Its been quite sometime since the Football World Cup 2006 finals but the realization that the GOD of WC'06 made such a disgraceful exit has yet not sunk in. Well, the subject under discussion is pretty unambiguous, I guess!!!
It was an all European final, the first one since 1982, where neither of the Latin-American giants could find a place. Both Italy and France had peaked gradually as the tournament progressed and they out-witted their opponents when it mattered most.
On the 9th of July, the highly charged up finals started with a bang - a 6th minute penalty against the Italians, cheekily converted by Zizou. With Italians better known for their defensive approach, the game was thrown wide open. Italy responded in style though a Materazzi header in the 19th minute, drawing the scores level. From then on, the rejuvenated Italians played some really attractive soccer with substantial ball possession in the mid-field. Pirlo's accuracy in dead ball situations and the height of the tall Materazzi and Luca Toni posed a substantial threat to their opponents. However, at the end of the first-half, the score line remained unchanged.
The second-half saw the French displaying some of the tricks in their bag and the entire half was by-and-large dominated by them. Despite the skills of Riberi, Henry and Zidane, they failed to bulge the net a second time. Buffon made some excellent saves as well to keep Italy in the race. Meanwhile, the second half saw Henry and Riberi being replaced in the latter stages. With the game still level at the end of 90 minutes, it went on to extra time to find a decider to the World Cup.
In the extra time, the French pushed harder but the un-flinching defence of the Italians, with Cannavaro at the helm of affairs, left little room for the Frenchmen to drive the ball home. As the game dragged on, penalties seemed inevitable. And, as per records, Italians had never won a match that went on to be decided through penalties. But in Buffon, Italians had a superior goal-keeper than the French who had to rely on the services of the cranky Barthez.
While the spectators all over the world were speculating whether the odds were stacked against the Italians, suddenly something strange happened - 10 minutes from the end of extra-time, the referee blew the whistle in the middle of the game, indicating a foul. The Italians had a player down and they were vehemently drawing the referee's attention towards Materazzi. Repl
ays told a shocking story. Right in the middle of the game, Zidane had lost his cool in response to some instigation by Materazzi and he head-butted Materazzi on the chest. And with that, probably, the French had lost their chances of winning the World Cup. Zidane was shown a RED CARD. That meant an ignominious end to a magnificent career.
The game eventually went to penalties and the Italians won the shoot out by meticulously converting all their 5 shots at goal. The Italians had won the World Cup for a fourth time, next only to the 5 time world champions, Brazil. The French had not only lost the World Cup final but the Zidane incident had left a bad taste at the end of the high-profile final. Perhaps their only solace was that despite the incident, Zidane went on to win the Golden Ball award tipping Cannavaro and Pirlo who finished second and third respectively in the race.
The FIFA disciplinary committee announced match suspensions to Zidane for his un-ruly act. However, since Zidane had already announced his retirement, the gentle-man as he is, he has himself volunteered for some community service as penitence towards that act. Zidane, however, made himself clear that given Materazzi's instigations, he provided an appropriate response to his adversary. Well!!!, if the Frenchmen have forgiven Zidane, what has the world got to rue for?
It was an all European final, the first one since 1982, where neither of the Latin-American giants could find a place. Both Italy and France had peaked gradually as the tournament progressed and they out-witted their opponents when it mattered most.
On the 9th of July, the highly charged up finals started with a bang - a 6th minute penalty against the Italians, cheekily converted by Zizou. With Italians better known for their defensive approach, the game was thrown wide open. Italy responded in style though a Materazzi header in the 19th minute, drawing the scores level. From then on, the rejuvenated Italians played some really attractive soccer with substantial ball possession in the mid-field. Pirlo's accuracy in dead ball situations and the height of the tall Materazzi and Luca Toni posed a substantial threat to their opponents. However, at the end of the first-half, the score line remained unchanged.
The second-half saw the French displaying some of the tricks in their bag and the entire half was by-and-large dominated by them. Despite the skills of Riberi, Henry and Zidane, they failed to bulge the net a second time. Buffon made some excellent saves as well to keep Italy in the race. Meanwhile, the second half saw Henry and Riberi being replaced in the latter stages. With the game still level at the end of 90 minutes, it went on to extra time to find a decider to the World Cup.
In the extra time, the French pushed harder but the un-flinching defence of the Italians, with Cannavaro at the helm of affairs, left little room for the Frenchmen to drive the ball home. As the game dragged on, penalties seemed inevitable. And, as per records, Italians had never won a match that went on to be decided through penalties. But in Buffon, Italians had a superior goal-keeper than the French who had to rely on the services of the cranky Barthez.
While the spectators all over the world were speculating whether the odds were stacked against the Italians, suddenly something strange happened - 10 minutes from the end of extra-time, the referee blew the whistle in the middle of the game, indicating a foul. The Italians had a player down and they were vehemently drawing the referee's attention towards Materazzi. Repl
ays told a shocking story. Right in the middle of the game, Zidane had lost his cool in response to some instigation by Materazzi and he head-butted Materazzi on the chest. And with that, probably, the French had lost their chances of winning the World Cup. Zidane was shown a RED CARD. That meant an ignominious end to a magnificent career.The game eventually went to penalties and the Italians won the shoot out by meticulously converting all their 5 shots at goal. The Italians had won the World Cup for a fourth time, next only to the 5 time world champions, Brazil. The French had not only lost the World Cup final but the Zidane incident had left a bad taste at the end of the high-profile final. Perhaps their only solace was that despite the incident, Zidane went on to win the Golden Ball award tipping Cannavaro and Pirlo who finished second and third respectively in the race.
The FIFA disciplinary committee announced match suspensions to Zidane for his un-ruly act. However, since Zidane had already announced his retirement, the gentle-man as he is, he has himself volunteered for some community service as penitence towards that act. Zidane, however, made himself clear that given Materazzi's instigations, he provided an appropriate response to his adversary. Well!!!, if the Frenchmen have forgiven Zidane, what has the world got to rue for?
"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."
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