Monday,
July 10, 2006
Italy's 2006 World Cup
Victory had all the Drama and Plot lines of an Opera
The
Annotico Report
1.
The Italian League Soccer Scandal, like the US Baseball/Football Steroid
Scandal, the US Boxing Fix
Scandals, and the French Tour d'France
Doping Scandals, and those occurring at the Olympics.
2.
The attempt by FIFA to make Soccer more Technique, and less Physical, which has
resulted in a great number of
Penalties, with a high degree of inconsistencies.
3.
The disappearance of the top rated 6 teams before the Semi Finals.
4.
The Slurs of Der Spiegel of Italians, and a Very
Satisfying Retaliating win by
5.
The absence of
6.
The Somewhat Controversially judged foul by Materazzi
on Malouda, that prompted a Penalty Kick by Zidane that
hit the Crossbar bounced down and then into Goal.
7.
The Questionable No Goal of Italy, in the Final because of a
"Offside" shown NOT to be Offside
8. The Unfathomable
Head Butt by Zidane on
resulted in Zidane being ejected
with 12 minutes left in regular time.
9.
The decision by Italy Not to Attack with a One man
advantage, for 12 minutes of regular time, and 30 minutes of
overtime even though
of Zidane who is
10.
The Unpredictable Missed Penalty Kick by David Trezeguet.
11.
The Perfection of 5 Penalty Kicks of 5 Tries.
FORZA ITALIA !!!!!
Footnote on Zidane:
Zidane's red card was anything but
unusual. He was sent off 14 times in his career at the club and international
level.
At the 1998 World
Cup, he stomped on a Saudi Arabian opponent. Sitting out a two-match ban, he
came back to score two goals against
Five years ago
with Juventus, he head-butted an opponent in a
Champions League match against Hamburger SV after being tackled from behind.
The reaction to
Sunday's outburst was mixed in
"This
morning, Zidane, what do we tell our children, and
all those for whom you were the living role model for all times?" French
sports daily L'Equipe wrote.
"You can
take the man out of the rough neighbourhood, but you
can't take the rough neighbourhood out of the
man," striker Thierry Henry said Sunday.
WORLD
CUP '06
Italians
finish the job and become champions again by beating
By
Grahame L. Jones
Times Staff Writer
July 10, 2006
BERLIN Italy, embroiled in a
domestic soccer scandal that could sink some of its most famous clubs and throw
its league into turmoil, won the World Cup here Sunday amid extraordinary
scenes at the historic Olympic Stadium.
The dramatic conclusion of the monthlong tournament
saw Coach Marcello Lippi's Azzurri defeat
It was the Italians' fourth world championship, but their first since 1982, and
the victory sparked massive celebrations throughout
Elsewhere, however, the result took second place to a moment of madness during
overtime when
The 34-year-old midfielder, a World Cup winner in 1998, was playing in the
final match of his illustrious career, which could have ended on a high note
with a second world title.
Instead, it ended in shame.
Just before the 110th minute, Zidane and Italian
defender Marco Materazzi appeared to exchange a few
words when both were walking back toward the midfield. Suddenly, Zidane turned, lowered his head and butted Materazzi very forcefully in the chest.
It was one of the most astonishing and unusual fouls in World Cup history.
The Italian player was left writhing on the ground while goalkeeper Gianluigi
Buffon rushed over to one of the referees and demanded to know whether he had
seen the incident.
After consulting his
The game began dramatically, with two goals inside the first 20 minutes
promising the crowd of 69,000 a night of unusual entertainment in what had been
a low-scoring World Cup.
France took the lead on a penalty kick in the seventh minute after Elizondo, somewhat controversially, judged that Materazzi had fouled French midfielder Florent
Malouda as he tried to control the ball in the
penalty area.
Zidane stepped up to take the kick and, just as
Buffon dived to his right, the French icon chipped the ball and saw it strike
the underside of the crossbar and bounce down just behind the line.
It was the first goal
Unperturbed by the setback,
Argentine-born midfielder Mauro Camoranesi won a
corner kick off Fre! nch defender Eric Abidal,
and Andrea Pirlo sent an outswinger
into the throng of players in front of the French net.
Materazzi climbed high above
Lippi, who had been biting his nails on the sideline until then, pumped his
fists in the air in relief. It was 1-1.
For the next hour and a half, it was a back-and-forth affair, with each team
failing to penetrate the other's defense. Lilian Thuram
was superb for
The closest anyone came to scoring was when Zidane who else? sent a pass out
to Willy Sagnol on the right flank in overtime, then
sprinted into the area and powered a goal-bound header off Sagnol's
return cross.
Goalkeeper Buffon, in a purely instinctive move, threw up an arm and barely
managed to deflect the ball over! the crossbar. It was
the save of the match.
Shortly thereafter, Zidane was ejected and
Still Les Bleus held on and the match went to penalty kicks only the second time that has happened in
a World Cup final, the first being at the Rose Bowl in 1994 when Brazil edged
Italy on penalties.
This time, the Italians were flawless. One after another, they scored, first Pirlo, then Materazzi, Daniele De
Rossi, Alessandro Del Piero and finally, with the
winner,
For
Abidal and Sagnol made
their kicks, but Trezeguet's miss opened the door and
"On! ly victory is
pretty,"
Delirious scenes followed. Camoranesi was plonked into a chair at midfield and had his ponytail cut
off by a teammate. Materazzi put on a goofy hat and
wore an Italian flag as a cape, accepting his medal that way.
The World Cup was presented to Cannavaro, who hoisted
it on high amid the usual deluge of confetti. Music blared, fireworks exploded,
Italian fans cheered. It was just another night in
"
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