Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying

Zinedine Zidane ended his legendary career with a red card in Berlin. Italy beat France in penalty kicks to win the 2006 World Cup. However, the story of the day is once again Zinedine Zidane.

After scoring on a coolly taken penalty kick and almost putting France ahead with a powerful header, Zidane lost his cool in overtime and headbutted Italian defender Materazzi after an exchange of words. Whatever Materazzi said to Zidane, Zidane’s reaction earned him an unquestioned red card.

Zidane’s expulsion likely cost the French the game. For most of the second half and overtime, France dominated the game. But with Zidane and Henry missing for the penalty kicks, it was always going to be an uphill battle. Italy made no mistakes in the penalties and put the game away.

I am sure in time it will come out what led Zidane to hit out at Materazzi, but in one moment of madness, Zidane lost his chance at immortality. Today was not only a tragedy for France, it was a tragedy for football.

Allez Les Blues! France are through to the 2006 World Cup Final after a fiercely contested semifinal against Portugal. Zinedine Zidane converted a penalty kick after Thierry Henry was fouled inside the box by Portugal’s Ricardo Carvalho. The 1-0 score stood until the final whistle but not without some heart-stopping moments thanks to some creative goalkeeping by France’s Fabien Barthez.

It was fitting that Zidane scored the penalty. It was apparent he had the weight of the entire French nation’s hopes on his shoulders and he calmly delivered. Even though Zidane scored the game’s only goal, the true heroes of the day were the French defense - especially Lilian Thuram. Thuram was the glue that held the French defense together against multiple assaults by Portugal.

The other entertaining aspect of the game was watching the Portuguese players practice their diving skills for the 2008 Olympic Games. Instead of yellow cards they should give out medals for the best dives. Portugal, with Cristiano Ronaldo pulling in the lion’s share, would eclipse every other team in the medal count.

Now on to Berlin for a date with destiny for Zinedine Zidane. Sunday the French meet the Azzurri for the Cup.

Today the German soccer team plays Italy for a berth in the World Cup final. However, Germany will be playing without Torsten Frings. Frings was suspended after FIFA reviewed video of the disgraceful brawl that took place after Germany defeated Argentina in their quarterfinal match. On the video, Frings is shown punching Argentinian striker Julio Cruz. However, it also appears from the video that Frings threw the punch in response to being slapped by Cruz.

Regardless of Cruz’s actions, Frings should not have responded violently. However, FIFA also needs to take action that protects the interests of the game as well as its integrity. Denying Germany a crucial player in such a pivotal game seems to me to be an overly harsh punishment for Fring’s offense. In the event that Germany loses to Italy in a close game, FIFA’s decision will become the controversy of this World Cup. A more fitting punishment for Frings would have been to allow him to serve out his two game suspension after the World Cup. As it is, if I were FIFA, I would be rooting hard for a Germany win.

[Disclaimer: As you probably know I am rooting for Germany over Italy.]

Click below to view videos of the incident and let me know what you think (via The 3rd World View):

A close-up view of the Cruz slap and the Frings punch.

Another angle on the slap and punch.

Yet another perspective of the confrontation.

Finally, to give some context, here is what television viewers saw of the entire brawl. It was a disgraceful end to a beautiful game. Argentina will regret that they left the 2006 World Cup in such fashion.

Tomorrow brings the first of the two semifinal matches of the 2006 World Cup. My money is on Germany tomorrow and France the next day. In the meantime, here is another classic moment from a previous World Cup featuring another one of soccer’s greats.

They call him "The Maradona of the Carpathians". His name is Gheorghe Hagi. He is the greatest soccer player ever to emerge from Romania and was a creative genius on the field. He retired from playing in 2001.

During the 1994 World Cup, he produced one of the most memorable goals of all time. In a game against Columbia, Hagi caught the Columbian goalkeeper off his line and lobbed a 35-meter strike over the keeper and into the corner of the net at the far post of the Columbian goal. With the entire Columbian defense in front of him, he placed the ball in the only spot on goal that the keeper could not reach. The Columbian goalkeeper was left shaking his head in amazement.

Click here to watch this beautiful goal.

Zinedine Zidane played today like it might be his last game. With Zidane retiring after this World Cup, if Les Bleus had lost against Brazil it would indeed have been Zidane’s last game. Instead Zidane produced a masterful display of soccer to lead the French over Brazil 1-0.

France was the better team today. With an ironclad defense led by Lilian Thuram, Patrick Vieira and Claude Makelele, Zidane was free to take control of the game from the midfield. Arguably no other man has dominated a World Cup game the way Zidane did today since the days of Diego Maradona. Zidane’s touch, control and ball distribution made the Brazilians look amateurish. Watching the game it was hard to believe that Zidane was playing against perhaps the best players in the world.

Zidane’s free kick to Thierry Henry’s feet at the far post was the icing on this sublime performance. Henry made no mistake in burying the ball at the back of the net.

BBC had this to say about Zidane and the French today:

Zidane was magnificent throughout, while after the interval the speed of Henry and Franck Ribery unsettled the Brazilian defence.

As early as the first minute Brazil were given a glimpse of what they were to experience for the remaining 89 minutes as Zidane glided away from a succession of Brazilian tackles as he executed a quick turn and that trademark stepover.

A Zidane flick that deceived Cafu was equally breathaking, while he held off and teased Kaka by juggling the ball.

Regardless of what happens to France in the two potential games remaining between Zidane and the Cup, his performance on the pitch today will be the stuff of World Cup legend.

