France vs. Italy, today !
 

Two European heavyweights in action !

Will Lippi's and his stallions leap over the French?

Or, will Zinedine dine on them like a hungry Frenchman served a plateful of tasty frogs' legs?

Going with France here.
That diving routine by the Italians is getting to be annoying.

France will do the business!
They deserve to win as they have played the cleaner game throughout.

My bottle of Sancerre comes out the fridge at 6pm!

The countdown has started...............

Oh, I am watching, the energy is so exciting. The young men are at the top of their lives! I love it so much better than American football, which I can't stand. These young men look like human beings not robos.

Halftime:

France - 1
Italy - 1

My two favorite countries are in the final match! Close match right now 1-1 and I won't mind either team winning although France is playing a fantastic game so far.

We need links to Rome and Paris webcams!!!

A head butt, now a decison by penalty kicks. Don't understand soccer but I find it exciting. Will watch again in four years.

ITALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh Zidane! You have let down your team and your country.

I agree, Carly

The gods punished France for that head butt.

((I))

We do for sure sufergirl.

And ITALY won!!! I am exhausted, lol.

And I agree with you SeaUrchin, and "HI" Tom, I was wondering if you had watched the game.

And yes Zidane sure finished his career in shame. What was he thinking?

What a shame for France. What was Zidane thinking?

The poor man lost his nerve.

thousands take to the streets in Rome! I am green with envy or maybe I am green/white/red with envy!

http://tinyurl.com/z2fly

Zidane was probably on some pretty heavy duty pain medication, after injuring his shoulder in the 80th minute.

That's the only reason I can think for the head butt.

He walks off with his arm around the ref's shoulder after he gets the red card???
C'mon you gotta be on drugs to do that.

Maybe it was a fixed game and his early exit was part of the fix? - and he looked to casual on the first goal...billions were probably bet on this game, so you never know, eh?

ZZ will forever be remembered for this one dumb play despite a stellar career. It will be a stain that will last forever. Congratulations to Italy!

I am wondering how Zidane's teammates feel about him now. Although I wanted Italy to win I felt bad for the team in general, their captain certainly didn't help their cause. I would also think the French are not pleased with him either. Very ugly and sad situation.

Forza Italia! That was exciting to watch.

So when's the commemorative Italian team calendar coming out? ;-) If there's not one, there should be...

Good idea DejaVu! Seriously, it is, lol. I would buy one and think I know several woman that would.

I'm very happy for Italy especially after what Zidane did. It was a shame for France.

I'll buy a calendar, but only if the team poses like the Calendar Girls! LOL

Italy fans might like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyu2ysF2nQg

That video is great! What a catchy tune, but I have to wonder what they're singing about? Fun to watch anyway :)

Bravo to the squadra.They need this in front of the scandal they have in the
scudetto.Scandal due to their dirigeants
and in fact, as always, the players will
pay for that...
As an ex-player, in my young times...I've never had a yellow or red card...but if I don't excuse the ZZ's attitude, some remarks :

-he is only human and as a man he can have some rude reactions...more after a
month of life without real privacy and with some heavy efforts...Brain can burn
This doesn't excuse but can explain...

-Will he tell what he has listen by the
italian player. Was this a personnal insult and I don't think ZZ would have even reply by a word...
Was this a racist attack ??
Was this an attack against mother or wife and we all know that one of the
more usual insult in Italia is "figlio di P....What is quite quotidian in Italy is a terrible insult in France and more in the maghrebin population, which is the origin of ZZ...
This would more explain his gest...
He was too alone in this part of field and I'm sure that in the middle of the field, if Thuram or Makelele was on his side, he would have been calmier..

I hope the italian player will be clean
and will tell us what he have said to ZZ
But will he ???
Erik.
PS : I have always found that the kicks seance is bad and my opinion was made when Italia loose in 1994...I've not
changed my mind and I think it would be better to have or an other game or a barem/yellow cards, corner, faults,...

