Glory's Sun

Even if it was a dive.. there's no excuse for Zidane to do that.

pig

actually, assuming there was some manner of acting involved in that fall...it's almost more impressive to me. he baited one of the greatest players to have ever played the sport, and reacted when zidane flipped. i hate that zidane ended the cup, and i'm assuming his career, like that. way too obvious.

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You don't love me, you just love my piggy style

Pacifier

What?!
That was not a dive, the small gif doesn't show how hard materazzi was hit.

youtube is a bit better:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SBaBrcBLbqw"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SBaBrcBLbqw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

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"It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere. Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death
— Albert Einstein

stevo

I read today that allegedly materazzi said something along the lines of, "you're the son of a terrorist whore, now fuck off." He also said something about fu*&ing his sister - i hear.

If thats true then materazzi deserved the headbutt, just 12 inches higher, right in the mouth. But in a gentelman's game violent acts like that aren't tolerated. Good red card, too bad materazzi's words weren't overheard by an offical so he could get one too.

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"If I am such a genius why am I drunk, lost in the desert, with a bullet in my ass?" -Otto Mannkusser

Pacifier

what he said is not 100% clear. But even if he said such things, which would certainly be disgraceful and should be punished, a headbutt is not jusified. An experienced player like Zidane should be able to ignore that. Insults are common in football, every defender tries to piss off the strikers to break their concentration and make them nervous.

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"It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere. Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death
— Albert Einstein

Jimellow

Verbal attacks do not justify physical ones.

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Desperation is no excuse for lowering one's standards.

Glory's Sun

If Zidane wanted to get back at the guy then he should have kept his cool and been in the PK challenge. It's that simple. I'm sure it's not the first time Zidane had heard such things. When I played, the keepers and defender constantly hit me and tried to break my concentration with insults.. which I always replied with a score or hard play.

Zidane was one of the greats. He should have acted that way.

stevo

zidane's always been a hothead. Its not the first time he's been ejected from a match, not the first redcard he received in a finals match either. Of course he shouldn't have headbutted materazzi, thats why he got the red card he deserved. But Materazzi (if that's what he said) deserved to take the headbutt in the jaw.

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"If I am such a genius why am I drunk, lost in the desert, with a bullet in my ass?" -Otto Mannkusser

Pip

What a crappy way to win. What a crappy way to lose. Yes, the psychological warfare is a part of the game but I've never seen it have such a distinct impact before. Well played by Matzeratti.

I overheard three or four different conversations today about the headbutting, it's still the big talkie two days afterwards... Some of the speculations about what Matzeratti said are pretty funny.

Aside from the headbutting and Oscar performances, anyone else a bit surprised by how bad both the keepers were during the penalty shoot-out? They always went the wrong way! They were never near the ball. I usually enjoy penalties because of the mental game between the keeper and the penalty-taker, but this was pathetic. Lehmann owns their asses ten times over.

Glory's Sun

Of course Barthez was horrible.. well yeah so was the other keeper. I was quite surprised at how bad they were also.

djflish

The new rankings are out now thw WC has finished.
There are a few anomalies among them:
* England's points rating climbing despite their dismal WC performances.

* Sweden slipping six places to 22nd. Paraguay, whom the Swedes knocked out en route to the group stages, duly move in the opposite direction, climbing fourteen places to 19th.

* Serbia and Montenegro rising eight places despite losing all three of their matches and returning home with a minus-eight goal difference.

* Saudi Arabia being demoted a whopping 47 places to 82nd in the world. Tunisia, with whom the Saudis drew at the World Cup, and whose final goal difference was superior by just one score, fall just eight places to 31st. Clearly, it was a significant goal.

* Portugal falling to eighth in the rankings despite beating England on the way to the WC semi-finals.

* Mexico falling fourteen places as punishment for the unforgivebale crime of being beaten in extra-time by third-ranked Argentina in the WC's best game.

* WC-absentees Uruguay climbing eight places to a lofty 14th and being ranked above Mexico.

* Guinea, a country which F365 wasn’t entirely aware played football, being ranked 24th in the world. Greece, reigning champions of a continent which produced six of the quarter-finalists and all four of the semi-finalists, are a distant 32nd.

* South Korea being demoted 27 places. Togo, who lost all three of their matches, including a defeat to the Koreans, rise fourteen places to be ranked ahead of the Koreans.

* Scotland being ranked inside the top 50.

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Europes two great narcotics, Alcohol and Christianity.
I know which one I prefer.

lindalove

I thought this was a good summing up. The fact that Zidane's earlier penalty chip was nearly out is a good reason why he may not really have cost France much other than a psychological advantage.

ETA: We should hear from Zidane today.

Also, Blatter says Zidane may be stripped of his best player award, depending on the results of the investigation.

Glory's Sun

I think we all know that FIFA rankings are mostly bullshit. I mean damn, the US was fifth. That's a clear indicater that they don't mean squat.


As far as Zidane losing his Best Player Award, I dunno. I think he should keep it. One small incident shouldn't really take away everything he did in the tournament. :shrug:

Ace_O_Spades

stripped of his best player award? please.

He was the best player in the tournament through 99% of it. I don't think his act in any way takes away from one of the most inspiring WC performances in recent memory. The guy was in on EVERY France goal! nutty.

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Feh.

Glory's Sun

SO apparently .. Zidane headbutted the guy because he was making mother and sister comments. Umm how long has he been playing? That shit starts from pee-wee leagues.. he should be used to it by now. I don't believe him at all.

Ace_O_Spades

keep in mind he has a history of being a hothead and his mother has serious health issues.

I think anyone who makes wisecracks about a mother or a sister, especially when one is in danger of dying, deserves more than a headbutt. I'm not condoning it, but I have a short fuse as well... and I've found myself in situations where the tension is high, you're already worked up about something, and all it takes is one trigger and you snap. Just a personality fault...

< family guy> THERE'S NO PAPER TOWEL!?!? < /family guy>

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Feh.

Glory's Sun

I'm a hothead too.. but here's the thing.. on the field you <b>expect</b> those comments. You get so jaded to them that they don't even phase you (well I'm really speaking for myself here). You just laugh and give the guy a hard but clean tackle or just make him look stupid right before you put it in the net, goal, whatever you're playing. Zidane is a professional and should have acted like one in this instance, but I'll agree with you that he should keep his Player award.

biznatch

I must say i am disappointed by Zidane.
Some say he is a hothead. While it is true that he has a temper, I think that football-wise he's one of the calmest players. He doesn't rush for a goal, he carefully plans it and holds the ball back in order to strike at the right moment.
I think I shared the huge deception that most french people suffered when they saw Zinedine take down Matzeratti. That such a genius of football would end his great carreer like that...truly saddening
And then, one has to wonder..would things have been different in the PK shootouts if Zidane was one of the kickers?
One thing that shoul've been changed is the presence of Barthez..he's been fucking up during the whole tournament, and undoubtedly is the weakest player of the team. I hope he retires.
The team is full of fresh recruits, though of which my favorites are Ribery and Sagnol. Now I'm waiting to see how they'll do during the Euro Cup.