I can't think of another big time player who pulled such a bonehead play and quite possibly costing his team the World Cup. I can think of QB who made bad plays, pitchers (Ralph Branca) who make the fatal toss, DB's who miss a tackle. But those are missed plays, this is something totally different. I can't think of any epithat that the Italian player could have said that could have caused the stupid gaff he made. Terry
And about those penalty kicks. Can't they back those guys up a little bit to give the goalie an even chance?
Jiffer I figured being the Boston sports nut you are, that you'd be a big supporter of the New England Revolution of the MLS and ergo a soccer fan!! Sox game still going? When it's over you can switch and watch Andy Pettite and the Astros, maybe you'll get to see Brad Lidge give up a slam! Terry
Hey Rick I think that maybe after 18 innings it should go to the Baseball version of penalty kicks....HOMERUN DERBY!!! Terry
:twisted: :twisted: re: Zidane This was the perfect ending to a World Cup that had been ruined by poor officiating and thuggish defenses. France not only lost, but disgraced themselves in the process. If they play football there for a thousand years they will never live this down and the hooligans/Eurotrash will never allow them to forget it either. Wherever France goes, they will now have to endure taunts of poor sportsmanship on top of the accusations of cowardice that they inherited from WWII. I love it. It couldn't happen to a nicer people. Zinadine Zidane was their national icon; captain of the team, hero of their last World Cup win; hero of their current run; and the feature actor in all of those "Jose+10" advertisements which ran throughout the tournament. FIFA had been holding him up as their shining example of all that is good about football. In his final game, with a chance to retire as the biggest (and richest) international football star since Pele, the French came out in him and he found a way to blow the whole thing... Imagine Babe Ruth stepping into the batter's box in a tied final game of the World Series, with the bases loaded in the 9th inning and two out, then instead of trying to win the game, he begins beating the catcher with the bat because of something the catcher said to him. Now multiply that situation by 100... No. There has never been anything in the history of sports to compare with what Zidane did today. He will be the bad example as long as futbol is played. His name will become a verb to describe losing everything by losing your poise... ............What A FOOL!!! ...........JO'Co :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
Nobby Stiles would have been proud of Italy... :twisted: BERLIN, July 9 — Italy won its fourth World Cup title today, defeating France, 5-3, in a penalty-kick shootout after overtime ended with the score tied at 1-1. France, meanwhile, went into the shootout without its captain and most reliable player. Midfielder Zinédine Zidane had been ejected after he committed an astonishing act of impudence and unsportsmanlike conduct in the 109th minute. In the seventh minute, Zidane had put France ahead, 1-0, on a penalty kick, becoming only the fourth player to score in two World Cup finals. But he apparently grew frustrated after narrowly missing a goal in the first overtime period and at being nicked frequently by Italy's adamant defense. In the 109th minute, Zidane head-butted Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the chest after the two had words (Video Clip). Materazzi, who had leveled the score at 1-1 in the 19th minute collapsed on the field. Italy protested vehemently and Zidane was ejected in the 110th minute, leaving France to play the final 10 minutes of overtime with 10 men. The game was disjointed and frequently interrupted by injury, with a flurry of action in the first 20 minutes, following by long stretches lacking in energy and momentum. In that sense, the final represented this entire low-scoring World Cup. But that did not stop Italy from celebrating and finally moving beyond the specter of penalty kicks, which had eliminated the Azzurri in three of the past four World Cups, including the final in 1994. Today, Andrea Pirlo, Materazzi, Daniele De Rossi and Fabio Grosso each took penalty kicks with great assurance and accuracy, while David Trezeguet knocked his attempt errantly into the crossbar for France. When Grosso put his final kick into the upper right corner, France was mathematically eliminated and the Azzurri began to celebrate. Many thought the team might fare poorly in the World Cup because of a match-fixing scandal that has clouded the results of the Italian League, known as Serie A. But Italy instead seemed galvanized, and finished the tournament having allowed only two goals — one it kicked into its own net against the United States and Zidane's early penalty kick today. This was Zidane's final game before retirement, and while he is considered the greatest player of the past 20 years and scored two goals in a 3-0 victory over Brazil in the 1998 final, his departure will be most remembered for his impertinent head butt of Materazzi and the fact that he made himself unavailable for the shootout. It was Zidane's penalty kick that gave France a 1-0 victory over Portugal in the semifinals.
Video of Zidane's head butt. This guy should be playing for the Montreal Canadiens. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1i_l0OeeMc
Speaking of the Canadiens...why doesn't soccer allow unlimited substition on the fly like hockey. That 3 subs for the whole shootin' match is just crazy.
Different reply, different camera angle. From this angle, it looks as if the Italian player did what what the French call " zee titty twister" upon Zindane. Zidane is of Berber ancestry. Perhaps in Berber culture it is a no no for one man to put his hand on another man's nipple..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C58zxHgo8Y&feature=Recent&page=9&t=t&f=b
I know it's been said before but these shootouts are really anti-climatic. I give hockey some credit. In their playoff games that play until a team wins playing. Likewise in baseball and football (in the playoffs) teams keep playing until one team wins playing the game. If soccer were played so that goals were more common, they wouldn't have to give up after 30 min. of additional play and do something to end it. But that's only one of the many problems that soccer has.
RICKO! Im totally wiped out still!. If the game went into inning 20 either Kapler or Lowell were going to pitch. If they brough Hansen in when they scored the 2 runs in the 11th game would have been over then! jif
Exactly why in American Football we wear all that gear, to protect against the nipple twist!! bTW Zidane still won the Golden Ball.
World Cup: Le butthead SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD Even the worst behavior may be salvaged as a teaching moment. So we would hope it could be with the inexcusable behavior of French soccer star Zinedine Zidane in Sunday's World Cup final with Italy. With a billion people watching -- including a huge U.S. television audience -- Zidane, the French captain, delivered a vicious head butt to the chest of Italian player Marco Materazzi, sending him to the ground in pain. The two had exchanged shoves and words throughout the game. Zidane was ejected from the game. Italy won in penalty kicks, after Zidane's brutal foul left France short one of its best penalty kickers. Zidane was seen as France's savior, coming out of retirement after he said "a mysterious voice" told him to return to the team. Perhaps it was that mysterious voice that told him to behave so foolishly Sunday, tainting a glorious career, letting down his team, his nation and millions of young people. Under its Monday front-page headline "Eternal Regrets," the French sports daily L'Equipe wrote: "This morning, Zinedine, what do we tell our children, and all those for whom you were the living role model for all times?" What do we tell them, especially when sports journalists had already voted Zidane the tournament's best player before he was tossed? We tell them that no one, even their idols, is perfect, everyone makes mistakes and everyone gets angry, but that true champions, in the end, realize that it's just a game.