Zidane sending off...

[osarusan]

I would find it really sad if any true football fan ever believed there could be some circumstance where headbutting an opponent on the field of play would ever be justified. :o :confused:

could you please tell us which forum and thread this quote is from.........I'd hate to think there was some selective editing..............

[thejollyrodger]

any videos of him with the headbutt ??

[Superhoops]

could you please tell us which forum and thread this quote is from.........I'd hate to think there was some selective editing..............

From this forum and this thread. Full post below. Don't think can be construed as selective editing. My reading (and I may be wrong!) is that Jebus is advocating that if Materazzi made an ethnic slur to Zidane then the headbutt was fully justified! Have I misread or misunderstood? :confused:


Surprised that some on here have agreed with the over-reaction greeting Zidane's sending off. Not that he shouldn't have been. but the tabloids and the BBC saying that this has spoiled everything Zidane has done in his career is a bit much. Has anything Maradona ever done overshadowed his career? Remember in 94 when people were saying all he'd be remembered for was his drugs shame, yet here we are 12 years later and no-one even mentions it anymore. Loved the hypocritical BBC saying that a violent act always deserves a straight red, just a week after crying their eyes out at Rooney being sent off for just such a thing, absolute muppets.

On a personal note I think that at some stage what players are justified in saying to their fellow professionals will have to be reviewed. If the Notorious CHEAT that is a Materazzi did make an ethnic slur to Zidane than I feel the neadbutt was fully justified, hopefully we'll find out someday what was really said. Where's that Man Utd fan that could lip read Finnan mouthing off to Neville when you need him?

[shakermaker1982]

It was an act of madness from Zidane but he has to live with the consequences so I'm not gonna slag the man off. I feel sorry for the man if I'm honest, I just wish he could turn back the clock and walk away from the incident. Materazzi obviously said something to him and got the reaction he wanted.......thank God he didn't nut him in the head or else we'd have a Duncan Fergusson story on our hands i.e. jail.

[osarusan]

From this forum and this thread. Full post below. Don't think can be construed as selective editing. My reading (and I may be wrong!) is that Jebus is advocating that if Materazzi made an ethnic slur to Zidane then the headbutt was fully justified! Have I misread or misunderstood? :confused:

Cheers for that............no selective editing, just good highlighting of a foolish post.

Well well well, a Limerick fan and Shamrock Rovers fan agreeing........whats next??!!

[Superhoops]

Cheers for that............no selective editing, just good highlighting of a foolish post.

Well well well, a Limerick fan and Shamrock Rovers fan agreeing........whats next??!!
Who is the Shamrock Rovers fan?

[osarusan]

Who is the Shamrock Rovers fan?

Clearly nobody.........apologies.

[Jerry The Saint]

Just a thought............he is about to have a book published....maybe his publisher had suggested an " outragous final act" to launch the sales into orbit!!...........or am I just a huge cynic??;)

I didn't know Dunphy was the ghostwriter! :eek:

;)

[Over the post]

It really was an inexcusable act.

But much more worrying was how he was red-carded.
FIFA have made it plain that they are not prepared to use action replays during a game.
It is almost certain that the 4th official watched a replay of the incident and then informed the ref.
Now if thats the facts, then why didnt he also watch the replay of the penalty that wasnt given in the second half.
If he did watch it and the peno given and scored it probably wouldnt had gone to extra-time and the Zidane incident would never had happened.

I must stress here I am not condoning the actions of Zidane but I'm questioning the actions of the 4th official and ref.
If FIFA have decided NOT to use action replays then why did the official do so?

The fourth official, the Spaniard Medina Cantalejo, has been quoted in the Spanish press as saying he saw the incident on the spot and didn't see any replay. He told the linesman it was a red card and the linesman informed the ref.
Meanwhile, a team of expert lip readers on Brazilian TV claims Materazzi called Zidane's sister a prostitute just before the head-butt.
Zidane hadn't had a good game, he'd taken a bang on his dodgy shoulder and was probably in a lot of pain and just lost the rag.
A terrible way to end, true enough, but any true football fan is going to remember a hundred other moments before this one.

[tricky_colour]

A moment of madness?
I am sure his forth coming book will sell by the shed load.
Best timed header of the tournement in my opinion :D

[el punter]

I am sure his forth coming book will sell by the shed load.


Yep, a flawed genius is far more interesting than a run-of-the-mill genius :)

[tribesman78]

Zidane tackle was bad but people have to cop on a bit, Every great player has moments of madness and people are just jumping on his back it been his last game. Rooney's tackle was 10 times worse... I know if i was on the receiving end i would perfer zidanes anyday. And lets not forget a mister Roy Keane vs Alf Inge Haaland yet majority of people never seem to bring this up when mentioning him. Also Maradonna was no angel I remember him been involved in a mass brawl during a match when with Barcelona and he done a Cantona style kick into a players chest and levelled another 2 players i think with punches.

