Most of the votes for golden ball are in long before the final which is why it makes for such ‘interesting’ outcomes (Kahn in 2002, Ronaldo in 1998).

As for what Materazzi said, who cares?
Trash talking is part of almost every sport and a professional athlete is supposed to be able to deal with that.
It’s a shame Zidane had to end his carreer for France that way as he is a brilliant player. Let’s hope people will remember that instead of yesterday’s outburst.

Alll the worlds greatest players duck out acrimoniously on the biggest
stages.

- Zidane for the headbutt in WC-2006
– Hagi for a penalty box dive Euro 2000
– Maradonna for Cocaine abuse WC-1994

It’s a shame to end a carrer like that,(Zidane) with a headbutt,
and after that I also was with Italy.

Cil writes:

quote:… Materazzi must have said or done something very provocative.
I hope France can forgive Zidane, but what he did was, to say the least, unprofessional.

None of the Officials saw the Head Butt! There was an uproar from the people in the stands when they saw it replayed on the Big Screen; but the head Official can’t ‘Red Card’ a player unless he actually witnesses a grave infraction. A minute or so after the Fact, a linesman told the head Official that he had seen the Head Butt. IMHO, he had only seen what was on the Big Screen and he was reacting to the Crowd, or his reaction would have been more immediate.

Zidane almost got away with it. I think he should have!

If ‘Red Card’ Elizondo didn’t see it, it didn’t happen

Actually, that rule just changed recently for this WC. The official is required to give a red card for obvious infractions such as head-butts, thrown punches, choking, etc… even if he does not catch it live, and only sees the replay. MK

quote:IMHO, he had only seen what was on the Big Screen and he was reacting to the Crowd, or his reaction would have been more immediate.

Zidane almost got away with it. I think he should have!

According to the fifa (as quoted by ltb in this[url=‘http://www.eurotrek.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3546’]thread[/url] the 4th official saw the headbutt, not the fifth who watches the video replays.

Either way, Zidane f-ed up and deserved the card.

Nice editing of your post Eddy. Doesn’t change the fact that there are multiple officials for a reason.
Or are you trying to say offsides didn’t happen if only the assistant saw them ?

quote:… are you trying to say offsides didn’t happen if only the assistant saw them ?

No! What I am saying, regardless what FIFA is saying, is that I believe none of the Officials actually saw Zidane’s headbutt live!

Otherwise: why the delay in making the call??

Also, I would nominate Marco Materazzi for an award at the Cannes film festival for his convincing fall after the headbutt.

quote:

quote:… are you trying to say offsides didn’t happen if only the assistant saw them ?

No! What I am saying, regardless what FIFA is saying, is that I believe none of the Officials actually saw Zidane’s headbutt live!

Otherwise: why the delay in making the call??

Also, I would nominate Marco Materazzi for an award at the Cannes film festival for his convincing fall after the headbutt.

Eddie, the force of that headbutt was violent, plus the officals are all mic’d up now, so the 4th offical attracts the ref to the incident.
Mazarrotten is rolling abo,ut players are going crazy… what is the delay you are talking about ?? Refs normally onky discuss off the balls when the play breaks down, maybe you should watch the match again

Next thing you’ll be hitting us with conspiracry theories that Platini
planned this night of shame for ZZ so Platini could remain the greatest French footballer of all time.

Time to end match flashes on big screens inside the stadium, or limit it to goals only if refs and linesmen can see what they are not supposed to see!

Hey,

Someone previously asked about seeing a game while abroad if I remember it was in Germany. Anyhow I will be traveling next year to Italy and taking my brother for his first european experience, he’s a huge football fan and wants to see a game. I have a couple questions as I’m not having much luck on the web.

1. Will there be games during late March, early April in Italy (Rome/Florence)?
2. What’s the average cost of a ticket. I can deal with the cheap seatts by the way.
3. Is is possible to buy tickets before hand? Should I?

Thanks I’d really appreciate any info!

There should indeed be games then, Bunnihop. Google it and you’ll come up with something, but maybe you can just figure it out when you are over there. That’s what we did in Scotland as well as Italy.

[url=‘http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/13/zidane_headbutt_outrage/’]New video evidence of head butt outrage[/url]
Offers different perspectives, takes a minute or so to fully load, a bit of a chuckle.

quote:
Nice editing of your post Eddy. Doesn’t change the fact that there are multiple officials for a reason.
Or are you trying to say offsides didn’t happen if only the assistant saw them ?

Speaking of offsides, I don’t see why the announcers were saying the call was close regarding Italy’s offsides on the goal that was called back. Replays clearly show the Italian team was standing offsides when the pass was made.

If we look-back over the last 40 years or so, there have been just a handful of &quotowerHouse", consistently great futbol nations. Without putting them in any exact or computerized order, I would say these are the best futbol countries since 1955 or 1960…

1. Brasil
2. Germany
3. Argentina
4. Italy
5. France
6. Holland
7. Sweden
8. Portugal
9. Spain
10. Denmark
11. Czech Republik
12. England

Now let us compare that list to a much more important one… Top 12 Best BEER-PRODUCING Nation’s…

1. Belgium
2. Germany
3. Czech Republik
4. England
5. Ireland
6. Canada
7. Holland
8. Japan
9. Denmark
10. U.S.A.
11. Poland
12. Scotland

Top 12 Beer producing nations?? I take exception to the fact that you left Spain & Portugal off that list. Have you ever tried Sagres Special Export (Portugal) or Draught Mahou (Spain)?? Both are exceptional brews! Spain’s San Miguel also brews a Special Export (5.4%) that I often drink when visiting the Irish Republic. I buy it at Dunnes Stores.

CruzCampo (Spain) and Heinekin (Holland) are both part of the ‘Guinness Family.’

You could certainly plug-in Spain and/or Portugal anywhere in the # 7-12 range, etc. There is only one problem… I have never tried more than one bier in each country. I may have had two in Barcelona, and I do recall really liking one of them. However, I do not recall the name.

quote:
You could certainly plug-in Spain and/or Portugal anywhere in the # 7-12 range, etc. There is only one problem… I have never tried more than one bier in each country. I may have had two in Barcelona, and I do recall really liking one of them. However, I do not recall the name.

In a green can by any chance ??