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

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".

incredible news, but understandable.


Marcello Lippi has resigned as coach of Italy after leading his country to a fourth World Cup title.
Despite widespread calls for him to stay at the helm after Italy's win over France he says the time is right to go.

"I believe that I have achieved what I set out to achieve as coach of the Italian team," Lippi declared.

The 58-year-old feels he and his son, Davide, were attacked personally in the match-fixing and corruption scandal tainting Italy's domestic game.

After two years and 17 days in charge, Lippi said his decision came at the end of "an extraordinary professional and personal experience", but he did not reveal his future plans.

"I want to thank the federation for the confidence it had in me during the last two years of work crowned by a result that will rest in the annals of Italian football and live on in the memory of our fans," he added.

Italian Federation vice president Giancarlo Abete said Lippi had told him during the second round of the World Cup that he intended to quit regardless of his team's performance.

In a statement, Abete praised Lippi for his "extraordinary professionalism and his ability leading the team."

Lippi turned down a new contract before the World Cup began and failed to attend a meeting with the Italian Federation on Tuesday.

He was said to be tired of hearing his name mentioned in connection with the match-fixing scandal involving four top Serie A clubs, including champions Juventus, with whom he won five Serie A titles and the 1996 Champions League in two stints as coach between 1994 and 2004.

While he is not under investigation, Lippi was questioned by prosecutors before the World Cup about alleged pressure he received to select certain players for Italy's national team.

Davide Lippi works at a player agency linked to the scandal and is under investigation for "illegal competition with threats and violence".

Lippi took over from Giovanni Trapattoni after Italy's poor performance at Euro 2004.

In two years in charge Lippi lost just two matches - a 2-0 defeat on his debut against Iceland and a 1-0 loss in World Cup qualifying against Slovenia.

But following that reverse Italy went 25 games unbeaten, a run, their longest since 1939, that culminated in a first world title since 1982 and a leap up the world rankings to second behind Brazil.

The World Cup final finished 1-1 before Italy won the shoot-out 5-3 and Lippi described the victory as "the most satisfying moment of my life".

He was recently linked with a move to Manchester United as a potential successor to Sir Alex Ferguson.

But the Italian was quick to reject the speculation - citing his lack of English as his reason for not moving to the Premiership - and United also denied the rumours.

Italy's next fixture is a Euro 2008 qualifier at home to Lithuania on 2 September before a re-match against France in Paris four days later.

They are in Group B which also includes Ukraine, Scotland, Georgia and Faroe Islands.

Claudio Gentile, Alberto Zaccheroni and Roberto Donadoni are the early front-runners to replace Lippi

UPDATE -Saddam Hussein has been found guilty!

BAGHDAD, July 04 (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein has been found guilty of war crimes and has been sentenced to death by firing squad.

The Court has granted his last request which was to name his own firing squad.

Mr. Hussein chose Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher from 12 yards.

Good riddance to BAD rubbish.

So the end of the world cup signals 2 things.
A start to the euro 2008 campaign and the start of the bidding to host the 2014 world cup.
I have heard through the grapevine that Italy have already submitted a bid to Sepp Blatter to host the cup in 2014, and it is a very strong one. It includes 20 million euros in a Swiss bank account, unlimited weekend use of a castle in tuscany and 3 nights with a Playboy model of Sepps choice.
Meanwhile Zinadine Zidane has revealed that he only came back into football at the insistance of his sponsors, I can't believe its not butter.
The betting has started on Euro 2008, with England 4/6 to go out on penalties. A slightly more tempting bet is on England winning the handicapped version of the same competition with a line-up that includes Owen, with only one working leg, lampard, who officially has 2 left feet, Rooney under the mentally impaired rules and Ferdinand because all camels should have at least one hump. If the competition runs to form they may have trouble with a Portugese side if it goes to penalties because their blind goalkeeper does have one working arm.
In a strange quirk of the random draw for the Euro qualifiers, Italy have been drawn in a group that contains San Marino, Lichtenstein and The Faroe Islands, with all their games played at home. the referee in each match will be an official of the Italian FA.
Sepp Blatter was today unavailable for comment from the Yacht in Palermo, where he is staying as a guest of Mr Moggi.