[Plastic Paddy]

Zidane tackle was bad but people have to cop on a bit, Every great player has moments of madness and people are just jumping on his back it been his last game. Rooney's tackle was 10 times worse... I know if i was on the receiving end i would perfer zidanes anyday.

Rooney's "tackle" was 10 times worse? And you'd prefer Zidane's "challenge"? Stay off the drugs. They're affecting your vision and God knows what else too. :rolleyes:


any videos of him with the headbutt ??

No, but you too can relive the fateful moment...

http://tonaz.altervista.org/zidane.html

See how many Marcos you can fell. :D

:ball: PP

[ken foree]

Rooney's "tackle" was 10 times worse? And you'd prefer Zidane's "challenge"? Stay off the drugs. They're affecting your vision and God knows what else too. :rolleyes:


ehh well can i have some of what you're smoking coz i'd much prefer a medium strength headbutt to the chest than a stamp on the criggies. unless i'm not getting your tackle vs. challenge wordgame analysis.

[lopez]

...Some of the pompous hand wringing going on here would put Garth Crooks to shame. I suppose you either like watchin football the way it should be played or you just are a moany oul **** with deep personal anger issues that you project on to insignificant events in order to avoid having to confront the gaping hole of nothingness that is your life. I like Zidane myself.It's called a football forum where we discuss, erm, football. And it has to be said you're as sad as the rest of us.

...If the Notorious CHEAT that is a Materazzi did make an ethnic slur to Zidane than I feel the neadbutt was fully justified...
Jebus. Thank f*ck the Celtic tiger came before you reached working age. I doubt you'd have lasted a minute as someone Irish in Britain with that attitude.

ehh well can i have some of what you're smoking coz i'd much prefer a medium strength headbutt to the chest than a stamp on the criggies. unless i'm not getting your tackle vs. challenge wordgame analysis.Chest too. I don't like my huevos scrambled either.

Latest on Zid Viscious (copyright The Scum) by an Italian lipreader on tonight's BBC News is that while he couldn't see what Zidane said, Materazzi said in the following order: 'No...calm down!...liar!...a terrible death on your family (perhaps the spark seeing that Zidane found out his mother was ill) ...'Go f*ck yourself!'

[tricky_colour]

In a way it was typical of Zidane, your average thug would have gone for a nosebreaker, Zidane tried something a bit different, don't think I have ever seen a headbutt to the chest before, it was executed very well too, well disguised and timed to perfection, resulting in Materazzi collasping in a heap.
A lot of other players would have missed :D
Whatever the reason for it I am sure it was well enough deserved, Materazzi was doing some sneaky holding of Zidane monents earlier, the kind of 'low level' cheating that spoils the game (diving, feighing injury etc...).
I really can't understand what all the fuss is about. As far as I am concerned he well deserved player of the tournement, a pleasure to watch. He didn't even (appear) try to hide it either, yet somehow the only people who didn't see it were the three officials!!
I will always remember his as one of the most graceful players to play the game.

[Plastic Paddy]

ehh well can i have some of what you're smoking coz i'd much prefer a medium strength headbutt to the chest than a stamp on the criggies.

Medium-strength headbutt? I don't think so. That was deliberately placed and, had it been a few inches lower, could have easily collapsed Materazzi's diaphragm with catastrophic results. So a kick in the balls has got to be preferable to potential death, no?


unless i'm not getting your tackle vs. challenge wordgame analysis.

OP called Rooney's stamp a "tackle". I'm sure you'll agree that it was nothing of the sort, hence the quotation marks.

:ball: PP

[Marked Man]

Medium-strength headbutt? I don't think so. That was deliberately placed and, had it been a few inches lower, could have easily collapsed Materazzi's diaphragm with catastrophic results. So a kick in the balls has got to be preferable to potential death, no?

:ball: PP

And if, unknown to Zidane, someone had planted a nuclear warhead in Materazzi's shirt, it could have meant death for us all.

Won't somebody please think of the children?

[Sandro]

Don't know what Materazzi told Zidane and I couldn't care less, whatever he said it's probably what player say each other every 10 seconds on the pitch all over the world.

Here you can play Zidane vs Materazzi (http://www.gazzetta.it/openxlink.shtml?http://widelec.org/zidane.html) again

[Marked Man]

From today's Independent (UK):

In Italy they have another explanation. In Italy, Internazionale are mocked as an overspending, poorly run side doomed to failure. The joke is that Materazzi's provocation was simple: he just asked Zidane if he fancied playing for Internazionale.

