Curtains have been drawn on the greatest show on Earth and Italy has been crowned the world cup champions. I can’t claim I am disappointed because though I was rooting for France mainly due to Zidane, it is the result I expected. However, from second half onwards, France were clearly the better team, they created at least 3 clear chances while I cannot recall even one Italian attack which looked even mildly threatening. Even Henry who has sleepwalked through most of the tournament finally showed his class with a few searing runs. However France could not find the final pass, when theyidid they ran into a wall called Buffon. Finally it came down to penalty kicks, which is a lottery at best and Italy held on to their nerves to win. Interestingly, the goalkeepers had little role to play in the penalty kicks and both looked equally clueless.
Of course what this world cup final would be rememberd for Zidane headbutting Materazzi and being sent off. What a sad end to what was really a fairytale campaign, Zidane at age 34 coming out of international retirement to help France qualify for the world cup final. Then after initially struggling, turning in a majestic performance against Brazil. Even in the semifinals, he helped France beat Portugal by one of his trademarks penalty shots. The stage was all set for the final turn to this fairytale, if only Zidane could carry France to another World Cup triumph. He started off promisingly, converting a penalty with his characteristic nonchalance. Though he did not dominate the game, he was always a threat, best exemplified by that header which brought off a stunning save from Buffon. Alas, that was last contribution Zidane made, few minutes later in a moment of madness he headbutted Materazzi and was justifiably shown the red card. No one knows what provoked Zidane though according to the French coach he was frustrated at being repeatedly fouled. That does not justify Zidane’s action, and his act probably cost France the world cup. However, let that not stop us from applauding one of the true giants of the game who with his sublime skills has left an indelible mark on the beautiful game. No other player in the last 20 years has come close to matching Zidane’s ball control, his passing and ability to out think the opponents. He has been one of the true masters of the game, and Football would be poorer for his departure.
Among all this hoopla spare a thought for poor Trazeguet. He is not the first player to have missed an important penalty nor he would be the last. Unfortunately, today he was the only one to miss his, when his shot agonizingly hit the cross bar. While one player can never be blamed for a loss, ultimately it was his inability to score from the spot kick that separated France from Jules Rimet trophy. It is a burden he will carry for the rest of his life, and it would take enormous strength of the character to get over this. Football is a beautiful game but a most cruel one too. One only had to look at dazed Trazeguet, walking around the field, agony written large on his face to understand how cruel it can get.
It has not been the greatest world cup ever though we have benn privileged to watch some stunning games. It has been a would cup as the great Michel Platini says dominated by coaches rather than players. Still, it has been an exciting one month and we have seen some great talents for the future, Ribery and Podolski to name just two. It has also seen the final exit of few of the greats, apart from Zidane himself, Figo, Pauleta and Roberto Carlos have taken the final bow.
A word about Italy, the new world cup champions. Coming on the back of the scandal sweeping the Italian league, the players have displayed remarkable courage and commitment to win this world cup. Perhaps, after all the dust has settled down, this world cup would be remembered for the heroics of Italian defense, especially Buffon and their inspirational captain Fabio Cannavaro. They have proved beyond doubt that an impregnable defense can win the world cup. Congratulations to them!
All right, enough said! Four more years and the greatest show on Earth will be back.
No doubt he is good, but he does not stand up to Maradona and Ronaldo!! They at least have sense!! And even otherwise Maradona is a far greater player than Zizou.
I was a Zidane fan but I think I lost all admiration after the head butt. I think the header (that Buffon saved) seriously messed up with his brain and he should get his brain cecked ASAP!!
i enjoyed the final tremendously!! And I think Italy played realy well too…at least their goal was a real goal!!
