World Cup 2006

[fineintent]

606 is full of idiots anyway.

[Liam]

Yeah, I never tend to read their, but was just interested.

[Guest Ringo Hates Divers]

I couldn't give a fuck what Materazzi said to him Zidane shouldn't have nutted to him. You get wound up in football matches all the time and sometimes people go to far but they do it so you'll react like that and get sent off, its no good what you say to ref he's not gonna send the other bloke off for calling you names. I wouldn't of reacted like that in a sunday league game so someone with Zidanes experience should of known better than to do it on the greatest stage of all. He should of just laughed at him and took the piss, asked him what his name was again and whether people will be talking about him in another ten years the way they talk about Zidane. And if it really was that bad and he couldn't let it go, do him after the game! Who knows, if he'd of stayed on and France had of won he could of rubbed it all in his face and gone out how every footballer would of dreamed, last ever match, winning in the world cup final and lifting it for your country as captain.

[Farmer Reil]

Edit: Ignore. The board forgot how to edit posts

Edited July 10, 2006 by TheReilDeal

[Farmer Reil]

To be honest, Zidane getting sent off didn't affect the match outside of them not having another penalty taker, thus why arguably it didn't cost them the match like some people have put it.

Edited July 10, 2006 by TheReilDeal

[Big Red Fury]

To be honest, Zidane getting sent off didn't affect the match outside of them not having another penalty taker, thus why arguably it didn't cost them the match like some people have put it.

That's the arguement I used. Even if Zidane hadn't made a prick of himself (as hilarious as it was to watch, there's no doubt it was a fucking stupid thing to do in a World Cup final), Trezeguet would've still taken a penalty. And he very nearly missed the (non-existant) penalty in normal time

In the end, justice was served, and at least the World Cup final wasn't won/lost via a monumentally stupid refereeing decision, like most of the matches that lead to it were. Although again, you could argue that the French non-penalty was justice for the Italian one against the Aussies.

Despite how it happened though, you can't really argue that, on the night. the best team won.

France scored a non-existant penalty, and I can only remember one save Buffon had to make that had any realistic chance.

Italy. in contrast, were great. They LOOKED like World Cup contenders. France looked (with the exception of Zidane, Vieria and in the second half Henry) like they were 5-0 up in a sunday league game. Sure, the Italians struggled a bit possesion-wise at the start of both halves, but the French never did anything with it save a few good runs from Henry (who finally flew in from London to replace his body double at half time). Most of their other chances ended in Lampard's from Ribery.

At least one thing remained constant though: The FIFA Man of the Match made no sense at all. Andrea Pirlo? Was Cannavaro like an imaginary friend, visible only to people posting on message boards? And if not him, then surely Vieira, Buffon or Thuram, or even Gattuso? Pirlo did fuck all.

Oh well... kinda sums up the world cup really: A team that can't be bothered to attack losing on penalties that they only got to thanks to a dodgy refereeing decision.

Looking forward to watching Portugal at the Olympics though, they should clean up at the Skiing, because they seem to be awesome at going down fast. I don't really rate France's chances in the kayaking however. Sinking fast won't be a big help.

Edit:

I laughed.

[therockbox]

Some lip reader has said that Materazzi called Zidane a liar, and then said "I hope you family dies an ugly death" (after Zidane's mother had been taken to hospital).

Then told him to go fuck himself before the awesome.

[lafunky xxvii]

I think the first was a penalty. Materazzi clipped his leg and he went over. He made it look a little dramatic, yes, but there was contact. The other was more of a penalty but the ref had a worse view of it. But hey, that's football.

EDIT - Theories:

http://mondoweiss.observer.com/2006/07/the...-to-zidane.html

Edited July 10, 2006 by lafunky xxvii

[gunnar hendershow]

My friend is in France right now and says the reaction is ranging from glee to apathy to sadness to disbelief to anger at Zidane. So the French aren't any different than the rest of the world in that regard. Everyone's got their own view on the headbutt of doom.

