Eh, I don't think Zidane's act impacted the result. By that point, neither team was looking dangerous. It was headed to PKs. And Trezegeut was always going to take a PK. Zidane would have been in Abidala or Sagnol's spot, most likely, which means the same result. He's still the greatest of his generation.
World Cup 2006 (merged)
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Penalty kicks are barely better than coin flips. The odds were still about 50-50 that France would win going into PKs. Italy had the superior keeper but he didn't come close to stopping a single shot and Trezegeut would have been kicking with or without Zidane. And lets not consider Zidane automatic either - I don't remember if any of the other matches that went to PKs had an in-match PK, but on the few occasions where players took multiple PKs they missed the second kick after nailing the first (admittedly these were on re-kicks but the edge usually goes to the keeper once they face the kicker the first time).
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No, that was first half of OT. Both teams were spent, Materazzi went too far, and Zidane is retiring, so he made a statement about racist talk in football. I'm glad he acted, although I wish it would have been in a manner that would have allowed him to stay on the pitch. Certainly brings the situation to the fore alot better than talking about it after the game would have. Blatter will have to investigate the situation and act accordingly.
I don't follow Serie A, but I caught a clip of Materazzi (The Matrix) on youtube, and the guy looks like the dirtiest player in football.
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To say that it hurt them negatively would of been understandable, but that's clearly not what you said. You said that they had NO chance whatsoever to win after the red card incident. Which proves to me that you don't watch a lot of soccer so you don't realize how little-better Penalty Kicks are than a coin flip.
I'm kind of pissed at Zidane for losing his cool in such an important game. But for someone who was a victim of clutching, grabbing and vicious trash-talking all game long, I cant really blame him for losing his cool. He got fed up of getting non-calls and being harassed. Even if it is in the finals of the world cup, the man has a temper people, he's human, he makes mistakes like i'm sure a lot of us do. Was it a terribly misplaced mistake? Absolutely! But I know you're not suppose to let ANYTHING get under your skin in a sports competition, which is fair criticism towards Zidane that he did, but I will not let one incident tarnish the image that I have of such a great class act and player that deserves his place amongst the very elite that have ever played the game. I also partialy blame Matterazzi for provoking him and for apparently calling him a "dirty terrorist". Which is probably THE biggest insult you can ever say to someone of Arab origin like Zidane. Materazzi's tactic worked, it sure did, but I also consider it very unsportsmanlike, dirty, cheap and uncalled for.
France was like a chicken running without its head? They had posession of the ball more than Italy did despite being a man down after Zidane was sent off. I agree that the momentum clearly shifted in Italy's favor if it was ever going to PKs, but France DID have a chance to win it all even after the red card.
I hate the fact that they determine the championship game of the most important sports tournament in the world with something as irrelavent as PKs. Which sure, requires a certain amount of skill and clutchness, but lacks key ingredients of a team sport like soccer such as team chemistry, fatigue and heart.
To me it is no different than if the NBA would decide the outcome of game 7 of the finals in a free-throw competition.
Anyway, congratulations Italy on a marvelous World Cup. You are very worthy champions.
Congratulations to France for greatly exceeding everyone's initial expectations.
And lastly, happy retirement to Zinédine Zidane. One of the all-time greats who deserves to be mentionned with the Pelés and Maradonnas of Soccer history. I will never let the 2006 headbutt tarnish the great memories that I have of him. To me, he will always be ,first and foremost, the man who scored those 2 clutch goals in the summer of 1998 to bring France its greatest sporting achievement in history.
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Funny that you say that, considering that I have been watching soccer since I was around 5 and probably before you were born.
Penalty kick is a coin flip, and so is every other sport.
It is a very biased coin flip when you have the best goalie (Italy basically played for the game to go to PK ever since Totti left the game in the early 2nd half), and EXTREMELY biased coin flip when you have the best goalie in the world and the other team just lost its captain, and 2 of its best attackers had been substituted. Also, Bartez is a **** goalie. Where I watched the game not one person believed that France was going to win, and upon reading the French players quotes it was clear that the game was over with the final whistle of the ref. I'm not sure why you are beating the dead horse.
Penalty kick is a coin flip, and so is every other sport.
It is a very biased coin flip when you have the best goalie (Italy basically played for the game to go to PK ever since Totti left the game in the early 2nd half), and EXTREMELY biased coin flip when you have the best goalie in the world and the other team just lost its captain, and 2 of its best attackers had been substituted. Also, Bartez is a **** goalie. Where I watched the game not one person believed that France was going to win, and upon reading the French players quotes it was clear that the game was over with the final whistle of the ref. I'm not sure why you are beating the dead horse.
Just the fact that you are comparing the two sports in this way tells enough about how much you know about the game: nothing!
Basketball has the thing called timeouts, unlimited substitutes etc. and they almost never have the players cramping up at the end of regulation. There are many more competent people trying to figure out the way to end the ties, and this is the best that they have done so far, but I would really like to see you play God and reinvent the sport and add up the new rules so that your team has a better chance of winning.
Basketball has the thing called timeouts, unlimited substitutes etc. and they almost never have the players cramping up at the end of regulation. There are many more competent people trying to figure out the way to end the ties, and this is the best that they have done so far, but I would really like to see you play God and reinvent the sport and add up the new rules so that your team has a better chance of winning.
And yet Buffon didn't stop a single shot either, the only shot that missed wasn't on target.