Since I was rooting for them as their players are hotter, I am happy
Rohit
Am skipping the technicalities of the game (boys n u men are adept in this dimension), but would like to comment as part of the audience who gets excited by this ‘Street-sport’, and its earthy flavour, which were made fashionable and a global religion by great legendary players. The finale I watched previous night (I promised someone that I would sit n watch till the half time…haha!lazy-bones) was certainly not that much appealing and nerve-wrecking as a few other battles {those were the glorious days!)..to be honest with you, the finale went paler as compared to the tough-mindedness and tenacity as displayed by Roger Fed & Nadal in the Wimbeldon final on the super sunday
I do agree with you that there were not many scintillating performances…all those big names as splashed around (Brazil’s top gear, the metro-sexual Beckham and his mates etc.), failed to measure upto the hi-decibels. Ronaldinho,FIFA World Player of the Year, stayed with me as a key disappointment. He looked lost throughout..poor kid!
However,a few young soccer teams came into prominence in this world cup, say, Portugal. and I must say,this world cup is a beautiful exemplification of the team leadership..say, Michael Ballack,besides being one of the renowned quality player,he has been a great inspiration to his team (my key take out. I could be wrong) with his kind of individual assertiveness. Zidane and his elegant dribbling on the field would sorely be missed by most of us. He is amongst the game’s finest craftsmen!
Nothing comes closer to fervor of Soccer/Football fans around the world, who are primarily the reason behind the success of the greatest show on Earth…these are the guys who create legends out of tenacious players..
Jyo
Well, Italy was clearly the better team. I infact wanted France to lose. They seem to have mastered the art of committing fouls without taking it to the level of being shown the yellow card.
I find France dull , dour and boring. No creativity and no playmaking at all, except Zidane and Henry, and to some extent Ribery. They do tend to play rough. Playing with France is like playing against a computer game. They are so predictable and boring. But you can still lose to a computer game, because it is very good at whatever little it does.
France winning the world cup would have set a bad example. That you could be unimaginative, dull, dour and boring, play like typical African teams (rough and yes, fast) and still win the world cup, while many deserving teams like Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Portugal, etc fall by the side. Even England and Germany (typical European football, speed and pattern playing) are a joy to watch, compared to France. Better to see the German organized play and the English speed anyday.
>> No one knows what provoked Zidane though according to the French coach he was frustrated at being repeatedly fouled.
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No one would be more frustated than Ronaldinho, during the whole tournament.
By the way, many a times it seems to me that the French are looking to be fouled. You have to watch closely to notice that. They actually put themselves in such situations.
Sorry for one more, I forgot to add this.
Did anyone notice that both the penalty kicks during the game against Portugal and against Italy were unjustified. Carvalho was thrown to the ground by Henry, and Henry himself tripped over his leg, while he was withdrawing it.
And the Italian defender infact did not touch the Frenchie, he dived infact.
But full credit to France against Brazil. Well deserved win, France were at their best that day.
Amit,
Really? And you did not lose all respect for Maradona when he was thrown out of the world cup for being on drugs? I wonder what is a bigger crime, head butting an opponent, 10 minutes before the match ended or playing a world cup while doped!
We all can have our debates about who is a better player, Zidane or Maradona or even Ronaldo, but it is preposterous to make statements like ”I lost all my respect.”
I am not justifying Zidane’s action though he has faced a lot of racist abuse and in one moment of madness his head snapped. But takes nothing away from a glittering career, remember he came back from retirement to help France.
Chandu,
hehe. Italy defended well, no doubt and they have clicked well as a unit. I would accept if you say they have hotter players.
Jyo,
True. This was not best world cup and Ronaldinho has been a key disappointment. Even Ronaldo was overweight and did not do much except show flashes of his genius. But in a way this was a transition world cup, a golden generation has retired and hopefully the new crop will show how good they are in the next one. Life goes on and so does football.
Shadows,
It seems we were watching two different matches yesterday! Could you tell me one threatening attack the Italians made after the first half? They were completely outplayed in the second half and even in the extra time. So where is this Italy was the better team coming from?
Why would Ronaldinho be frustrated? Look, Zidane was not frustrated because he was not playing well, it was probably because of fouls, maybe racist abuse or some other reason. Zidane has a bad temper and everyone knows it. It is sad it came to the fore at the wrong time, but that’s life.