Every time a skilful player does this kind of thing there are always people who will make & accept any kind of excuse for it.
They dont want to accept the fact that their hero is just a skilful thug.
The media also like to project a false image - demigods are worth more than thugs.
Enjoy your football - but be wary of hero worship.

how about all those recent posts/threads that chastised certain countries for not embracing football? i don't think this WC did much to recruit new fans to the sport. it was really quite dismal in many aspects.

i'm not at all implying that any other sport is better....just pointing out that a lot of these posts that elevated the sport to biblical levels look a bit silly after this pathetic WC.

<<i don't think this WC did much to recruit new fans to the sport>>

While many aspects of this World Cup disgusted me, the global viewing figures are the highest ever.

Already, for the next WC in South Africa they have an increase of 20% in sponsorship.

They have all major sponsors in place, each paying $125,000,000 to be a major sponsor for those 4 weeks, so while it may appear to be quite a dismal affair, to others its the best chance to get a global audience for their products.

Geordie

I am a soccer fan, but I have to believe that FIFA officials spend much time trying to figure out how to make more money off the American market (no matter how much is made off non-American watchers). Here's a suggestion: BAN DIVING.

How? Have the officials review a post-game tape and hand out yellow cards for diving.

The concept of faking injury to gain advantage is is what's turning so many Americans away from soccer. It interrupts the flow of the game and is the ultimate display of poor sportsmanship.

Congrats to Italia (even though I was rooting for France). Even if provoked, IMO Zidane should be mature enough to react better. His team needed him, and he let them down. It's a shame that such an excellent player ends his career on that note. Or maybe he'll unretire again??

This is the first year I've really paid attention to the World Cup, and I enjoyed it. I defy anyone to find any professional sport that is truly pure and clean (I hope someone can prove me wrong, though). I totally agree with the poster earlier who cautioned against hero worship.

Someone who's French told us that the Italian player called him a "terrorist"...who knows?.

love the video - I'll get my daughter to try to translate to practice her italian skills - littel used on holiday i'm afraid. It was mum who always asked "dove"!

Poohgirl: Good point:
"I defy anyone to find any professional sport that is truly pure and clean (I hope someone can prove me wrong."
Thats why, IMHO the best sporting event there is in the NCAA March madness Bball tournament.

In an interview on Zidane:

"I have not seen the replays, but if it's voluntary then there's nothing you can say," France coach Raymond Domenech said. "But it's a shame. It's sad. He [Materazzi] did a lot of acting and for such a big man, a gust of wind made him fall over."

You call that a game? Looked like a bunch of nervous nellies out there. I thought I was watching a bunch of drag queens from Provincetown play soccer.

They should rename the teams: French Blanches and Italian Nancies.

Christine.

I was for Italy and am very glad they won. The Zinedine fellow seems to have a history with a volatile temper, and red cards. The Italian's comment is now rumored to have been, "Arab terrorist," as ZZ is of Algerian decent. It was rude, but ZZ is 34 and should be able to control himself by now.

In defence of ZZ, I got the impression he really doesn't care anymore. He has had more than his fair share of racist abuse and what did he ever do to deserve that?? Whilst not really caring who won the World Cup (I supported France only because I was so sick of watching the Italians diving - when are the refs going to do something about this?). Zidane is simply one of the world's greatest footballers and this last act of his will not tarnish his record. He will slink back into retirement and devote himself to raising his own 5-a-side (he has 4 boys!) At least he won't be forgotten!

Not being an afficianado of football, I was surprised to read today that Zidane was an Algerian of Christian descent. Does that mean he is a descendent of Frenchmen who settled in French Algeria in the 1800s and were booted out of Algeria after DeGaulle betrayed them in the late 1950s?

Not necessarily of French ethnic origin but perhaps the descendant of Algerians who supported and fought with the French against Algeria's bid to kick the French out, culminating in independence around 1960. One theory is that the Italian called him this name, which i can't recall, that is applied to Algerian 'Qusilings" who aided and abetted the French - many of them immigrated to France as an aftermath of the war. Pieds Noirs i believe is a Frech term for those of French origin who lived in Algerian and then had to retreat to France as a result of the insurgency. The Battle of Algiers is a classic movie that documents how terrorism was in part largely responsible for driving the French out - many terrorists bombings inside the French only zone they had created in the center of Algiers - the creation of this barrier was in part responsible for the acrimony Algerians had towards the French and their Algerian supporters.