And also, American viewership of the World Cup was up 75% from 2002. Likely because it wasn't on at 3am.

[Guest Ringo Hates Divers]

My friend is in France right now and says the reaction is ranging from glee to apathy to sadness to disbelief to anger at Zidane. So the French aren't any different than the rest of the world in that regard. Everyone's got their own view on the headbutt of doom.

And also, American viewership of the World Cup was up 75% from 2002. Likely because it wasn't on at 3am.

[gunnar hendershow]

My friend is in France right now and says the reaction is ranging from glee to apathy to sadness to disbelief to anger at Zidane. So the French aren't any different than the rest of the world in that regard. Everyone's got their own view on the headbutt of doom.

And also, American viewership of the World Cup was up 75% from 2002. Likely because it wasn't on at 3am.

Could also have to do with the appearance of over ten footy TV networks in North America too

Possibly. But the 75% jump was only on ABC/ESPN networks. Apparently the Spanish station (Forget its name) saw a 130% rise.

[Guest Ringo Hates Divers]

My friend is in France right now and says the reaction is ranging from glee to apathy to sadness to disbelief to anger at Zidane. So the French aren't any different than the rest of the world in that regard. Everyone's got their own view on the headbutt of doom.

And also, American viewership of the World Cup was up 75% from 2002. Likely because it wasn't on at 3am.

Could also have to do with the appearance of over ten footy TV networks in North America too

[hugobomb]

Some lip reader has said that Materazzi called Zidane a liar, and then said "I hope you family dies an ugly death" (after Zidane's mother had been taken to hospital).

Then told him to go fuck himself before the awesome.

In all fairness I'd nutted him for saying that to me, and I'd kicked him in the ribs once down. So hats off for Zidane's reaction

[The Third Dukes]

Longtime Sports Illustrated reporter Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman -- who is admittedly not a football fan, but has been a reporter on Yankee football for about 50 years -- sums up why most of America can't get into "soccer".

Picture this. Michael Strahan is tired of offensive linemen grabbing him, strangling him, chopping at his legs, talking never-ending trash, generally messing with him in fringe illegal methods and getting away with it. So he head-butts someone.

Will he get thrown out of the game? Probably not. He'll get a flag. But put him in the context of World Cup Football and the ridiculous grand opera tragedy it has become and he would not only get thrown out but a lifetime of greatness would be ruined -- at least for now.

Zinedine Zidane is not a flopper or a whiner or a moaner. I have never seen him pull one of those scenes from the last act of La Boheme, enacting his death tableau on the field after the merest brush of contact. I haven't seen him lying there at death's door while they go through with the most ridiculous of all dramas, the entry of the stretcher.

Imagine if the NFL were like that. Half a dozen stretchers called for during the course of the game, whereupon the nearly deceased leaps off it, shakes off the very fingers of the Evil One and trots back onto the field. Maybe Zidane was tired of all this, of this travesty, which rewards all the things that we were once taught were cowardly, but can be used to great advantage in this game.

So Zidane slammed a guy. He lost it. Writers all over the world are competing with themselves to heap scorn on France's greatest player. You know something? I don't blame him for getting sore. Almost every time I could find him on the screen, he had someone tugging at his shirt, tripping him or messing with him in some sneaky way.

The problem is he doesn't hit the canvas as the rest of those prima donnas do. So the ref must figure nothing is happening. Sure, he should have held off on the head butt, but to put the defeat of his team on his shoulders is a reach.

[Liam]

Or you could argue that Americans don't take to football because it involves more than 10 seconds of concentration at any one time....

But yeah, even comparing NFL to football is a joke, as is comparing Rugby to NFL.

Though it is sad that players often HAVE to hit the deck to get fouls that should be called for.

Edited July 11, 2006 by liamwannabe

[EndOfAnEra]

There's no question that Materazzi had to have done SOMETHING for Zidane to go off like that, it's just sad that he did in that situation. I loved watching one of the Italians get floored like the bitch he is, but I would've loved it more to have seen them lose the Cup.

It's just a pathetic end to a career in my eyes. I can't think of a worse way to go out.