[Plastic Paddy]

And if, unknown to Zidane, someone had planted a nuclear warhead in Materazzi's shirt, it could have meant death for us all.

Won't somebody please think of the children?

:rolleyes:

Old Confucian saying - if you have nothing to say, say nothing. You might do well to heed it.

:ball: PP

[Marked Man]

:rolleyes:

Old Confucian saying - if you have nothing to say, say nothing. You might do well to heed it.

:ball: PP

You might want to think about your confucian saying yourself. That was more or less the thing I had to say in the first place.

[town73]

FROM Sky News:

A lip-reader has reportedly revealed the words which provoked Zinedine Zidane's now infamous World Cup final headbutt.

Marianne Frere claims Italian defender Marco Materazzi insulted the French captain with a stream of racial and personal abuse.

She told The Sun that Zidane was called a "son of a terrorist whore" before he lashed out and was sent off.

Reports in France have suggested it was the reference to the Algerian-born star's mother which made him blow his top.

His mother Malika had been taken to hospital seriously ill only hours before Sunday's final.

Zidane's agent Alain Miglaccio said the player had told him a 'very serious' comment had been made during the match.

Italian news agency Ansa quoted Materazzi as saying: "It is absolutely not true, I did not call him a terrorist.

"I'm ignorant. I don't even know what the word means."

Italy won the match 5-3 on penalties, with Zidane missing the shoot-out in his final match before retirement.


http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,70131-13532140,00.html?f=rss

[Reality Bites]

Two days after the World Cup Final, a quick glance in the newsagents will show that the Zidane storey as it unfolds is Huge, all the main Irish Broadsheets have for a second day a picture of Zidane on the cover! and with the revelations of Matterazzis racist terrorist remarks this will get bigger and become what i believe to be a defining moment in history, with global terrorisms and the Iraq War defining the time we live in. Maybe some of Zidanes frustration was football related but alot was rage at a racist slur to a man proud of his roots and heritage and who like many muslims or people of middle-eastern descent have been hurt by global events of the last 6 years or so. This will be viewed in the same way as Muhammed Ali's anti-war stance or the Black panther salute in the Mexico Olympics.. If the racist slur which i believe it to be, becomes fact, I see Zidane being forever becoming a some sort of minority hero and Matterazzi ultimately casted as a Villian, afterall the Setting could not have been Bigger and the players reputation likewise,, You wouldn't even hear about if the same thing was said by a Ukrainean player to an Algerian in the First round.

Sometimes events in sport transcend sport and become truly significant historical moments. The Zidanes headbutt is certainly that.

[Dodge]

Jumping the gun slightly. AFAIK he didn't make any rascist remarks...

[NeilMcD]

Two days after the World Cup Final, a quick glance in the newsagents will show that the Zidane storey as it unfolds is Huge, all the main Irish Broadsheets have for a second day a picture of Zidane on the cover! and with the revelations of Matterazzis racist terrorist remarks this will get bigger and become what i believe to be a defining moment in history, with global terrorisms and the Iraq War defining the time we live in. Maybe some of Zidanes frustration was football related but alot was rage at a racist slur to a man proud of his roots and heritage and who like many muslims or people of middle-eastern descent have been hurt by global events of the last 6 years or so. This will be viewed in the same way as Muhammed Ali's anti-war stance or the Black panther salute in the Mexico Olympics.. If the racist slur which i believe it to be, becomes fact, I see Zidane being forever becoming a some sort of minority hero and Matterazzi ultimately casted as a Villian, afterall the Setting could not have been Bigger and the players reputation likewise,, You wouldn't even hear about if the same thing was said by a Ukrainean player to an Algerian in the First round.

Sometimes events in sport transcend sport and become truly significant historical moments. The Zidanes headbutt is certainly that.


Hyperbole at its best.

[Billsthoughts]

It's called a football forum where we discuss, erm, football. And it has to be said you're as sad as the rest of us.

I dont see where I called anyone sad for discussing football??????
I just think some of the "oh someone please think of the children" crap is a bit much to swallow.

[jebus]

In fairness to my previous posts I have said that Zidane was justifiably sent off for his headbutt, but I'm with Trezeguet on this one, somethings in life are more important than football, and stamping out racism in this world is one of them. I think it's obvious that Materazzi said something vicious, whatever it actually was we'll probably never know, but if it was something in regards to his mother's nationality, Zidane's own nationality, or anything that insults him as an Algerian or links him to the Islamic fanatics sOrely because of where he was born than I stand by my claim that Materazzi got what was coming to him.

