One week... afterthoughts
I hesitated to post about the result of the World Cup because I was devastated. As you may know, France lost to Italy in a 1-1 game that was decided by penalty kicks (I was routing for France). Zidane’s headbutt of Materazzi for a red card was the talk of the world for about 3 days and then it tapered out. At first, every commentator from Argentina to Zimbabwe was saying that Zidane’s red card would be a horrific cap to his international career. After much thinking, I feel Zidane’s actions will place him higher in the halls of soccerdom.
From now on, everyone will remember that headbutt. History will not shake that off. And although this may be a terrible act in the eyes of FIFA, it may have been the cleverest publicity attracting event of the World Cup. Zidane will go down as the toughest man in soccer, winning a World Cup in 1998 and forging ahead to the finals in 2004. I doubt anyone will ever insult Zidane again. In fact, Materazzi appears to be vilified in a lot of the Internet sites for his dirty play. Sure, Zidane has a temper but so did his fellow compatriot Eric Cantona.
If Zinedine Zidane ever reads this, he should know he will be the greatest player in the world in my book. Good luck Yaz!
Blog-o-nuts
July 17, 2006 10:01 PM
