Posted on 07/10/2006 7:32:00 PM PDT by SkyPilot
Our correspondent finds out what may have caused a great player to lose his head in such spectacular style
WITH his monkish mien backed by a sense of brooding menace, Zinédine Zidane has always been something of an enigma, so it is perhaps fitting that the final act of his career should be the source of such mystery. Just why did a man blessed with complete control of a football lose his head in such a violent manner at such a crucial moment, boring it into the chest of Marco Materazzi?
As LEquipe summed up the moment of madness with a headline of Regrets Éternels, a day of endless questioning began. With many conflicting versions of events circling on the internet and in the worlds media, The Times enlisted the help of an expert lip reader, Jessica Rees, to determine the precise nature of the dialogue that caused Zidane to react in such a manner.
After an exhaustive study of the match video, and with the help of an Italian translator, Rees claimed that Materazzi called Zidane the son of a terrorist whore before adding so just f*** off for good measure, supporting the natural assumption that the Frenchman must have been grievously insulted.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
I find it interesting that the story starts in Philly, a place that booed Santa Claus and a possibly paralyzed Michael Irvin as he lay on the field.....
While Zidane obviously lost his cool, he couldn't have head-butted anyone more deserving. For a perspective on the notorious Materazzi see the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpG4AHlZrL4&search=materazzi
Oh boo hoo, tough crap. I am insulted by the fact the French even exist. Grow up
Yes, but fear not. Training camp starts in just a couple of weeks. The New England Patriots are going to take the Super Bowl back from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
I'll take $100 on a bet for that if you like.
It happens all the time in pro sports and in college. There are plenty of fights and cheap shots in the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, etc. Usually, it is the guy who retaliates who gets caught. Zidane was manhandled by the Italian defense all night. It would just take a few words to take him over the top. In any event, Zidane did not lose the game for his team.
You can't control the guy on the other side of the ball. You can only control yourself. If you are easily goaded, then you hand your opponent a weapon to use against you.
If your opponent hands you an advantage, it is incumbent on you to use it. Otherwise you are limiting your effectiveness.
If you can't stand the heat, stay off the blacktop. This isn't kids playing HORSE. This is professional sports. As I said -- the NFL and the NBA have a heck of a lot more trash talk than this rather mild rejoinder.
Only someone who is a girly-man would overreact to this. Someone with a solid sense of their manhood (and their Mom) would laugh this off.
Zidane does NOT play in Serie A. He used to. He plays for
Real Madrid and was bought for 73 million Euros, still a record transfer fee.
They have the vilest fans in the NFL.
I think he did the right thing in dropping the guy. It shows a man with a lot of character. He should have kicked the Italian player for good measure. T. Roosevelt would have approved. Bully!
That is baloney what you just mentioned, I do not believe any of this lip reading crap. There a bunch of people here who were rooting for France to win and they get all f**ed because the frog lost.
Apparently Zidane may have been the first to introduce the subject of the other guy's mother. If so, he had it coming. And besides, the Italians beat the Germans AND the French. They get a complete pass.
Sophomoric soccer-bashers anxiously await each new soccer thread so they can share their trite and stale insults. They allegedly "hate" the sport, yet they are as predictable as sunrise when it comes to joining the latest thread! They're really very peculiar.
~ Blue Jays ~
Well, Zidane is a great athlete no doubt.. but sadly he's the only one responsible for his undoing... tarred with loss, and feathered with stupidity. going down in flames.. at least he went out doing what he truly felt had to be done.
"the Italians beat the Germans AND the French. They get a complete pass."
that's damn right! LOL
France lost, just live with it and stop all this crap that you have been spewing from one thread to another.
According to the same London Times article, he may have insulted the Italian player's mother. What the heck did he expect in return?
It seems to me that most European players use this form
of attack. Maybe they think a slight head butt will be missed, maybe it's an insult. The ref never saw this one as he was going up the field with the play. I doubt if the linesman(assistant) saw it either.
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