[Liam]

2. To be honest, I'd rather the referee ignored the divers and only stopped play when a foul was blatant. The last thing we need is MORE stoppage of play.

Someone elbows me in the back, someone stripes me down the back of my calf, someone stamps on my foot, someone butts me in the back of the head, someone grabs at my shirt, someone digs me in the ribs with an elbow on the way up for a header....all incidents a referee can't see necessarily (depending where they are in play) but that are fouls. So it is all nice and well talking about "blatant" fouls, but the fouls that need to be stamped out are the niggly ones that are done cynically and generally not caught unless a player draws attention to them by going to ground.

Yet FIFA try and pretend it is sliding challenges that stop the good players playing football....

Edited July 11, 2006 by liamwannabe

[gunnar hendershow]

Longtime Sports Illustrated reporter Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman -- who is admittedly not a football fan, but has been a reporter on Yankee football for about 50 years -- sums up why most of America can't get into "soccer".

Picture this. Michael Strahan is tired of offensive linemen grabbing him, strangling him, chopping at his legs, talking never-ending trash, generally messing with him in fringe illegal methods and getting away with it. So he head-butts someone.

Will he get thrown out of the game? Probably not. He'll get a flag. But put him in the context of World Cup Football and the ridiculous grand opera tragedy it has become and he would not only get thrown out but a lifetime of greatness would be ruined -- at least for now.

Zinedine Zidane is not a flopper or a whiner or a moaner. I have never seen him pull one of those scenes from the last act of La Boheme, enacting his death tableau on the field after the merest brush of contact. I haven't seen him lying there at death's door while they go through with the most ridiculous of all dramas, the entry of the stretcher.

Imagine if the NFL were like that. Half a dozen stretchers called for during the course of the game, whereupon the nearly deceased leaps off it, shakes off the very fingers of the Evil One and trots back onto the field. Maybe Zidane was tired of all this, of this travesty, which rewards all the things that we were once taught were cowardly, but can be used to great advantage in this game.

So Zidane slammed a guy. He lost it. Writers all over the world are competing with themselves to heap scorn on France's greatest player. You know something? I don't blame him for getting sore. Almost every time I could find him on the screen, he had someone tugging at his shirt, tripping him or messing with him in some sneaky way.

The problem is he doesn't hit the canvas as the rest of those prima donnas do. So the ref must figure nothing is happening. Sure, he should have held off on the head butt, but to put the defeat of his team on his shoulders is a reach.

Comments on the parts I bolded:

1. The only time a stretcher comes on the field in NFL football is when a player breaks a leg. NFL/Rugby players are 100 times as macho as the average Italian.

2. To be honest, I'd rather the referee ignored the divers and only stopped play when a foul was blatant. The last thing we need is MORE stoppage of play.

None of that matters. Sure they are valid points as to why we can't get into it now. But the reason we can't get into it is because we weren't raised on it. Those of us that played it when we were younger are huge fans of the sport and understand it. For years, with the exception of European immigrants, nobody played the sport here. If baseball or basketball had its roots in Europe as opposed to here and football had its roots in America the popularity of the sports would be different. Baseball and Basketball would be huge in Europe and football would be huge here. Our literal isolation from the world throughout the 19th century, and really up until World War II (Minus, a little while during and after World War I) didn't allow football to reach here and didn't let our sports get out. If we were raised on it the way we were on baseball, it doesn't matter about diving and what not, we'd watch it and love it.

Though, yes, the reason we don't get into it now is because its rules feel "stupid" to us while such amazing rules as the "tuck rule" and "infield fly rule" are just acceptable.

I hope that made sense, I put too much thought into it for it not to.

[The Third Dukes]

Though, yes, the reason we don't get into it now is because its rules feel "stupid" to us while such amazing rules as the "tuck rule" and "infield fly rule" are just acceptable.

[EndOfAnEra]

According to a few reports, Materazzi had said something about Zidane's muslim upbringing. This source is also a "lip-reader", so take it however you will.