BERLIN - All the trophies Zinedine Zidane hoisted, all the glory he brought
France, all those sparks of magic that flew off his feet game after game, year
after year_ all of a sudden, it's almost like they never happened.
France's Zineidine
Zidane walks past Marco Materazzi, on the ground, after he received a red
card in the final of the soccer World Cup between Italy and France in the
Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Sunday, July 9,
2006.[AP] |
Because the most gifted player of his generation, playing his final match on
the world stage, will be remembered now for something else ¡ª petulance,
selfishness, looniness, take your pick.
All because of one moment of unbridled fury.
In the 110th minute of Sunday night's World Cup final, Zidane lost his cool,
then lowered his head and butted Italian defender Marco Materazzi full-on in the
chest.
Seconds earlier, with the score tied 1-1 in extra time, Materazzi had grabbed
a handful of Zidane's jersey just as a French attack on goal passed harmlessly
by. Then the defender let go and both players began walking back up the field
exchanging words. Without warning, Materazzi fell to the ground like he'd been
shot.
"I don't know what Materazzi said to Zidane," French coach Raymond Domenech
said.
"But it's a shame. It's sad. He (Materazzi) did a lot of acting and for such
a big man, a gust of wind made him fall over. It's regrettable.
"We regret it," Domenech added, apparently speaking for Zidane. "He regrets
it."
Whatever the provocation, the effect was never in doubt. Yet few people
actually saw the head-butt happen, and those who did could not believe their
eyes.
But while referee Horacio Elizondo tried to sort out the chaotic scene on the
field, Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon ran to the assistant referee along
the sideline and began pleading his case. Replays available on television
screens around the stadium made it a slam-dunk case. Elizondo walked over for a
brief consultation with his assistant, and no sooner did that end than he walked
up to Zidane, brandished a red card and banished No. 10 from the field.
Zidane barely protested. Slowly, he turned toward the exit leading to the
locker room and began the long walk. A few times, he turned his eyes skyward.
Amid a growing din of whistles, catcalls and shouts, he yelled a few words at
the heavens.
And so the closest he would come to the World Cup trophy on this night was
passing within arm's reach of the pedestal where it sat on display a few steps
ahead of the exit.
As Zidane sat in France's locker room at the end of extra time and beyond,
Italy went on to convert all five of its penalty kicks in the shootout and took
home the trophy that could have been ¡ª and for a while seemed like it would have
been ¡ª the crowning achievement of his career. Instead, it turned out to be the
nadir.
Asked whether the French national team would miss the player who led them to
a World Cup title on home soil back in 1998, Domenech didn't hesitate.
"Yes," he replied, "but we missed him the last 20 minutes. That weighed
heavily in the balance."
Domenech went further than that, suggesting that Materazzi, not Italian
playmaker Andrea Pirlo, deserved to be named man of the match. And he might have
a point. Materazzi has a well-earned reputation as nasty player in Italy's tough
Serie A, and his role in the ugly drama was nowhere near as surprising as
Zidane's.
He was suspended for two months in 2004 after punching an opponent and
conceded earlier in the tournament, "I can't tell you how many times my kids
have been told at school that I'm a monster."
