Argentina graced the finals early on with some scintillating soccer but paid the price for lack of adventure against Germany and went out on penalties at the quarter-final stage.

Italy and France arrived in the final deservedly and Italy played some of the best football of the entire month when they beat Germany 2-0 after extra time in the semi-finals.

But the final itself was a mirror of the tournament, starting with great promise but ending in disappointment.

It was a sad farewell for Zinedine Zidane, one of the few players ever to attain genius level, who was ending his glorious career on the greatest stage of all.

He graced it by scoring an audacious penalty off the crossbar and then finished in disgrace, butting Italy's goalscorer Marco Materazzi in extra time and getting sent off.

That he was clearly provoked by Materazzi was a reflection of the cynical nature of play at what could and should have been one of the best tournaments ever.

On the bright side, Germany turned out to be splendid hosts who did their best to make their guests from all round the world welcome.

Their somewhat under-rated team showed an attacking spirit and determination which did them credit too and their third place finish was a fitting reward for their enterprise.