Absoutely gutted about Zizou. It's curious how let down I feel; I'm not French, he's never played for Arsenal, but I've always loved watching him play. Such a shame.
I'm a bit gutted about France too, but as an Arsenal fan I was quite pleased that Henry got subbed, I don't think I could've handled it if he'd missed a penalty.
All in all, not the best of world cups, but it was worth the whole thing just for Christiano Ronaldo to be exposed to the world as the cheat he is and for - of course - that Argentina goal.
But FIFA, if you're reading this, SORT OUT THE DIVING / CHEATING. It ruined the world cup in many respects. You should be encouraging flowing football, that's what the fans, players and refs want. Get it right.
I'm happy anyway, I've got my Gooner season ticket and my ticket for the Bergkamp testimonial. Roll on next season!
I enjoyed the 3rd/4th place playoff match more than the final. It started off alright s'pose but turned just awful.
Italians deserved to win & showed great spirit throughout the tournament.
Still gobsmacked at Zidane and failing to find any glimmer of comprehension as to why a true artist of the beautiful game should so consciously choose to end his career on such a low.
Second Enzo's sentiments about Christiano Ronaldo, cheating/diving ruining the tournament & (being a gooner) Henry being subbed.
The final was a let-down in many ways; I was rooting for Italia and they lost steam in the second half. France just shut them down. After Henry was subbed and Zidane sent off, I thought the Italians would rally, but they seemed to barely stay afloat. I think they subbed too early and the players just got worn out. It was lucky for Italy that France missed that penalty (although I felt *very* sorry for whatshisname, the guy who missed, bawling on telly in front of a billion viewers).
I still think that penalty shoot-outs are a terribly unfair way to decide a game; it should be down to who played the best game, and that, in this case, would have been France, despite Zidane suddenly turning into a thug in the twilight of his career.
Unfortunately, it wouldn't be right to decide a game on points for play like boxing. A team who plays bog-standard can pull magic-moment goals from a hat and a team playing exceptionally well can fail to score. Its about creative opportunities and taking them and it is at the end of the day about goals which is why penalty shoot outs are the only way much as we all loathe it. The Italians seemed to be enjoying themselves in central London last night. Good for them!
The Zidane episode was so sad but he shouldn't be condemned out of hand. How many here having suffered the insults that he did would have had the self-control to walk away? Yeah I know, that's what he should have done (then kicked the crap out of him after the ceremony). Many viewers weren't even aware that he is an Algerian moslem, and taking into account the history between France and Algeria, (something perhaps only people of my age would know much about), it's not surprising that Zidane had a red mist moment when told he's the son of a terrorist whore.
I feel desperately sorry for him. His golden moment ruined by a scummy opponent whose sole aim was to get him sent off. The sad bit is it also spoiled the game for many others too, to see a hero of many end his career so shamefully.
How many shirts DID Ronaldo play in?
OMG! I'm in agreement with HER, at least in part. Penalty shootouts are crap. They put too much pressure on an individual in what is a team sport. They should either make the teams play on until a golden goal is scored, or even better, take both teams off and make the bloody know-all management teams get on the pitch and play each other.
Sports are no different from politics. If one’s favored party commits a questionable act, it will be overlooked or forgiven. If the opposing party commits the SAME act, it will be forever lambasted.
My feelings surrounding this incident have somewhat softened - my original post was only minutes after the game ended, but I still don’t condone what Zidane did, regardless of the provocation, which is only alleged at this point.
It is what it is.
Also agree - penalty kicks are a horrible way to decide a game.
And I agree with HIM that I feel desperately sorry for Zidane, in light of what was allegedly said to him. Apparently his mum had just gone into hospital, as well, so he was under pressure both on and off the pitch. I hope this one very poorly thought-out incident won't sully the memory of his entire career: he was, and is, a brilliant, dynamic player.
I still think that for a World Cup final there should be time for a replay a couple of days later. The only other possible match where it should happen is the Champions League final.
Too much football? Of course, but it is up to each country to shorten its programme. We should abandon the stupid League Cup and cut the number of teams in the Premiership by another two. Then we could even have a replay in the FA Cup final.
As for Zizou, I have appreciated his artistry enormously but that was plain out of order. He is a hero to millions and that was no way to demonstrate his ability. Very sad.
