World Cup 2006

[Liam]

THE NIGHTMARE IS OVER...THE DREAM BECOMES A REALITY!

Goodbye Zidane, it was nice knowing you mate

Yep, that beats every football moment I've ever witnessed. I said from the start that if it went to penalities, it'd be all over and France would win. And yet again Italy even prove me wrong, the story of the World Cup really, proving the world/critics wrong.

France were the underdogs, Italy were the favourites, so to be honest they proved no-one wrong.

They did though. Going into the tournament they weren't favourites, not really just totally basing it on tonight, mainly the entire tournament. With the scandal in Italy, some/most thought they'd do well but not really win it.

France were too old. France struggled through the qualifiers. France drew something like 5 games in qualifying on the way through. France struggled through the first round.In-fighting in the team. France looked leggy against Portugal and had one day less to recover than Italy.....I can go on and on, but for many, Italy should have won against France the way things were. And yeah, Italy were one of the better teams of a pretty drab World Cup in terms of teams taking the World Cup by the scruff of the neck, but it doesn't detract from the fact that they cheat....regularly. Sometimes, I accept a player going to the floor easily because the ref may not award a foul otherwise even though it may deserve it....but Italy just take the piss, and dive a lot and con the referee a lot. It's frank, but it's true, and will always detract from the good football they play.

People don't hate Italy because they can, they hate them because they deserve it. The fact that ENGLISH fans supported France suggest something to you, surely?

[Grounded Wingman]

I won the penalty shoot-out competition at the Umbro Soccer School when I was 14 years old, wheres my gold fucking medal?

[gunnar hendershow]

That was a fun final. I watched it on an HD, big screen TV with some friends, really the best way to watch anything. We had some people cheering for Italy (like myself) and others for France. But fortunately nobody was too "into" their nations since we're all a bunch of Americans. I thought the match itself was good. Minus the unfortunate incident with Zidane, I think there were none of the problems that plagued some of the ealier Cup matches which was a good thing. I hate the fact it had to end on PKs though, since it was clear Italy was just playing defense to get to PKs through all of ET and once Zidane got the card France was doing the same.

I'm sad to see Zidane's career end that way, but it's one of those situations when he can only blame himself. No matter what gets said, be the better man and don't retaliate.

[apsham]

People praising the headbutt are idiots. That has no place in any sport.

[Guest Larry the Mole Man]

I'm not a major football fan. I watch the occassional match, know what's going on but I wouldn't call myself an expert. But I am an Italian-American. And now, I have something to scream and shout and piss all over everyone about. For the next four years I can claim that my nation of heritage is the World Champion of Football. For the next four years, when someone asks me who my favorite football player is I can say Andrea Pirlo! I can proudly scream "AZZURRI!" I can get drunk tonight! And tomorrow, I will forget about today read it in the paper and do it all over again.

Oh and I am so happy Brazil lost. I hate Brazil.

[Guest muddatrucker]

I won the penalty shoot-out competition at the Umbro Soccer School when I was 14 years old, wheres my gold fucking medal?

It's evidence. They think that Luciano Moggi bribed the goalie.

[Liam]

People praising the headbutt are idiots. That has no place in any sport.

True, there is no place for it, but as has been stated, it's almost like retribution for the dirty and cynical play of Italy over the last God knows how many years.

I'm not a major football fan. I watch the occassional match, know what's going on but I wouldn't call myself an expert. But I am an Italian-American. And now, I have something to scream and shout and piss all over everyone about. For the next four years I can claim that my nation of heritage is the World Champion of Football. For the next four years, when someone asks me who my favorite football player is I can say Andrea Pirlo! I can proudly scream "AZZURRI!" I can get drunk tonight! And tomorrow, I will forget about today read it in the paper and do it all over again.

Oh and I am so happy Brazil lost. I hate Brazil.

Shame you'll lose Euro 2008

[lafunky xxvii]

People praising the headbutt are idiots. That has no place in any sport.

[oldskool]

American viewership would've shot up tenfold if Zidane had headbutted somebody in group play.

As far as I'm concerned, the Italian dove after the headbutt. Seriously, go try headbutting somebody in the chest and see if they fall over.

[alldaws1]

And to add to what I said before, Totti was by far the biggest let down in the entire squad. He used to be amazing at one time, yet where the heck has the talent actually gone? The penalty against Australia was great to see, but outside of that he just hasn't really delivered what so ever. If I'm being honest, despite knowing he is a great talent, at the rate he was going he should have been dropped onto the bench.

Yes Totti was a let down, but surely some of that has to be that he's only recently recovered from a broken leg. You can't expect him to be back to his best so quickly.

[Blink]

This may have been posted already, but I won't be arsed to search.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0Rc8fnS_rw

Oh, and it's Zidane's headbutt. Hmm, I'm not praising it, but it sure as hell gave me a laugh.

[gunnar hendershow]

American viewership would've shot up tenfold if Zidane had headbutted somebody in group play.

As far as I'm concerned, the Italian dove after the headbutt. Seriously, go try headbutting somebody in the chest and see if they fall over.

You can fall over, though I think the Italian fell down and didn't get up for the purpose of drawing attention to the foul. I have no problem with doing that after something that is actually a foul. My problem is when people dive to create a foul.

[alldaws1]

Yeah, because a headbutt in the chest wouldn't have knocked the wind out of him or anything

[oldskool]

Yeah, because a headbutt in the chest wouldn't have knocked the wind out of him or anything

[Guest Ringo Hates Divers]

People praising the headbutt are idiots. That has no place in any sport.

[alldaws1]

Yeah, because a headbutt in the chest wouldn't have knocked the wind out of him or anything

You get the wind knocked out by sternum shots; a headbutt to the middle of somebody's chest isn't going to knock the wind out of them, that's why we have ribs.

Where's the sternum? Oh right, in the middle of the chest.

[oldskool]

Yeah, because a headbutt in the chest wouldn't have knocked the wind out of him or anything

You get the wind knocked out by sternum shots; a headbutt to the middle of somebody's chest isn't going to knock the wind out of them, that's why we have ribs.

[The Third Dukes]

Zidane had a running start, though, and it wouldn't surprise me if Materazzi were also moving forward. A collision like that, given the relative speeds, is enough to stagger Materazzi at the least. The bottom line, though, is that if Zidane did that in a non-football environment, he's getting arrested.

[Liam]

Zidane had a running start, though, and it wouldn't surprise me if Materazzi were also moving forward. A collision like that, given the relative speeds, is enough to stagger Materazzi at the least. The bottom line, though, is that if Zidane did that in a non-football environment, he's getting arrested.

Running? He was moving forward, sure, but running is a bit much. Materazzi probably didn't need to go down, though arguing about the legitimacy of a headbutt/the reaction of the headbuttee is a little absurd.

[oldskool]

It wasn't a running start, he was a few steps away from him, he kept talking shit, he came back WALKING, and then headbutted him in the chest. It isn't like he got a running start from halfway down the pitch and GOREGOREGOREd him, he took two steps and butted him and the Italian went crashing down like he got hit by a car.