I agree the first goal was a dive, but France were denied a penalty in the second half, so it all even s out. And come on, Italy has the worst record as far as diving goes. According to one report, they had 32 dives in the tournament, higher than even Portugal, infact the highest number of dives among all teams. So, if any team has no right to complaint against dives, it is Italy. Remember that penalty against Australia, where did that come from?
Confused: Thanks for the nice summary – you saved me the trouble of writing a post – now I will just link here
Btw, Trezeguet did score that winning goal against Italy in sudden death overtime during the Euro200 final. He was a hero then – he failed yesterday. So it goes.
It seems we were watching two different matches yesterday! Could you tell me one threatening attack the Italians made after the first half? They were completely outplayed in the second half and even in the extra time. So where is this Italy was the better team coming from?
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You had to see how the company of Cannavaro, Grosso and Zambrotta held France back there. Not for nothing are they called the best defenders in the world. And not for nothing is Buffon the highest paid goalkeeper(or one of the).
1. Only two goals scored against them, throughout the tournament.
2. One of them a self goal, other an undeserving penalty.
If you were looking at Del Piero and Totti for game quality, you missed Pirlo, who did a wonderful job in this world cup. Then you also missed Gattuso and Cameronesi. (Cameronesi does lose his touch in ending minutes generally). So the stars in Italy were lackluster, but the others made up for it.
Visit my blog (havent updated for a long time), and you will see many of my observations about this cup true. It comes with 12 years of watching football, though I dont claim to be a master. Nor have I watched each and every match etc. I was hopeful about Portugal right from the beginning as dark horses and they did end up 4th. Though nobody agreed with me. And there are places where I was wrong. I was hopeful about Aussies (given that many players of Aus play in the European leagues).
Portugal dominated the game against france, but then ??
Dont go by possession stats, confused. Its a true measure of which team dominated, but not a measure of how each team played. It seems like France dominated, and yes, made some good attacks in the second half.
It seems like once the label has stuck , it can never come off. LIke Italy once did that against the Aussies, its like they are doing the same everytime.
Ok, what about C Ronaldo. Only the English are fanning the hatred. Dont go by their email forwards, etc. He was absolutely right in appealing to the referee. If not C Ronaldo, someone else would have talked to the referee. In the end, Rooney is a kid and he was at fault. And ronaldo is a kid and he made the mistake of winking. Stomping on an opposite player is a red card offense. CR or no CR, WR was out anyway.
To tell you something , confused, even france were rough. See malouda and sagnol pushing back players. ONly Thuram was the one in the defense who was not giving away much fouls.
I noticed something. People tend to ignore “their” teams fouls. So I would see Italy as good and france bad. Since you are pro-france, its vice versa. The actual thing is that both of them have their share of fouls. The referee generally balances them out (knowingly or not) by some good and some bad decisions.
In fact, confused, since you like statistics, France had greater number of fouls and yellow cards than Italy!! Also, in games where I was neutral and I wasnt supporting anyone, it turned out that I saw fouls by both teams.
If people are anti-Italy cos of sonia gandhi, then she be damned. She doesnt matter here. I dont think she even knows how to spell football.
>>Why would Ronaldinho be frustrated?
Sir, I dnot know the stats, but I was wondering how the poor chap plays on after being felled so many times!!
Sad, really.
After a point, he even stopped appealing to the referree for a foul. He would just smile and run on
[...] I would have gone into a deeper analysis of the World Cup – but between this post by Confused and this one by Patrix (two bloggers with whom much of the World Cup excitement was shared), I believe most of the ground has been covered. [...]
It was only once that the Italian Defenders made an error, and Zidane headed the ball to the nets. The one deadly attack you are talking about. And put over the bar by Buffon.
The Henry shot was also a deadly attack. Did you see cannavaro cutting out the space for Henry, and forcing him to shoot in the direction where it was easy for Buffon. Buffon was already ready for the shot. Without even touching Henry. (This was the first time I have seen Henry play well in this world cup. He wasnt much different from Ronaldo of Brazil)
The Italians also found the bar once, a deadly Luca Toni header off Pirlo, I guess. And another one which missed the goal by inches.