This topic is not my (as they say) "bag," but I'm trying to learn... what is this "Golden Goal" you speak of??
:-) * P * :-)
( Read my blog! - www.oddcourgette.blogspot.com )
The goal that will decide the match, natch. Especially in a sluggish game like the France/Italy one, where the only goals were scored in the first twenty minutes of the game, and the other seventy (plus extra time) minutes were spent chasing eachother back and forth across the pitch.
You mean, like, when it's a draw, they just keep playing until someone scores a goal? But what if it just goes on, like, forever? Or until everyone's legs fall off? Or something?
:-) * P * :-)
( Read my blog! - www.oddcourgette.blogspot.com )
Well, that's why they have penalty shootouts at the end of extra time; when the teams are unable to score a winning goal during regular play time or extra time, they have to do this to decide the match, otherwise two well-matched teams *would* end up playing until the players' legs fell off. It looked like the Italian team's legs *were* about to fall off, actually, so if they had extended the extra time to extra-extra-time, maybe the French *could* have scored a golden goal.
But nah, all their best players were off the pitch by that point, they were down to ten men, and GIGI was still in the goal for Italia. *swoons*
'natch' is short for 'naturally', in the Yank pronunciation: natchurly.
Aaaahh! Of course! I have seen this term "natch" before and felt that its meaning should be obvious, but sadly it has elluded me... thank you for ellucidating for me, AG!
Similarly re Golden Goals, which is actually embarrassingly obvious now that you've explained it.
:-) * P * :-)
( Read my blog! - www.oddcourgette.blogspot.com )
Sometimes it really *is* the simplest explanation that eludes us!
I'm going to buy a Buffon poster to hang in the office so I can gaze at him when I'm supposed to be working. The girls next door have a David Cassidy calendar, so I won't be *too* embarassed...the man is a god.
*giggles*
David Cassidy? Oh dear...
Occam's Razor: the philosophical and scientific rule that simple explanations should be preferred to more complicated ones, and that the explanation of a new phenomenon should be based on what is already known. Also called the Law of Parsimony... Also called the Golden Goal Principal...
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( Read my blog! - www.oddcourgette.blogspot.com )
So now the question becomes: should FIFA take the Golden Ball away from Zizou, in light of his revelations on what Materazzi said to him on the pitch? Is this a just punishment?
I'm of the opinion: no.
Golden Goals! Golden Balls! Go on, enlighten me, what is this Golden Ball of which you speak?
I am aware of the incident to which you refer, but not the precise details of such. What exactly is the Italian chappy supposed to have said to Monsieur Headbutt?
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( Read my blog! - www.oddcourgette.blogspot.com )
Peps, surely you're taking the mick, asking me these kinds of questions... I mean, it's plastered all over the news!
The Golden Ball is a prestigious award given to the Best Player in the Tournament. Others will know better than I what the exact criteria are, but players are voted for by members of the press (I believe); he with the most points, wins, and Mr. Zidane won out by a couple hundred votes.
Mr. Materazzi tugged on Mr. Zidane's jersey, and then allegedly repeatedly made some very nasty remarks about Mr. Zidane's mother and sister. Mr. Zidane apparently tried to ignore this at first, but after the slanders were repeated, he then walked back to Mr. Materazzi and gave him what looked to be the most painful head-butt ever. Mr. Materazzi fell to the ground in a paroxysm of agony, and after much to-do, Mr. Zidane was sent off the pitch, sullying, in the last ten minutes of his last professional game ever, his long and glorious career as a top-notch footballer.
I can't believe you don't know this stuff...I mean, really, you don't, really?
*scratches head*
The news bores me. It's either depressing, stupid or annoying (mostly). I prefer to invent an idealised world in my head.
However, I am curious about Golden Balls and headbutting Frenchmen.
:-) * P * :-)
( Read my blog! - www.oddcourgette.blogspot.com )
It's 'golden BALL', peptic.
Golden BALLS is what Vicky calls Dave! Well she would, wouldn't she?
She's far too posh to have ordinary ones slapping against the cheeks of her arse!
The All New Pepsoid the Second!
The All New Pepsoid the Second!
The All New Pepsoid the Second!
The All New Pepsoid the Second!
The All New Pepsoid the Second!
The All New Pepsoid the Second!
The All New Pepsoid the Second!
The All New Pepsoid the Second!