To be honest I'm sick of this, 'you can't do that on a football field' attitude. If Materazzi had approached Zidane on the streets and rattled off a volley of racial abuse, and Zidane responded with headbutting him most likely you'd all be cheering him, because it happened in a football match it gets equated to be being the worst thing thats happened since the London bombings. All I'll say is that I'd rather be the guy who headbutted a racist, rather than be the racist himself

[Dodge]

Agree BUT its far from certain he said anything about anybody's race or even his family.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/5169342.stm
Materazzi defended himself on Tuesday in the Italian newspaper La Gazetta dello Sport, when he said: "It was the kind of insult you will hear dozens of times and just slips out of the ground.

"I didn't call Zidane a terrorist and certainly didn't mention his mother."
I am ignorant, I don't even know what an Islamic terrorist is; my only terrorist is her," he said pointing to his 10-month-old daughter.

"I did not bring up Zidane's mother; for me a mother is sacred."
"I held his shirt, for only a few seconds," said Materazzi, who had scored Italy's equaliser after Zidane put France ahead from the penalty spot.

"He turned towards me and scoffed at me, looking at me with super arrogance, up and down.

"He said 'if you really want my shirt, you can have it later.'

"It's true, I shot back with an insult."

[jebus]

I agree that Materazzi can't be punished because we don't know what was actually said, but I'd like to know how it all leaked out so quickly and from so many sources that the comments were racist in context. A lot of the time the saying 'there's no smoke without fire' ring true. Couple that with Materazzi's previous levels of scumminess, the no place sacred wind ups that go on on a weekly basis in Serie A (again apparanlty, I've never been on the recieving end of one myself) and couple it Materazzi's obviously untrue statement of 'I don't know what an Islamic terrorist is' and I'm not prepared to let him off the hook just yet

[Dodge]

I agree that Materazzi can't be punished because we don't know what was actually said, but I'd like to know how it all leaked out so quickly and from so many sources that the comments were racist in context.
Can you show me one of these sources please? I've honestly not seen one 'insider' claim it was rascist. All the French players who've commented and indeed Zidane's agent jsut stated it was serious. I think most British/irish journalists actually want it to be rascist (for whatever reason). Just off the phone to a mate in Paris and practically nobody there cares what was said, I e-mailed him a afew links (BBC etc) and he couldn't believe the furore.

BTW I agree if it was rascist then materazzi should be punished, but no point in criticising him if he didn't.

[jebus]

Can you show me one of these sources please? I've honestly not seen one 'insider' claim it was rascist. All the French players who've commented and indeed Zidane's agent jsut stated it was serious. I think most British/irish journalists actually want it to be rascist (for whatever reason). Just off the phone to a mate in Paris and practically nobody there cares what was said, I e-mailed him a afew links (BBC etc) and he couldn't believe the furore.

BTW I agree if it was rascist then materazzi should be punished, but no point in criticising him if he didn't.

Well I was just taking it from spring up on this differant countries newscast on sunday night. People on here were saying something about Russian reports I believe, and also from French, Spanish and Southern American news reports. Granted they could all be coming from the one person looking to stir the pot a bit, but I'd be surprised if they ALL fell for a false report

[Dodge]

Has happened before (in far far graver circumstances ) - most news agencies "suspected" the Madrid bombings were bt ETA. Like I said I think most news agencies actually want this to be about race. I hope it isn't. I hope its just the usual childish footballer b0llocks that happens all the time that Zidane totallyover reacted to.

Oh adn I'm on record here as saying Zidane can do whatever he likes AFAIC

[Jerry The Saint]

I'd like to know how it all leaked out so quickly and from so many sources that the comments were racist in context. A lot of the time the saying 'there's no smoke without fire' ring true.

The main source of the racism rumours is French anti-racism group SOS-Racism (http://www.sos-racisme.org/) and their source is

"several very well-informed (anonymous) sources from the world of football".

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/15012224.htm

Most of the media stories that mention racism have taken it directly from this group, giving the appearance of a weight of evidence against Materazzi.


We may never know what exactly was said (Zidane's word against Materazzi's, leaving aside the potential of Materazzi's insult being mistranslated by Zidane into something more/less hurtful than intended) but SOS-Racism have certainly got good publicity out of it and their statement helps to justify Zidane's actions.

If your French is good:


Paris, le 10 juillet 2006 - Zinedine Zidane traité de « sale terroriste » ? SOS Racisme demande une enquête à la FIFA.

Selon plusieurs sources très bien informées dans le monde du football, il semblerait que le joueur italien Marco Materazzi ait traité Zinedine Zidane de «sale terroriste ». Si cette hypothèse se confirmait, le joueur italien serait donc l’auteur d’un propos raciste, attitude malheureusement courante dans le football et dénoncée par notre association depuis plusieurs années.