Update: Britain’s Guardian calls Zidane France’s zen master in tribute. Sports Illustrated pays tribute to Zizou.

Video Updates from YouTube

This is video of play leading up to Zidane’s and Henry’s game winning goal. Watch Zidane get around Ronaldo with a flick of the ball and a header to start the attack. The commentary is in Japanese but you don’t have to speak the language to understand the exciting commentary.

This is a video compilation with English commentary of Zidane’s play throughout the match. As you watch the video, keep in mind that the players in yellow falling all around Zidane are not just ordinary players, they are Brazilians.

This is a very well done video compilation of Zidane’s play in the Brazil and Spain games. The video is set to, of all things, Rod Stewart’s "Young Turks".

This is a short video clip showing Zidane’s burst of speed as he spins away from the Brazilian defense

Both England and France have advanced into the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup on the backs of their respective captains and aging stars. While the young stars of world soccer continue to shine at this year’s World Cup, the old guard still remind us why we love this game and their contributions to it.

In England’s round of 16 match against Ecuador, David Beckham demonstrated why his right foot is considered a national treasure in England. Beckham scored the game winner with a brilliant free kick in the second half. Even though Beckham was sick before the game, he stayed on the pitch throughout the game and struck when it counted. He became dehydrated and vomited on the field during the game. In spite of his distress, he captained England into the quarterfinals. Click here to watch the video of his sublime free kick.

Zinedine Zidane is perhaps the greatest soccer player of our time. He may also be one of the greatest of all time. He is a master on the ball and his passing and dribbling are nothing short of art. On top of all that, he is a magnificent goal scorer. Zidane has said that he will retire after this World Cup. With that in mind, I watched today’s round of 16 match between France and Spain. France prevailed 3-1 against the Spaniards. France’s second goal came off of Zidane’s free kick and Zidane put the game away with a wonderful solo effort for a third goal with time running out. YouTube does not yet have video of today’s match. So, instead, here are two videos of Zidane’s goals while playing for Real Madrid. In the first video the Irish commentator apparently has an orgasm from watching Zidane score. In the second video, the Spanish commentator wins the prize for the longest rendition of "gooaaaaal" ever captured on tape. Enjoy!

Holland just defeated Serbia Montenego 1-0 in a hard fought game. Arjen Robben was the most dangerous man on the field as he followed up his wonderful goal with a magnificent display of attacking football.

In Robben’s honor, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite moments from any World Cup. In the 1998 World Cup, the Dutch "Orange" defeated Argentina 2-1 in a game that ended with one of the most sublime touches in all of soccer. Dennis Bergkamp, one of my favorite players of all time, took a long 50 yard lob sent from the Dutch side of the field deftly with one foot, turned the ball on his second touch to beat the Argentine defender, and drove the ball to the back of the net. Bergkamp made it look so easy that the skill involved took a backseat to the beauty of the move. The best video I found on YouTube unfortunately is not the best quality, but the quality of the video is more than compensated for by the Dutch commentator who definitely could have used a sedative.

Click on the image above to see the video. The first part of the video is other goals by Bergkamp. The second part of the video with the crazy Dutch commentator is the World Cup goal in question.

The Iran versus Mexico game is about to begin. Watch for Iran’s Ali Daei to have a big day. This game will put Mexico to the test.

The 2006 World Cup begins tomorrow in Germany. The first game will be between hosts Germany and Costa Rica. Thanks to the resourcefulness of a fellow soccer fan, I will have the distinct pleasure of being able to watch the game in the company of the German military. It promises to be a raucous affair and I am busy brushing up on my rusty German. I am especially concentrating on how to say "Gooooooaaaaaaal!!!" auf Deutsch.

Instead of posting scores and match results from the games, I thought I would instead try to call attention to some memorable moments from past World Cups. And, what better way to begin than with the artistry of one Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known to most of the world as Pelé.

In the final match of the 1970 World Cup, Brazil beat Italy 4-1 to hoist the World Cup trophy. Pelé scored one of the 4 goals. But the goal that is remembered as arguably the greatest goal in the history of the World Cup was the last goal. It was scored by Carlos Alberto who hammered home a magical pass from Pelé. The ball touched nine of Brazil’s eleven players before it found the back of the net. The Italian players were left dazed by the Brazilians as they developed the attack from deep within their own territory. The culmination came after Pelé received the ball just outside the box on the Italian end. He paused and then effortlessly pushed the ball into empty space to his right. Out of nowhere came Carlos Alberto to drive the ball into the net.

The goal was pure ballet on the field. It was Brazil at their artistic best. It was Pelé with a magical sense of the game. It is why I love the Beautiful Game.

You can click on the image above for a video of the goal. You can also read Carlos Alberto’s retelling of the goal here.

[Note: The naked guy streaking the blog will likely stay for the duration of the World Cup. You can turn him off by clicking the German word for "close" on the right hand corner.]

Take your seat at the World Cup and join the fight against the International Arms Trade at the same time. What better way to combine a passion for sports and a commitment to Human Rights than to join Amnesty International’s Control Arms campaign and take a seat at the Million Faces Stadium ahead of the World Cup and the United Nations Conference on Small Arms.

It’s fun and perhaps like me you will get a front row seat at the stadium next to two lovely ladies from Australia and Peru! I am seriously thinking about moving to Peru after the game!

Click here to pick your seat at Amnesty International’s Million Faces Stadium before the best seats are gone. It only takes a minute and is a lot of fun.

[A major Hat Tip to Robbie at Greetings From America’s Finest City]