Don't F With Zidane
I don't really like soccer.But dude, I have really enjoyed the World Cup. From group play until the final today, I've been glued to this spectacle that drives global sports fanaticism like no other competitive event.
I also don't really like France.
But dude, I've been pulling hard for the French since they dominated Brazil in the quarter-finals. So tonight, watching the final versus Italy, I had high hopes for the only red, white and blue flag left in World Cup competition.
True to form, France put the pressure on Italia for the full match - all the way through 2 overtime periods and into penalty kicks. Unfortunately, they came up short in PKs. Vive l'Italia.
The only reason I'm writing all this is to justify a post about Zinedine Zidane.
The guy is one of soccer's living legends. But let's recap the details you need to know in the context of this particular final match:
- Zidane has already announced that he'll retire after the World Cup.
- He's managed to come back from what could have been a game-ending shoulder injury, playing through the pain in order to stay on the field.
- It is clear during the waning minutes of regulation that the France/Italy final is likely to go to penalty kicks - and Zidane is one of the most dominant kickers in the game.
The guy has to have complete awareness that he's a critical part of winning the World Cup for France. He's the team captain, after all.
But Italy's Marco Materazzi says something to Zidane that pisses him off.
And what does my new sports hero do? Ignore Marco, knowing that if he gets a penalty now he could jeopardize his team's chances of winning? Maybe return the trash talk with some of his own? Non.
He fricking headbutts Materazzi. Right. In. The. Sternum.
I'm not talking some sort of warning shot here. I'm talking borderline homicide. Watching Materazzi flop to the pitch like a salmon, I have no doubt that the impact from Zidane's skull stopped his heart. It was unbelievable.
Anyhow, Zidane takes a red card and is ejected from the match. His career is over, France loses the World Cup championship, and Zidane isn't even presented with a silver medal at the awards ceremony.
He punted Materazzi, legacy be damned. That is dedication.
The French might be a nation of pantywaists, but with one notable exception.
"Mais pourquoi? Mais Pourquoi?"
posted by cechols @ 5:51 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Ok so now I have to comment. I saw a post on the BBC that said: "It takes the Italians to make the English love the French" and it's true. Having bowed out of the World Cup ourselves thanks in most part to a hot-headed player we have been sympathising and speculating what it was that Materazzi said, no question of whether someone ought to rise above a thoughtless insult. Oh, and in other news I heard that Juan Pablo Montoya of F-1 fame is moving to Nascar. Thought you might be interested. Han
Ha. Well said.
I'm going to have to add another post now, because last night Zidane was awarded the golden ball for the entire tournament. How's that for proof you don't f with this guy?
And I wonder long the present English love affair with France will last? Probably about as long as the American love affair with the XFL.
Soon you'll have to refer to Juan Pablo Montoya as just "Juan Montoya." We were hesitant to allow a foreign formula driver into the NASCAR fold as it is. But a foreign formula driver with three names? No.
Two is the limit.
I'm posting about that, too.
Doug speaking:
Unfortunately, I have to disagree. Zidane's headbutt, for me, falls into the category of things that were almost amazingly awesome. For example, Nick Harper almost returning Jerome Bettis's fumble for a touchdown. Almost amazingly awesome. Chad Johnson's joke that he was going to involve a live deer in one of his TD celebrations. Almost amazingly awesome. The U.S. nearly beating Italy whilst down to nine men. Almost amazingly awesome. Certain elements kept these things from being actually amazingly awesome: Ben "Glass Face" Roth-less-burger, Buffalo Bills stadium security, and Bruce Arena, respectively.
Similarly, only one thing keeps Zidane's headbutt from being amazingly awesome: that the refs called him for it. At first, I thought they weren't going to call it and he was going to get away with it. Had that happened, it would have been the best dirty play in the history of human beings. In my eyes, it would have made Pele look like human garbage. Alas, they did call him for it, and so it was just a dumb move. If Zidane couldn't get away with it, he should have waited until after the game and punched the guy out or had a serious talk with him or had his mom place a bomb in the guy's car or something.
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