I just got home from work, sat down in front of my laptop, and read this article from the Guardian. At the risk of turning my blog into a football/soccer gossip column, here's the article:
An Italian lip-reader last night claimed to have deciphered the words Marco Materazzi said to Zinedine Zidane that provoked the French captain into butting him in the chest during Sunday's World Cup final, the great midfielder's final act before a red card ended his career in top-level football.
According to the BBC, Materazzi said, "I wish an ugly death to you and all your family," and then told Zidane to "go fuck yourself".
If this is true, it explains the whole thing. It does not excuse Zidane's actions, but where is the sportsmanship on Materazzi's part? Idiot.
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Why would you headbutt somebody for saying that? They deserve a knee to the groin.
Previous claims include Materazzi tweaking Zidane's nipple, and spitting on him.
While smiling.
There was also some incident between Buffon and Zidane a little bit earlier and the Materazzi incident started with Materazzi marking Zidane on some dead ball play.
Still doesn't excuse Zidane's idiocy, may explain it, but you don't take the bait when you play at that level, especially if you have a reputation for temper.
"I wish an ugly death to you and all your family" does not directly translate into any Italian insult I know of (and I think I know close to all of them, having been on the receiving end of most). The closest thing I can think of can be "Vammuri' ammazzato" with potential addition "ti e ta famiglia" (with variations according to local dialects, mostly from the South), which literally means "Go die murdered, you and your family".
As insults go, it's actually a mild one in Italy, something friends could tell each other with a smile on their face over a game of cards at the local bar. I expect Zidane would have been told something like that dozens of times when he played in Italy, including by his own teammates.
I doubt that's what was said, but if it was, Zidane's reaction was totally disproportionate and unjustified.
Zidane is a cool man, he is a Champion! I absolutely undesrtand and excuse him for this action. Materazzi deserves murder and f..k!
Italy just won the PKs, by chance...
Zidane is certainly a Champion, but also definitely not a "cool man" - he has accumulated 14 red cards in his career, which are really a lot for a forward, and has been disqualified for 2 turns in the 98 WC for stomping a Saudi player (also claimed to have been racially insulted there), and for 5 turns for head-butting a German player during a Champions League game. He definitely can just flip and be violent.
There's more from the Guardian here:
http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2006/story/0,,1817833,00.html
I woke up this morning, read the NYTimes, read news from the net, and many stories are circulating around. What is clear (according to Materazzi) is that after Zidane's shirt was held, Zidane told him that if he really wanted his shirt, he would give it to him after the game. Apparently Materazzi thought that this was "outrageous" and fired some insult back to Zidane.
Now as the above comment (in my post) came from the Guardian/BBC, I thought that it was reliable, but since this morning other news sources report otherwise. So I don't think that I'll write any new entries on the whole affair until it's all sorted out. If there are any updates I'll add the links to the comment section here (or if any of you know anything, please leave a link).
Yes Zidane is normally a soft-spoken guy. And yes he has a very short fuse and has many times in the past over-reacted with excess force. But as Andrea points out, it must have been a pretty bad insult.
Zhanna's post is very troubling. I think the moderator should "red card" this post. Calling for someone's murder is completely unacceptable.
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Athletes insult each other all of the time and the better you are the more of a target you will be for these insults. If an insult caused this, it was actually a brilliant move by Materazzi because he managed to get the best player on the field ejected. Materazzi was able to get into Zidane's head and exploit a well known weakness.
If you were to take another athlete that was top in their sport, like Michael Jordan (who was definitely a target of insults), he would have gone out and put up 40 points -- not retaliate with some cheap shot.
Zidane may have lost the World Cup for France. What a fool!
This is crazy talk. Why is everyone looking for excuses for Zizou? He did something that was outrageous and disgusting. No provocation should have led to that. Even he was so ashamed that he couldn't show his face after the game. I love Zizou and what he represents but this isn't something to be easily forgiven. If the situation had been flipped I don't think we'd be looking for excuses for Materazzi.
Steve is correct. This was a foolish act. Zizou must get more abuse than anyone on the field (except maybe Henry). This is part of sports!
No it isn't.
Italy's 1982 Cup was incredible. They beat Argentina, Brazil and Germany. That Cup will be forever remembered. We crushed almost every big team, we were the undisputed champions. This Cup is ... well I'll paraphrase most of the headlines, "Italy Won, Zidane Ejected". Great exploits like Grosso's goal against Germany, Italy's fantastic defense and Buffon saving the game are diminished because of some incident at the very end of the game that had little or no impact on the tournament. Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe the outcome would have been different, but I'm 99% sure it would have gone to PKs regardless of the red card. Then Trezeguet missed, a nice placed shot but a miss.
If anything the biggest result is that Trezeguet is not the next Baggio. Anything else is mental masturbation.
"Mental Masterbation"? This did get Trezeguet off the hook. He will always be a Zizou fan. He came on as a sub in overtime so he was going to take the kick whether or not Zizou was there.
I would argue that getting into someones head is a great strategy. The fact that Materazzi got into a legends head is great. I doubt he had any idea it would lead to a head butt followed by a red card. I'm sure he is as shocked as anyone else that Zizou lost it.
