germany 2006 begins in a few weeks. time to get a thread going for anyone's thoughts and opinions.

all the latest world cup news




ah ......the beautiful game!! joga bonita!!

tables and results

absolutely delighted to have won last night. not the way i wanted to win but ........who cares!!!!
i'm still not sure what happened in the 2nd half, why lippi decided to change things at half time when italy were on top and dominating the game. i couldn't see any great change in tactics by the french apart from pressuring italy higher up the pitch. this forced error after error from the italians who seemed to forget how to pass and the french were the better team from the 2nd half onwards. unfortunately, despite having territorial advantage the french couldn't score. italy hit the bar and had one chalked off for offside but that was as good as it got for us until the penalties.
i have to say i didn't watch or cheer any penalties until the last one. usa '94 came back to me and all i could do was think, no, not again!!! so, tfc, commiserations to you. i know exactly how you feel.



superb!!!!!!!!!

Shame Zidane couldnt go out on as much of a high as he should have, even with theheadbutt he should have been man of the match over Pirlo.
Trezeguet is a shambolic striker as is Henry, for France, and so Italy deserved their win in the end, and it looked like the fans and players loved it.
But...
Cannavaro - to Zidane - Because he is algerian- your a terrorist. Cannavaro should have been sent.

Well Zidane did get man of the tournament!

makalele should have been man of the match. cannavaro should have man of the tournament........ but he is a defender and they never give it to defenders.

no he really shouldnt have it, however, the way the tournaments gone I wouldnt be suprised if another person profited from cheating.
I.e. Portugal, Italy's PK agaisnt Australia and Cannavaro's insult to one of the greatest players ever.

That Zidane headbutt was the high light of the tournament for me .

gd potts, i think you have your players mixed up.

enlighten me

firstly, the spat was between materrazzi and zidane. cannavaro wasn't involved. secondly, yes it should have been cannavaro as winner of player of the tournament. he has played every minute of every game and been outstanding in every minute of every game. he hasn't been booked which is an achievement in itself considering how card -happy the officials have been and the position he plays. he has shown class, skill, leadership and incredible ability. he has led the team through this period of intense pressure without ever once losing his cool . all this against a backdrop of wondering whether his club will be demoted 2 divisions and whether he will have 2 scudettos taken away from him.
zidane has been a glorious player over the years but the award is for player of the tournament. he was indifferent in france's first game, ok in the second, dropped for the third, brilliant against spain, brilliant against brazil, good against portugal, good against italy but then saw the red mist and let his head fly. whatever the provocation, there is no excuse for what he did. for his last act on the field alone , he shouldn't be given the award because of the wrong message that it sends out. unfortunately, the votes were collected before the final.

Materazzi should be arrested for grabbing Zidane`s tit.

That`s a sexual assault and justified Zidane`s head butt, never mind the verbal shite he was dishing out.

Italy, clubs and country, have been cheating, bribing and diving for at least 40 years. They should be kicked out of football for good.

Post edited by Moderator

:)

Yes, I also spotted that, Blueman - not too disimilar c.t. Vinnie Jones on Gazza!! Heard tonight something about ZZ's mother (who is terminally ill apparently) whom Sen. Materazzi joked about. If true, then FIFA should also consider stripping him of his Winner's Medal (plus an international ban, as well) perhaps?

are you guys for real ???

Of course he should not be stripped of his winners medal.

However if he is found guilty of racial abuse then he should be tried under German law and accept whatever penalty is subsequently given.

FIFA should also then give him the appropriate ban from international football and UEFA the appropriate one from European football.

Ian

a few things. firstly, i find it incredible that nobody has even raised the possibility that zidane said something provocative to materazzi. when all it comes out, if materazzi has said racist comments then he has to be punished. this trial by rumour and insinuation is nothing but a joke!! zidane is no angel. the other award he has won is the award for worst disciplinary record of the tournament. fifa are sending out very mixed messages.

Fifa investigates Zidane red card


Fifa is to investigate Zinedine Zidane's dramatic sending-off during Sunday's World Cup final in Berlin.
The Frenchman was dismissed in extra-time for a headbutt on Marco Materazzi which happened seconds after the Italian apparently insulted him.

Materazzi has denied calling Zidane a "terrorist" or insulting his mother.

Fifa will now launch an investigation into Zidane's conduct to enable it to clarify the circumstances surrounding the incident as exactly as possible.

Zidane and Materazzi exchanged words with 10 minutes left of extra-time before Zidane lowered his head and rammed Materazzi in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

Materazzi defended himself on Tuesday in the Italian newspaper La Gazetta dello Sport, when he said: "It was the kind of insult you will hear dozens of times and just slips out of the ground.

"I didn't call Zidane a terrorist and certainly didn't mention his mother."




Zidane, who was born and grew up in Marseille, is the son of Algerian immigrants and has suffered taunts about his heritage throughout his football career.

But Materazzi added: "I am ignorant, I don't even know what an Islamic terrorist is; my only terrorist is her," he said pointing to his 10-month-old daughter.

"I did not bring up Zidane's mother; for me a mother is sacred."

Materazzi and Zidane became involved in a verbal spat with 10 minutes to go in extra-time with France and Italy drawing 1-1 in the World Cup final.

After Materazzi's insult Zidane shoved his head into the Italian's chest and was sent off, with Italy going on to win the match 5-3 on penalties.

"I held his shirt, for only a few seconds," said Materazzi, who had scored Italy's equaliser after Zidane put France ahead from the penalty spot.

"He turned towards me and scoffed at me, looking at me with super arrogance, up and down.

"He said 'if you really want my shirt, you can have it later.'

"It's true, I shot back with an insult."


Just what did Materazzi say to provoke this reaction from Zidane?

Media organisations across Europe have been trying to decipher what Materazzi said to provoke such an extreme reaction from Zidane.

But it remains unclear exactly what was said and the BBC has broadcast two different versions.

BBC Radio Five Live asked for help from a deaf lip reader, Jessica Rees, who read the words phonetically to an Italian translator.

She deciphered the insult as being "you're the son of a terrorist whore" - a translation also carried by many national newspapers in Britain on Tuesday.

The BBC's Ten O'Clock News also called in experts to study the television footage of the incident and determined the following:

Materazzi's first word to Zidane was "no" before he then told him to "calm down".

He then accused him of being a "liar" and wished "an ugly death to you and your family" on the day the Frenchman's mother had been taken to hospital ill. This was followed by "Go f*** yourself".

Zidane's agent, Alain Migliaccio, has hinted that Zidane will soon reveal exactly what was said by Materazzi.

Piara Powar, national co-ordinator for the anti-racism group Kick It Out told Five Live, said: "If there was a racial slur then Fifa needs to act."

Keith Hackett, head of referees in England, said that if it can be proved that Matterazzi racially abused the Frenchman, then Fifa should take retrospective action for "the good of the game."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBZ7HddZnLc&search=materazzi

Materazzi in action !!!!!

Ian

Personally I'm disgusted by the lot of them - can't believe that someone on 60,000 a week can't afford to learn some manners.

soultraders, i agree. the least he could have done was say "excuse me" before headbutting him !! ;)

Reminds me of the definition of a gentleman as being "a man who would doff his hat before hitting a lady".