Regardless of whether you agree with the original poster's analogy I think we can all agree PK's are a rather disappointing way to settle things even if it is the "best" or most practical method to do so. Its also unfortunate that a team like Italy can basically stop attacking and still get to play for a shot at winning by PK.
Regardless of whether you agree with the original poster's analogy I think we can all agree PK's are a rather disappointing way to settle things even if it is the "best" or most practical method to do so. Its also unfortunate that a team like Italy can basically stop attacking and still get to play for a shot at winning by PK.
Well, France didn't get a chance to shoot 5 kicks. And one he coudln't save because it wasn't on goal.
Again, I don't know how much of Italian soccer you watched, but that is their style. This is so famous that even National Geographic described their defensive style in an issue before the World Cup. They played defensive game with dangerous counterattacks throughout the whole tournament and only conceded 2 goals (one own goal and one penalty). If this is not amazing, then I don't know what is... And even though Italy was limited to mostly their own half in 2nd half, they did have a goal which didn't count from offside which was really close and they also hit a crossbar, so they were dangerous occasionally. If they had opened themselves up more, they could have ended up like Serbia against Argentina.
Again, I don't know how much of Italian soccer you watched, but that is their style. This is so famous that even National Geographic described their defensive style in an issue before the World Cup. They played defensive game with dangerous counterattacks throughout the whole tournament and only conceded 2 goals (one own goal and one penalty). If this is not amazing, then I don't know what is... And even though Italy was limited to mostly their own half in 2nd half, they did have a goal which didn't count from offside which was really close and they also hit a crossbar, so they were dangerous occasionally. If they had opened themselves up more, they could have ended up like Serbia against Argentina.
Thank You Very Much.
SLOTER, you're argument is true yet it doesnt relate to what happened at all. Any person that has even a tiny bit of soccer knowledge knows that
Buffon >>>>>>>>>>>> Barthez. But like Pdxkingsfans said, it's not like Buffon made the difference in the PKs, the difference was Trézéguet's miss off the crossbar. So as superior as Buffon is compared to old *** Barthez, it didnt change a thing in the outcome! So what you said is true, it's just not f***king important at all based on what happened. Trézéguet's shot off the crossbar lost France the PKs, not Gianluigi Buffon's outstanding goalie skills.
Penalty Kicks is such a sorry and individualist way to determine a winner in such a team sport like soccer. I would hate to win or lose under those circumstances. Sure, it provides huge drama and emotion in such a small time but still...
I would be in favor of a system similar to the NHL's... They have shootout's after a single OT in the regular season but when playoff time comes it's unlimited OT until someone scores.
http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2006/story/0,,1817551,00.html
Lip-reader reveals what riled Zidane
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Tuesday July 11, 2006
The Guardian
[/FONT]
An Italian lip-reader last night claimed to have deciphered the words Marco Materazzi said to Zinédine Zidane that provoked the French captain into butting him in the chest during Sunday's World Cup final, the great midfielder's final act before a red card ended his career in top-level football.
According to the BBC, Materazzi said, "I wish an ugly death to you and all your family," and then told Zidane to "go f*** yourself".
A Paris-based anti-racism group, SOS-Racism, earlier said that "several very well informed sources" had suggested Zidane was called a "dirty terrorist".
But though video evidence is being used to judge Materazzi, it was not used by match officials to condemn Zidane. Fifa yesterday released a statement insisting that "the fourth referee saw the incident with his own eyes and told the referee and the assistant directly through their headsets". The controversy did not stop Zidane from winning the Golden Ball as the World Cup's best player, ahead of the final's other captain, Italy's Fabio Cannavaro. The Frenchman earned 2,012 points in a poll of journalists covering the event, with Cannavaro on 1,977 and the Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo third with 715.
For those who think what was being said was not that bad...at least, to cause a retaliation in the form of a headbutt...well, these type of things are about the worst think you can say to somebody with North African background (Algerian in this case).
Lip-reader reveals what riled Zidane
[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Tuesday July 11, 2006
The Guardian
[/FONT]
An Italian lip-reader last night claimed to have deciphered the words Marco Materazzi said to Zinédine Zidane that provoked the French captain into butting him in the chest during Sunday's World Cup final, the great midfielder's final act before a red card ended his career in top-level football.
According to the BBC, Materazzi said, "I wish an ugly death to you and all your family," and then told Zidane to "go f*** yourself".
A Paris-based anti-racism group, SOS-Racism, earlier said that "several very well informed sources" had suggested Zidane was called a "dirty terrorist".
But though video evidence is being used to judge Materazzi, it was not used by match officials to condemn Zidane. Fifa yesterday released a statement insisting that "the fourth referee saw the incident with his own eyes and told the referee and the assistant directly through their headsets". The controversy did not stop Zidane from winning the Golden Ball as the World Cup's best player, ahead of the final's other captain, Italy's Fabio Cannavaro. The Frenchman earned 2,012 points in a poll of journalists covering the event, with Cannavaro on 1,977 and the Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo third with 715.
For those who think what was being said was not that bad...at least, to cause a retaliation in the form of a headbutt...well, these type of things are about the worst think you can say to somebody with North African background (Algerian in this case).
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I am, somewhat regretfully, closing this thread. The World Cup games are over; it appears the only topic for discussion is turning more and more into a political/nationalistic area that simply isn't the type of thing we here at Kingsfans.com want to get embroiled in.
Thanks, all, for your participation and see you the next time around.
Thanks, all, for your participation and see you the next time around.
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