Alors que l’ensemble du mondial était placé sous le signe de la lutte contre le racisme et que la FIFA a fait modifié son règlement en avril 2006 a la suite des propos racistes proférés à l’encontre de Samuel Eto’o, nous demandons à la FIFA d’être à la hauteur de ses déclarations.

C’est pourquoi SOS Racisme demande avec fermeté à la FIFA de faire toute la lumière sur cette altercation et que les sanctions prévues par le règlement officiel soient appliquées le cas échéant.

SOS Racisme restera extrêmement vigilante quant à la suite donnée à cet incident.


Couple that with Materazzi's previous levels of scumminess

I don't think a history of thuggishness is particularly relevant to this incident. I'd give more weight to Zidane's history of lashing out (14 red cards in his career I believe). Now if MM had a history of racist taunts that would be a different story.

[lopez]

... If Materazzi had approached Zidane on the streets and rattled off a volley of racial abuse, and Zidane responded with headbutting him most likely you'd all be cheering him, because it happened in a football match it gets equated to be being the worst thing thats happened since the London bombings. All I'll say is that I'd rather be the guy who headbutted a racist, rather than be the racist himselfNever mind about what we'd be thinking, if he done it in the street he'd be arrested. It seems to have escaped you that it wasn't long ago that your fellow countrymen in the part of the world I live in were routinely labelled terrorists. No such get out of jail card for me if I gave any of the people who said that I was a terrorist from the seventies to the early nineties, a head butt. Were they racists? They must be by your logic. I just think they were c*nts.

And what a blow for anti-racism ZZ has done this weekend.:rolleyes: Say we have this racist employer in perhaps Paris interviewing a French born Algerian this week. Will he take him on? No way! The first mention of the T word et voila, someone needs an ambulance. If Zidane was racially insulted, do the right thing and shame Materazzi. The evidence, in hindsight is available.

Too much sh*te spoken on here by those who don't know the first thing about racism, either as someone white or black, of which another good example...
...and with the revelations of Matterazzis racist terrorist remarks this will get bigger and become what i believe to be a defining moment in history...This will be viewed in the same way as Muhammed Ali's anti-war stance or the Black panther salute in the Mexico Olympics.. If the racist slur which i believe it to be, becomes fact, I see Zidane being forever becoming a some sort of minority hero ...Sometimes events in sport transcend sport and become truly significant historical moments. The Zidanes headbutt is certainly that....is this. To compare this tw*t with the dignity shown by John Carlos and Tommy Smith in Mexico is an insult to both men. Both were kicked out of Mexico, disowned by their Olympic Comittee which (headed by the racist Avery Brundage) and much of the African American community, and ended up with cr*p 'careers'. In Carlos's case he spent the seventies in menial jobs and ended with his wife killing herself. Zidane's campaign against racism is sh*te. Who's he kissing a*se with on Monday: Jacques Chirac, who as Mayor of Paris came out with his infamous 'Le Bruit et l'odeur' speech of 1991 about those of the same background to Zidane.

...Like I said I think most news agencies actually want this to be about race...They're not the only ones.

[Dodge]

They're not the only ones.
Obviously but they're the ones pushing the agenda.

And BTW don't be attacking Zidane, he's said nothing. He headbutted a guy, not the biggest crime to happen at the weekend. I'd say he'd love it if all the hype died. He's not the one to turn it into a rascism thing*



*yet, he may do but until anything happens....

[FarBeag]

Never mind about what we'd be thinking, if he done it in the street he'd be arrested. It seems to have escaped you that it wasn't long ago that your fellow countrymen in the part of the world I live in were routinely labelled terrorists. No such get out of jail card for me if I gave any of the people who said that I was a terrorist from the seventies to the early nineties, a head butt. Were they racists? They must be by your logic. I just think they were c*nts.





Very true. If he had done this on the streets he would have got charged with at least ABH and would have got a nice little stretch for himself. For the life of me I can’t understand why some people on here appear to justify Zidanes actions.The man is no angel by all accounts,had earned a very healthy living from football and am sure the odd insulting comment over the years. He is supposed to be a role model to kids growing up and he heads butts an opponent viciously in a world cup final.There is no excuse for it, none what so ever.

Why do people think that it must be a racist thing? Eight years ago, Zidane was also red-carded for stamping on an opponent against Saudi Arabia.I am sure being from North Africa this mans religious and cultural beliefs were the same as Zidanes.I wonder what excuses were used then to simplify Zidanes reactions then. Unfortunately nasty exchanges of words are made towards people every day of the week and if we all reacted like Zidane it would be a very sad world to live in.

