Italy wins fourth World Cup title
BERLIN (AP) — Italy let France do nearly anything it wanted Sunday, except win the World Cup. That belongs to the Azzurri, 5-3 in a shootout after a 1-1 draw. Outplayed for an hour and into extra time, the Italians won it after French captain Zinedine Zidane was ejected in the 107th minute for a vicious butt to the chest of Marco Materazzi. It was the ugliest act of a tournament that set records for yellow and red cards, diving and, at times, outright brutality. And it was the last move for Zidane, who is retiring.
As a former goalkeeper, I always hated games that ended with penalty kicks. As a keeper, you have perhaps a 10% chance of actually getting a hand on a shot. You’re required to remain rooted to your goal line until the ball is struck by the shooter, and then you basically pick a corner and dive. You can count on guessing wrong far more often than you’ll guess correctly, and you generally end up looking silly on your backside while you watch the ball ripple the back of the net.
Of course, I understand that a match has to end at some point, but that brings up another disadvantage I dislike about penalty shots. France dominated the Italians for 120 minutes, and yet the lost the World Cup final on five penalty kicks. For 120 minutes of playing time, France did pretty much anything they wanted to- except for score…and therein lies the problem. Les bleus deserved better.
AND JUST WHAT IN THE HELL WAS ZINEDINE ZIDANE THINKING?? You’re the captain of France’s national team, you’re in the World Cup final, you’re playing in the final match of a beyond brilliant career…AND YOU END IT ALL BY HEAD-BUTTING AN OPPOSING DEFENDER IN THE CHEST?? WTF??
D’ya think France could have used Zidane in the penalty kicks? “Zizou” is arguably the best penalty kick artist in the world, but he was of no use since he’d been red-carded and was holed up in the French dressing room. Go figure….
Ultimately it was a brilliantly played, compelling, and yet wholly unsatisfying match…and not just because I was rooting for France. Sure, I think France should have been rewarded for dominating the match, but it’s always a huge disappointment to me when a match of such scope has to be decided on penalties. It’s like getting your favorite ice cream for dessert and not being allowed to use a utensil to eat it. Sure, it’s still good, but it’s rather frustrating having to eat ice cream with your fingers.
Such a sad, silly way to end what up until today had been an absolutely brilliant tournament….