Italians are much more cool and composed than France. They dont get nervous or negative, even when they were one down. And we all know how France plays when they are leading.
Arre haan, I forgot materazzi in the earlier post. Amazing game for him yesterday.
I wanted to Italy to win anyday!!! The wimbeldon title was won by my fav too so in all I had a rejoicing n happy day yesterday!
I’m ecstatic that Italy won, but terribly sad for Zizou. It must have been something far worse that”being repeated fouled” that provoked that headbutt. He knew what was at stake. Somehow, I’m equating him in my head to the great stoics. It a moment of madness he reacted, and must live with that, forever. Ah.
A very nice post!
It’s extremely sad how Zidane is being vilified. One cannot justify his action but it seems Materazzi made a very serious comment, probably insulting Zidane’s mother.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/france/5164094.stm
Unfortunately Materazzi got exactly the kind of reaction he hoped for. France’s racially diverse team has been constantly in the receiving end of racist comments, whether in their own country by right-wing leaders like Le Pen or on the field as we saw in the Spain match.
But I agree, it shouldn’t stop us from applauding Zidane, one of the finest players of football. It was a moment of madness which happens to the best of them all.
My goodness! Such objectivity. I havent even read the papers today coz I don’t want to be reminded of the match. I cannot beleiev that I wont see Zidane playing again and that such a brilliant career had to end in such ignominy.
Bongo,
heh! Yes, I know about the 2000 golden goal.
And you are welcome.
Shadows,
No is is disputing that Italy had the best defense in the world. i expected Italy to win easily as I thought they were a better team. However, the match was quite different and France dominated. I am not only talking about possession stats but also how France attacked and looked like scoring. Italy clearly looked tired and even jaded.
About the stats bit, Italy clearly committed the most dives in the tournament. No, I am not claiming that France were saints but I was just refuting your point about France being divers and earning their penalties by dubious means. The diving has been a problem in this cup and all teams have been guilty, some more than others. But few like Ronaldo and Totti clearly crossed the line. No, and I have no problem with Ronaldo appealing to referee. That was Pommies crying as usual.
And not, this is not about Sonai Gandhi, where the hell, did she come from.
And yes, the Toni strike happened in the first half. I clearly said, France was the better team from the SECOND half onwards. No?
I really think France was the better team yesterday and I am not saying it just because I supported France. And yes, I am devastated they lost because they did not deserve to.
Scribz,
Whatever! grrrrr
@n,
yeye. It was a some racial abuse though its not clear yet. It was heartbreaking to see Zidane absent from the final prize distribution . This was his night.
Sash,
Thanks! and yes, thanks for the link. True, even in 1998 world cup when Zidane stomped on the Saudi Arabian player, he was provoked by a racial comment. I am really disappointed by people who have come down on Zidane like a house of bricks, we in India don’t know how respect our heroes. At least, the French are better in this respect. Kudos to them.
Essar,
Such sarcasm! Wait for a rant.
>>> I am not only talking about possession stats but also how France attacked and looked like scoring. Italy clearly looked tired and even jaded.
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Yes, france did attack well. Thats zidane, henry and ribery. They did look like scoring, and so did Italy. Italy hit the bar in the second half, No? Or they missed by inches.
Yes in the second half, italy were looking tired. But the will of a few can change the match. See the tireless efforts of Cannavaro and Pirlo.
>> And not, this is not about Sonai Gandhi, where the hell, did she come from.
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Not directed at you, but many other bloggers have supported france just because of sonia. she hardly must be knowing anything about football, and plus I wonder if italy is proud of her.
By the way, what do you think about what I said about France’s playing style. They may be playing well and energetic, but their playing style itself is not so interesting. Even England provide some better entertainment, in terms of breath taking moments and some good shots. I am talking about the fourth comment in this list.