[Dodge]

For the life of me I can’t understand why some people on here appear to justify Zidanes actions.The man is no angel by all accounts,had earned a very healthy living from football and am sure the odd insulting comment over the years. He is supposed to be a role model to kids growing up and he heads butts an opponent viciously in a world cup final
In fairness not many have actually defended what he did, most have just said it doesn't really matter. Oh and I hate this notion that footballers should be role models for kids.

The ****ing hype (on both sides) around thisthing is unbelievable.

[Clifford]

Zizu on French tv tonight apparently. That should clear it up....

[jebus]

Very true. If he had done this on the streets he would have got charged with at least ABH and would have got a nice little stretch for himself.

I'd love to know what part of the world yourself and Lopez live in, must be great knowing that if you commit a crime you're going to be punished. More realistically if he had headbutted a guy on the street he would either A) have walked away care free down the road whilst some old ladies muttered about the disgrace of todays youth, or b) walked away care free whilst a guard pretended he didn't see what happened and started hasseling a few kids with skateboards.

Still what remains is the basic disagreement that sometimes I think a headbutt is justified, as in the case of racism (whether Materazzi did so or not, I don't know, but neither do ye)

[NeilMcD]

m Humphries reflects on the life and dramatic times of Zinedine Zidane - and on the possibility of the ultimate final act

Way back in 2001 in Paris a friendly game between Algeria and France was played. With France leading 4-1 the game had to be abandoned because of pitch incursions by Algerian supporters, who made up 70 per cent of the attendance.

The incursions weren't ill-humoured or violent, and those who ran onto the field have to be judged in the context of the joy such recognition brought to the more than four-million French people of Algerian descent whose favoured scion was wearing the number 10 of France that night. The game between the reigning world and European champions and lowly Algeria had been possible only because of the status of one man, Zinedine Zidane.

Once upon a time when they had come to France looking for work or for peace or for some start to life, they had been dismissed as Pieds-noirs, or "Black-feet". Now they were in the Stade de France to honour a man whose name had been projected onto the Arc de Triomphe the night after the 1998 World Cup final. Merci, Zizou, the words had said.

Giving their old colonists the gift of a wonderfully iconic footballer didn't end the journey for the Algerians but it was a moment of change. An Algerian centre stage in French public life when his four-million compatriots had yet to see a member of parliament who looked like them or stood for them.

For Zidane it was poignant that the night in Paris should end that way. He had spoken before the game of how even though he would be wearing the French jersey the heart beating beneath the fabric would be yearning for a draw.

The game was played at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, a little piece of Paris which has a special place in Zidane's heart, and not just for the two goals he scored there in 1998 to win the World Cup for France.

Zidane was born 19 years after his Algerian father, Smail, arrived in France in 1953. When Smail reached France he moved into a tiny flat just behind where the Stade de France now sits. At the time there were just woodlands, hilly plots and ruined houses there.

"That was where my father lived," Zidane has said. "My mother showed me a picture of him from those days, an old, yellow, black-and-white photo. My father was young back then."

Indeed. Smail was 17 when he arrived. He worked the buildings in Paris for a few years before moving southward to Marseille, that little piece of North Africa that occupies a corner of France.

He got a job as a night watchman for a supermarket. He married Malika and had five children: Jamel, Farid, Nourredine, Lila and the youngest, Yakid, or as he is known to everyone except his family and friends, Zinedine or Zizou.

They grew up in La Castellane, which is as efficient a way as any of saying that times were tough and hard. In the summers the children would often be dispatched to Algeria for minding. They'd return for schooling when the time came.

La Castellane bred them tough. A scout at one of Zidane's games in his early teens had concerns about the boy's apparent placidity. The concerns grew when he saw the young Zidane scythed down in a vicious tackle and fail to respond in any way other than standing up and brushing himself down to permit the game to go on.

As the game progressed the scout was bemused to see Zidane stroll slowly across the width of the pitch, locate his assailant, place a hand on each of his shoulders and stretch him out with a headbutt.

La Castellane: When Zinedine won the World Cup for France, Adidas stuck up massive posters which depicted the grey, crumbling high-rise the Zidanes lived in. "Everybody Comes From Somewhere" was the legend. Take it as read that Jean-Marie Le Pen wasn't charmed.

Growing up, Zizou was interested in two things: football and judo. Football first, judo some way behind. And, says his mother, occasionally skateboarding, although it is hard to imagine so intense and so humble a young man ramping it up on the concrete outside the high rise.

His weekend job was to be a bellboy at the glorious, sunlit Stade de Velodrome in Marseille with its gorgeous elliptical stands on either side. Other kids worshipped the goalscorers. Zidane always gave homage to the playmakers. He loved the number 10s, two in particular.

