hattip: http://www.babalublog.com/archives/003602.html
Posted on 07/12/2006 12:07:19 PM PDT by winner3000
PARIS - French soccer star Zinedine Zidane apologized for head-butting an Italian opponent during the World Cup final, saying Wednesday that he was provoked by insults about his mother and sister.
"I apologize, to all the children" who watched the match Sunday, Zidane said in his first, highly-awaited comments about the act of violence that marked the end of his career.
Zidane did not specify exactly what Italian defender Marco Materazzi said that enraged him, but that it was insulting to his sister and mother.
"I would rather have taken a punch in the jaw than have heard that," Zidane said, stressing that Materazzi's language was "very harsh."
Zidane and Materazzi exchanged words after Italy broke up a French attack in extra-time. Seconds later, Zidane lowered his head and rammed Materazzi in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
Zidane was sent off, reducing France to 10 men. Italy went on to win in a penalty shootout.
The France captain said he felt no regret for his act, "because that would mean (Materazzi) was right to say all that."
At nearly the same moment Zidane was appearing on French TV, excerpts from an interview that Materazzi gave to Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport were posted on the newspaper's Web site.
"I didn't say anything to him about racism, religion or politics," Materazzi told the Gazzetta. "I didn't talk about his mother either. I lost my mother when I was 15 and even now I still get emotional talking about her. Naturally, I didn't know his (mother) was in the hospital, I give her my best wishes."
"He's always been my hero, I admire him a lot."
For days, sports fans around the world have been riveted by the question: What could Materazzi have said to set Zidane off? Media from Brazil to Britain hired lip readers to try to figure it out, then came up with different answers.
Materazzi has acknowledged he insulted Zidane, without giving specifics.
Materazzi spoke to Zidane in Italian. Zidane, who played for several years at Turin club Turin, speaks Italian.
Despite the head-butt, Zidane was awarded the Golden Ball award for best player at the World Cup — though FIFA president Sepp Blatter has suggested Zidane could be stripped of the honor.
"The winner of the award is not decided by FIFA, but by an international commission of journalists," Blatter said in Italian newspaper La Repubblica. "That said, FIFA's executive committee has the right, and the duty, to intervene when faced with behavior contrary to the ethics of the sport."
In France, many have already pardoned Zidane, even without his explanation. A poll published Tuesday in Le Parisien newspaper showed that 61 percent of the 802 people questioned forgave Zidane.
When I first heard the explanation Sunday evening, I thought of the old joke:
Materazzi: "Got any naked pictures of your sister?
Zidane: "Non!"
Materazzi: "Wanna buy some?"
Sports talents of any kind don't make one great.
It's kinda amusing to see the harshness of the response to your opinion though....
I think your right. He was out of control after he missed that goal. He was looking for a reason to go off. Does anyone really think that in almost 20 years of soccer, no one ever insulted the guy's mommy before?
Zidane is an ethnic Berber.
:) Yeah... I thought for a minute there that I was gonna get headbutted :)
Oh, that was mild stuff. You've never played hockey, have you? LOL.
I'm tempted to say that it would be a perfect response to a remark from a "butthead". I"ll see if I can avoid the temptation.
Anybody who has seen the movie "MASH" knows this is the oldest trick in the book.
I wasn't talking to you. Why don't you run outside and kick some balls around or something? Surely you'll have a more rewarding exerience doing that. And, you'll have the opportunity to achieve your own personal greatness in a much more fulfilling way than you could ever have by listening to the likes of me. Don't you think?
Oh come on, I thought that one was pretty good.....
One thing is for sure . I fI were going over to have sex with Susan sarandon I wouldnt worry near as much about bags to cover her ugly head as I would about a gag to stuff in her ugly mouth. I would take my flag and go for "Old Glory" as long as she was gagged.
Zizou never said he'd been called a terrorist. That was speculation from a British newspaper.
Furthermore, he did not specify what the insult was. He just said that it had to do with his mother and sister, that it was very harsh and that the guy repeated it several times. (I watched the interview.) So maybe Materazzi said something about a terrorist, maybe he didn't.
See my post # 38--I think Zidane went nuts that his header (just 8 minutes earlier) didn't find the back of the net, and it was THAT incident that was the determining factor for his outburst. But would Zizou admit that he lost his head over a missed goal? No.
The french acceptance of defeat is chronic.
You have way too inflated thoughts about Zidane and French football.
Oh, please. As if those sneaky Italians weren't capable of winning on their own. Italy, not France, scored a legitimate goal on the field, despite France dominating the play during the second half.
The reality is that Zidane not being in the game had no bearing on the outcome. If this had happened during the 60th minute, it would be a completely different story. However, France was not going to be scoring a goal during the little bit of extra time remaining, with or without Zidane; the man who took Zidane's normal spot in the penalty kick rotation made his shot. Even if Zidane had been in the game, Trezeguet still would have been in the rotation, and he's the one who cost France the game with his miss.
So despite the fact that the media will try to prolong this story and make Zidane out to be some sort of victim, it has now run out of gas. Zidane has now confirmed that it wasn't a racist or religious comment. There's nowhere else for this story to go. Time will tell how Zidane is remembered, with most objective people remembering his headbutt foremost.
Forza Italia!
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