This video’s been making the rounds in the last day or so… it gives a little bit of an idea of what Marco Materazzi is all about. Good player… and dirty son of a bitch. Picked this up at The Airing of Grievances, via The Sports Frog…
So there you go. Clearly, not a man that is at all concerned with fair play, or the well-being of his fellow competitors. He has no qualms about attempting to injure a guy, if he thinks it’ll give him an advantage.
In other news, FIFA president Sepp Blatter says that FIFA may step in and take the Golden Ball award away from Zidane… which I think would be absolute garbage. His play was still brilliant, whether or not a dirty player goaded him into a physical attack. If FIFA’s going to do this, I hope they spend some time investigating exactly what it was that provoked the attack. If they’re going to penalize Zidane, something might have to be in store for Materazzi, too.
But I still maintain that Zidane, by doing what he did, let Materazzi win. I know it’s only human nature to respond as he did, but… by doing that, Zidane gave Materazzi exactly what he wanted, he screwed himself, and he cost his team. But I agree with the A of G… it’s amazing that someone, somewhere along the line, hasn’t beaten the guy until he pissed blood.
jerloma
I don’t know that I agree. I only have the internet to go by but it seems like if anything, Materazzi comes out of this looking like the villain. The general consensus seems to be that Zidane is the smpathetic figure here. I don’t see Zidane’s legacy ruined at all. As for the game…there was hardly any time left so the chance of Zidane scoring the winning goal were slim to none. In the shootout, the guy that stepped in for Zidane scored his goal. The dude that missed would have been kicking anyway. I think for anyone to say that he cost his team the WC, is a reach.
July 12, 2006 at 11:37 am
Andrew
I agree with you about the Golden Ball… while it kills me that Zidane did not deserve the MVP in the first place, as has been almost universally agreed (well, everywhere except France), I don’t think they should take away the award from him because of the head-butt. Does it look a little bad that their MVP was sent off in the last minutes for an extremely vicious red card? Yes – but I almost see it as part of the game. They wouldn’t take away Steve Nash’s MVP for a flagrant foul in the finals.
I would even be suprised if Cannavaro accepted the award should that happen, even though he deserved in the first place. Yeah, he wanted it, and yeah, he put on the best performance by a defender in the World Cup, probably in its history, but I don’t think he’d want it under those circumstances. Especially because he probably knows exactly what Materazzi said to Zidane…
But Zidane was awarded for his slightly-better-than-mediocre play, despite missing a game that almost cost his team a trip to the second stage, despite having only scored one goal in actual play, and FIFA has to stick by that. This is what they get for deifying a sentimental pick for MVP anyway.
Hell, O.J. still has his 1973 MVP and his Heisman, and he probably killed someone.
July 12, 2006 at 11:55 am
Fan's Attic
I think he cost his team by being sent off. That doesn’t mean it cost France the Jules Rimet trophy, it just cost the team because it had less players on the field, its captain wasn’t on the field, and their best PK taker wasn’t there in the end. none of this means France would have won but it certainly didn’t help.
Moreover, those Materazzi tackles were absolutely vicious. Maybe we should call him Bertruzzi instead of the Matrix.
July 12, 2006 at 12:45 pm
jerloma
Moreover, those Materazzi tackles were absolutely vicious..
Check out the elbow…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gyu8W1g2co&search=materazzi%20sorin
July 12, 2006 at 12:53 pm
Bouj
Zidane being sent off had less of an effect on France’s penalty situation than the media/most commentors realize. Yes, Zidane would have taken a penalty (either 1st or 5th), but the guy who missed, Trezeguet, would have taken that 2nd penalty anyway. Trezeguet came on as a sub in extra time because he is so efficient from the spot. If you want to blame a French star, blame Henry, who got subbed off for Trezeguet.
If Henry doesn’t hit the wall in extra time, he stays on and probably takes kick #2. Zidane’s sending off took a minimal mental toll at most. And it’s not like Barthez stopped any of the Italian penalties.
July 12, 2006 at 1:39 pm
Adam
This guy is a bum. But still, no matter what he says, Zidane shouldn’t have headbutted him.
July 12, 2006 at 2:10 pm
hkuszak
thuggish ruggish bone
July 12, 2006 at 3:27 pm
Stephen Kent
Nope. Not a nice man at all…
July 12, 2006 at 11:30 pm
mazdak
If they take the golden ball from Zidane, Zidane won’t mind.
His legend is indelible because he represents all the immigrants and all the young people. He represents all the Muslims, all the unemployed blacks in the banlieus, all the Poles whose fathers worked in the coalmines, all the Algerian night watchmen, like his dad, all the train drivers like Thierry Henry’s brother, all the Turkish cleaning ladies.
July 12, 2006 at 11:39 pm
fairleft
Lot of diving in that video, too. It’s too bad that thuggish defense is getting so much publicity now, with Zizi being sent off, when diving is what truly ruins World Cup after World Cup.
July 13, 2006 at 11:08 am
Guzik
Hey – speaking of videos…if you want to see great Major League Soccer game video highlights of your favorite teams and players after games are broadcast, check out this cool site: http://mls.gotuit.com/player.html
You can also create your own highlights reel using the Gotuit search technology on the site and you can e-mail video clips to your friends as well. The video quality is pretty cool – like watching TV on the Internet. If you also want to see great music videos or other sports highlights, check out the other channels on http://www.gotuit.com
September 6, 2006 at 5:08 pm