Well France against Italy in the World Cup Final this year was one hell of a close game. I was hoping France would win but the penalty shootout was as close as it could get. The funny thing is that a few days before the actualy game I played France against Italy in FIFA 06 on my PC and after 90 minutes the score was 1-1, in overtime it remained that way and it went into penalties. France won on penalties 4-3 in my game but lost 5-3 in the real match. Neither Buffon nor Barthez could actually save any goals it’s just that Trezeguet’s penalty kick hit the crossbar and unlike Zidane’s penalty in the 7th minute didn’t go past the line to make it a goal. But before the penalties even started, in overtime I was surprised at what happened with Zinedine Zidane. Him and Marco Materazzi got into some kind of argument and right when Zidane seemed to be walking away, he turned around and head-butted Materazzi in the chest who subsequently fell down to the ground. The referee did not see this at first but when he found out he showed the Zidane the red card. I think this was quite a sad ending to Zidane’s carreer as he is completely retiring from professional football after this World Cup. Oh well, shit happens but I can’t stop to wonder what Materazzi could have said to infuriate Zidane so much. I’m guessing now that it had something to do with Zidane’s Algerian heritage.
UPDATE: I visited Wikipedia and got some more information on what Materazzi said to Zidane:
No tags for this post.Reportedly, the deaf forensic lip-reader Jessica Rees was employed to analyze the video sequences with the help of an Italian translator. According to these reports, Materazzi spoke in Italian – a language understood by Zidane due to his time spent with Juventus F.C. – and first told him: “Hold on, wait, that one’s not for a nigger like you.” As the players walked forward, Materazzi allegedly said: “We all know you are the son of a terrorist whore.” Then, just before the headbutt, he was seen saying: “So just fuck off.” According to Brazilian TV Rede Globo, a lip-reader claimed that Materazzi twice called Zidane’s sister a prostitute. Earlier claims about Materazzi having called his opponent a “dirty terrorist” have been denied by Materazzi, who reportedly said: “It is absolutely not true, I did not call him a terrorist. I’m ignorant. I don’t even know what the word means.”
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