeguet pummeling the crossbar and the Italians perfection with their kicks. In the end I am glad Italy won, they outplayed and deserved to beat Germany in the semis and the classless act by Zidane ruined France's karma. I thought Fabio Cannavaro held the Italians defensive front together throughout the tourny and was deserved of the player of the tournament but they gave it to Zidane for some reason, weak.
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