As somebody has posted elsewhere, all that Materazzi said was "Can you suggest a good cure for these hiccups"

Willit -

On the Daily Show Jon Stewart also surmised that Zidane was simply hitting him because the Italian guy had choked on some sausage...he was helping him get rid of it.

It's not as funny in the retelling..

loisco - It was actually, in a thick Italian accent "a spicy meat-ah-ball"

Tom

I saw a report about the BBC hiring a lip reader to determine what ZZ was told just B4 the now infamous head butt. Accordingly it said he wished a horrible death to his family followed by the requisite f... off. If true ZZ should have nailed him but after the match. Also this world cup with all the problems with umpires, flops, crying and dirty play did nothing to promote interest of soccer in the US. The rest of the world will still embrace it, it'll change little here and ultimately not much will change. JM2C.

What language was this insult delivered in?

Aren't insults part and parcel of world-class soccer? Have neither ZZ nor his team members ever engaged in similar insults? One reason I'm not particularly interested in competitive sports.

The insults were spoken in Italian from what I read yesterday.

On the BBC sport spot this morning they said the Italian had insulted Zidane's mother and sister. For this reason Zidane could not be sorry for what he did.

<<What language was this insult delivered in?>>

ZZ will be fluent in Italian as he played at Juventus for many years

Geordie

The victim of the aggresion is the guilty one! I heard this story before.

What exactly said ZZ yesterday : he apologizes for all his fans and especially the children and their educators.
But he have no regrets for the italian player who insults him.
He said "if I have regrets, it will signify he was right to tell me what he says...".
In another discussion, on a french radio broadcast I heard this stupendous opinion" it's part of the game for a professional player to try to destabilise the others, and more in a final play for a world title...".
I can't agree.
Sport have to stay sport...The only actions which have to be authorized are
sport...
I don't think "psychological" harass- ment, insults from players and from the assistance are to be authorized and tolerated...
When FIFA and referees will begin to punish this, the real players and genius like ZZ will have only the mind directed to the ball and not to respond to verbal agressions...
Soccer is a sport which plays with feet and hands(for the goalkeepers..), not with the mouth with insults...
In my young time, when I plays football, we were punished by some kick if we say
even a word(like : let me the ball or other...neither insult).
An article of law from the FIFA says that"every team in which a player or more are indicted in case of discrimination verbal or other has to be disqualified...".
It's not sufficient to write some arti- cles if they are not appliqued...
ZZ action is inexcusable but the reasons are more inexcusables.
If I begin to insult one of the fodorites in this forum, how much time will the editors allow me to continue and how much fodorites will respond stoically without be rude...
Erik.

Oh Yes! Oh Yes! I love to see the violent sport! There should be more smacking and whacking in sport to make it exciting!! The foot ball players should carry sticks to hit each other with. That would be as my nephew, Darshan, says "yo cool".

I love the American game of hockey. I cheer "Oh Yes! Oh Yes!" when the players hit each other with their sticks. What a good sport for dentists because so many get their tooths knocked out.

Coupe de boule,
Mrs. Bindi Hindi a nice Indian lady from Delhi

Bindi: Hows the weather there now? Cooling off some I hope. My wife is from Raj. and we've been to Delhi 5 times as we have relatives there. Its a great city to see but not in the summer. Namaste. BTW I too think that sport should be just that. No need to denigrate your opponent. I guess we are in the minority.

Hmm...I suppose it isn't very surprising that most, if not all, the opinions fall in such a way as to support the team the poster wanted to win. At the beginning of the Final, I bought into the Zidane story scenario to the extent I would have been glad to see him as an individual have a happy Hollywood ending to complete a storied career, although I preferred a win for Italy's team. Yes, I initially had a foot in each camp, for different reasons.

Materazzi is no saint. Nor is Zindane, though a large proportion of his legion of fans have twisted in every possible way the red card conduct in order to be able to continue to worship at the shrine without a red face. Hard for me to do that.

Both men claim provocation. Both men agree Materazzi trash-talked Zidane's sister. Zidane also claims his mother was included; Materazzi, who lost his mother at age 15, denies this. That's it. Neither man really claims more. Although there surely was the ever-present tension of the event as "background noise."

Materazzi says (rightly, we know, regardless of whether we approve) such trash-talk goes on during games. Schoolyard taunting, not a pretty thing. "Gee, Ma, everybody does it."

Zidane doesn't disagree, but claims his violent response is both something he apologises to children for but does not regret (huh??) because on this occasion the trash-talk was personal about the women in his life (has there ever been a survey to determine what usually constitutes the substance of trash-talk on the field?) and the provocateur he head-butted to the ground is the one who should be punished. "Gee Ma, he started it."

Good grief. Materazzi's conduct wasn't anything to be proud of (far from it), but it wasn't against the rules and singling him out for it now seems more a tactic to deflect from France's loss and excuse Zidane's violent response which potentially could have caused serious injury. And which violent action was a clear choice on Zidane's part in spite of the magnitude of the event and potential effect on his own team.

Italy won. France lost. Guess it seems to me it is time to move on & drop the excuses. If FIFA wants to muzzle the players in some way to stop trash-talk tactics like Materazzi's, then do it in time for South Africa. Apply the ban equally to all players. I doubt there's much question about whether to retain the ban on Zidane's head-butting tactic.

Official song of ZZ's "coup de boule":

http://loiclemeur.podemus.net/Audio/...lela_plage.mp3

"Attention, c'est la danse du coup de boule.
Coup de boule à droite, coup de boule à gauche, allez les Bleus.
Zidane il a frappé, Zidane il a tapé, l'arbitre l'a vu à la télé, mais la coupe on l'a raté, on a quand même bien rigolé"

Funny! It has a catchy beat, I give it a 10.

ZZ will probably become an international star.

These guys are supposed to be professionals..I don't care if its football (soccer), American football, hockey, what ever. This guy very likely cost his team the win. They are all a bunch of arrogant, over paid, over testostroned adolescents. They need to remember the old "Sticks and Stones" thing, grow up, and get over it.

A running line in the news, don't remember which ones: Zidane Zays Zorry

If not sportmanship he sure does have sex appeal, watch this interview. I can make out some of it. I predict he will be in the movies soon.

http://www.zidane.fr/homepage.html

Crefloors: I couldn't agree more. Some years ago I was a devout fan of the SF 49ers. I have since lost all interest; can't decide who is more despicable---the owners or the players. The sport (regardless of which one) has long since become secondary to MONEY, egos, big stadiums, MONEY, and the city that will pay off the best, regardless of the fan base in the existing city (witness Al Davis' antics over the years).

We saw what happened on Sunday and thought it was horrendous, particularly in a game that meant so much to so many. Who's to blame? Perhaps we all are because we seem to worship at the shrines and forgive the behavior no matter what. I wonder what changes might occur if the games were boycotted and stadiums were empty in protest of whatever outrageous behavior. Might it open some long closed eyes?