On the occasion of his 12th birthday Zidane was ballboy in the Velodrome when France played Portugal in the semi-final of the European Championships of 1984.

Those were a memorable few weeks when Michel Platini appeared to be on a personal mission to prove to Eamon Dunphy that he was a great player, not just a good player. Zidane, crouched in the Velodrome that day, needed no persuasion. He watched Platini score the winning French goal and pull the strings.

Platini he adored. But that love was superseded by his devotion to Enzo Francescoli, the Uruguayan who wore the number 10 jersey for Marseille then. Zidane would watch him and study him every time Marseille played. He fell in love with the scheming, with the art of the unexpected.

When Zidane's first child was born he called him Enzo. At Juventus they assumed it was a gracious tribute to Enzo Ferrari. Zidane had to explain: Enzo Francescoli, number 10.

Years later, in 1996, Zizou faced Francescoli in Tokyo in an Intercontinental Cup game. When the final whistle blew he ran like a child to the Uruguayan to make sure he got to swap shirts with his idol.

Zizou rose swiftly as he went from boyhood to manhood. From his boys club Septemes, he went to Cannes, where alleged misgivings about the signing of an Arab were offset by the invitation of a club director, Jean Claude Elineau, for Zidane to move out of the trainees' dormitory he shared with 20 others and come and live in the Elineau family home.

At Cannes his genius and modesty both became evident very quickly. Stunned just short of his 17th birthday to be picked for the first team, he sent the pay cheque intact home to La Castellane.

When he scored his first league goal the club rewarded their prodigy with a small, red Renault Clio, which Zidane drove delightedly up and down La Croisette in Cannes as if it were a Porsche.

Inevitably he moved on. If you are a Bohs fan you might have caught him in this period with Bordeaux. Perhaps not the 5-0 defeat in Bordeaux in 1993 but perhaps the Intertoto Cup game in Dalymount two years later when Zidane swung a free kick from 25 yards into the net via the post while Dave Henderson, having assumed the kick was indirect, failed to move.

Bordeaux went on to claim a Uefa Cup, a remarkable achievement for such a small club and one which inevitably lost them their leading light.

The rest is history and headlines. Marcello Lippi, who manages Italy tomorrow night, brought Zidane to Juventus, where he was an integral part of the revolution whereby Lippi had brought the moribund old club back to life.

The Italians have always admired Zidane's quiet leadership, and at the 1998 World Cup, Cesar Maldini, the Italian manager, noted he would give "five players to have Zizou in my squad".

Perhaps. Perhaps not. Zidane's displays in the latter rounds are fondly remembered. But what is often forgotten is his ugly foul on Al Shahrani, the Saudi Arabian on whom he stamped on in the first-round game, bringing a two-match suspension on himself. Zidane said afterwards the Saudi captain had made a slur against the Kabyles, the Muslim nomads of North Africa from whom Zidane is descended.

Whatever the motivation, Zidane's retribution almost cost France dearly. The next game for France was unimportant, but the second-round game with Paraguay was different and the French struggled, needing an extra-time goal from Laurent Blanc to squeeze through.

That temperament, especially in games where his desire is great, has proven to be his one hint of an Achilles heel. Back in 2000 he was sent off in successive Champions League games for Juventus. The second red was for headbutting the Hamburg player Jochen Kientz after a bad tackle. Some things never change.

By the time Francehad added the European Championship of 2000 to the trophy cupboard there was only one club left in Europe which could afford to add Zidane to its trophy team.

Florentino Perez, the president of Real Madrid, waved the chequebook.

"There are," Perez announced, "some men who were born to play for Real Madrid. Zidane is one of them."

And with his Spanish wife, Veronique, keen on the move and the money irresistible to Juventus, Zidane was quickly in the Bernabeu with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

[NeilMcD]

Real Madrid one suspects, exhausted him. They made him rich when they paid Juve £47 million for him and he is still, post-Abramovich, the world's most expensive player, but the expectations of the Bernabeu and the sensation of always being stretched on the rack of Real's marketing machine sapped the best from him in latter years.

No sooner had he arrived there than he was the star turn for a friendly in Egypt. Zidane's image was to drive Real's marketing campaign in Arab countries just as the acquisition of Beckham was to open up similar opportunities in Asia a couple of years later.

The later years at Real have been somewhat sad, playing in a team of overpaid galacticos who know everything about percentages and nothing about passion.

His finest moment in the white shirt was in the European Champions League final of 2002 and the exquisite second-half volley that beat Bayer Leverkusen: a goal only Zidane could have scored.

Regardless of what tomorrow night brings, his legend will be intact. What France achieved in 1998 was sufficient to ensure that. The follow-on two years later ensured Zidane would be remembered as one of the greatest players ever.

This summer in Germany, though, dragging an ailing, quarrelling team and a beaten-docket manager through their duties until they located some spark of joy, has been his coup de grâce.

On Wednesday there was curious resignation about Portugal once they conceded the penalty and saw who was going to take it. They remembered perhaps the game six years ago at the European Championship in Rotterdam, when Zidane had the last kick of the penalty shoot-out to send France through. Seeing who was walking up to take the kick, Luis Figo took off his jersey and began looking toward the dressing-room. When the chips are down, when every card has been dealt, there is nobody more reliable than Zidane.

Whatever about Cesar Maldini's wish, it is fair to say if Zidane were playing for Italy tomorrow night there would be no question as to the outcome. It is his heart beating beneath the French crest which offers his side a chance to achieve something truly extraordinary.

What a stroll into the sunset it would be. Perhaps the greatest final act the game has ever seen.

Zidane's dark features, his furrowed brow and his sly smile will be missed. He has been the face of Adidas, of Lego, of Christian Dior, of Unicef, and of France's anti-racism campaign.

But he has also just been the face of excellence, the face of quiet perspective in a football world gone crazy. The sheer beauty of his football has unknotted the ugliest hearts. The humility of his personality has been a lesson to every kid.

He once answered yes to a question as to whether or not he thought he was at the peak of his art. Immediately he apologised. It wasn't art, it was a game - and it wasn't for him to say. Only Zidane.

When the 1998 World Cup final was held in Saint-Denis, Smail and Malika and Zizou's brothers and sisters stayed behind in Marseille.

They went to La Castellane to be with friends and to babysit Zizou's two sons (he now has four boys).

"Too nervous to watch," they said, and indeed they were. Smail sat on the grass dangling his six-month-old grandson on his knee and bulletins came to him from indoors of his youngest son's exploits.

The immigrant who lived in a one-room flat in the old Saint-Denis sat and cried.

Everyone comes from somewhere but some journeys are more sentimental than others.

© The Irish Times

[Closed Account 2]

great read, thanks for posting it. :ball: :ball:

[Stuttgart88]

Wasn't Duncan Ferguson jailed for something similar?

A blot to add to the other blots on Zizou's career. But for me the sheer brilliance of his football will be for what I remember him for. The best European player I've ever seen. That free against England, that goal in Hampden, the best first touch I've ever seen from anyone, the double drag-back and so on. Wonderful.

[Clifford]

What was said to Zidane... This is a disgrace - FIFA need to actually do something for a change. You can't have players making slurs like that against a fellow pro.

From Soccernet; Since Sunday evening the whole World has been debating what Italian defender Marco Materazzi said to Zinedine Zidane to make the retiring Frenchman react in the way he did.

The French captain, in his last ever professional game, thrust his head into Materezzi's chest in Sunday's World Cup Final resulting in a red card and shame for Zidane. Today, with the help of Italian lip-reader Arturo Belladini, we can reveal what drove Zidane to self destruct; Materazzi was seen to hold Zidane's shirt on the edge of the penalty box in extra-time at which point Zidane said "if you want my shirt so bad you can have it" Materazzi responded "I dont want your shirt you m***** f*****. you're a f****** old man"

As they jog away Zidane is seen to laugh at this and it is unclear how he responded due to him having his back to the TV camera Materazzi then hit a volley of abuse "you should've quit 2 years ago, you're a f****** has-been" "m***** f*****! your mum is a f****** muslim terrorist and you are too, f*** you old man, f*** you old man, this arena is not for you anymore m***** f*****" Zidane carries on jogging away when... Materazzi finally says.... "you are only good enough for Tottenham now" It's at this very point Zidane turned and head-butted him.

[NeilMcD]

You are a sad man Clifford.

[Forever Dreamin]

He insulted my mother & sister!!

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1227544,00.html

[lopez]

I'd love to know what part of the world yourself and Lopez live in...Whatever about the part of the world we live in, it is obviously a different planet from the one you're on.:rolleyes:

[pineapple stu]

Oh and I hate this notion that footballers should be role models for kids.
There was an interesting editorial in When Saturday Comes a while back after the Dyer-Bowyer (?) on-pitch bust-up at Newcastle written in a bit of a sarcastic way about how it was horrible that there were all these kids on the streets now beating each other up because they saw it happen on telly. Basically saying that the notion that children will do something just because they saw their hero (or even just someone famous) doing it is at best very overhyped.

[Dodge]

enough of the personal cracks ads, lets not have anybody getting a headbutt to the chest.


Now we know, let that be the end of it (particularly the rascism angle)