Give me a break. I think that what most of you don't understand is that emotions are very high in the WC. Thus Figo's headbutt. Thus Rooney's stomp. Perhaps Materazzi crossed the line in Zidane's opinion, but brilliant? Zidane over-reacted and as you pointed out, it made no difference ("[Trezeguet] came on as a sub in overtime so he was going to take the kick whether or not Zizou was there.") Also I'm not trying to get Zidane off the hook. But placing the loss on his shoulders is turning the events into some morality lesson. Give me a break.
To Steve's characterization of Materazzi's insult to Zidane as a "brilliant move":
There are boundaries of decency and respect that one must observe in any profession. The World Cup is a professional event, not the city slums. You can cross those boundaries by malicious and provocative words, not just by physical acts.
Blinded by anger, Zidane crossed that boundary, and he has paid for it, is paying for it, and will likely be paying for it more in the future, with his tarnished reputation and perhaps FIFA sanctions. While we all saw very clearly what Zidane did, Materazzi may never have to face any consequences for the offensive comments he may have made. As fighting words can be punished even in our highly protected free speech society, FIFA should at least examine whether what was said would provoke the average person to react violently and punish accordingly.
Of course getting into another player's head is a normal and universal strategy, and so is goading and provocation. If Materazzi used racial slurs of course he a jerk and it was definitely in bad taste, but we will never know that for sure, since it's one player's word against another's, unless Materazzi himself admits it which is unlikely 9and in fact he has denied already). We certainly know Zidane played the race card in another occasion (WC98) rather questionably (the offender was himself an Arab) and got no result.
It's now basically only an issue about Zidane's legacy, but on the other hand no one expects ball players to be perfect human beings, or should. Maradona is still arguably the best player ever, and no one gives a hoot he had a problem with addiction, was a total fool, or scored with his hand to the English in 86.
As for Italy's victory being tainted or somesuch, frankly, give us a break. There are no asterisks next to Argentina's '78 championship, which was much more dubious, or Germany's victory on a Voller dive in the 1990 final. No one (besides Italians) remembers that Italy dominated the French in the Euro 2000 final, losing on a last second equalizer and a lucky golden goal, or outplayed them in their WC98 game, where they lost at penalties.
The ball is round, the Italians beat who they had to beat, the French failed to score enough to win, Zidane flipped when a player of his stature and experience shouldn't have, Italy is World Champions. Euro 08 is behind the corner - there will be more reasons to argue.
Bravo Andrea. A great summary. I loved this world cup and I wanted neither team in the final. It was brilliant and exciting to the very end.
"Getting into someone's head" is a great strategy and always will be. You can say what you want about the final insult but I'm sure Materazzi had been putting on the psychological pressure all game. It works and is effective. I'm certainly not one to approve of racial slurs, but a man like Zidane should be able to brush any of that off. I also think that the media is playing up the race issue with no evidence.
My final word. Zidane is a great player. I have always enjoyed watching him and it sucks that this will be the memory I have of him. Kudos to Italy, they did what they needed to and they were fun to watch.
Czech Republic in 2008!
sheesh. What ever happened to sticks and stones break bones but words can never hurt me... I still think Zidane should have made his statement by scoring the game winning goal. By no means am I putting the loss on his shoulders. France missed their PKs and Italy made theirs. I just know that any team wants that guy on the field for the entire game. He makes you that much better.
Anyway, I think the intent and purpose of "insults" on the playing field is not the same as when they happen off the field. An "insult" between athletes on the field of play is done to get into the opposing player's head. Off the field insults are almost always used to be hateful and malicious. Materazzi could have insulted Zidane's manhood or his family or called him a Martian. Whatever was said, it seems Materazzi found the right button to push. There may or may not have been a truly malicious intent behind what Materazzi said -- I doubt there was but we will never know. On the contrary, the the clear purpose of Zindane's head butt was to physically hurt Materazzi.
You may be shocked but athletes use "coarse" language on the field. They call each other all sorts of things. Professional athletes (of any sport) are not sweet, little alter boys -- this is especially true when they are in the middle of a game. The "boundaries of decency and respect" are much different in professional sports than in other professions. I do not like it but bad behavior by pro athletes is almost completely tolerated in our culture. Under the current rules (and culture) I would just say that using insults is a clean and fair way to play the game. Much cleaner than, say, head butts or tripping or groin shots....
Alex, relax your team won!! I realize you are a purist but try to enjoy it.
Andrea is right -- there will be no asterisk. This was a legitimate victory. This was an Italian victory. Enjoy it! The Italian-americans where I live were going crazy. They really supported this team and showed up around town on Sunday wearing the Italian jersey. It was great to see.
I seriously doubt that someone who claims not to know what a terrorist is and mistook Zidane's witty offer to give him the shirt as arrogance could engineer any great strategy, as you say. Materazzi was probably just jealous and let his mouth fly.
Nicely said Skeptic.
Meanwhile, the only player we know for sure has insulted the Italians and talked about smashing Materazzi's face is Gallas:
http://home.skysports.com/worldcup/article.aspx?hlid=401999&plid=6254&c…
http://home.skysports.com/worldcup/article.aspx?hlid=402202&plid=6254&c…
Of course, expect media outcry, UEFA investigations, and widespread understanding for Materazzi if he levels Gallas with a headbutt during the Italy-France on September 8. Right?
Steve,
Brilliance is play well executed not some shit coming out some guy's mouth. Call me a purist, but when I watch soccer, I enjoy watching a good game. I'd rather that Italy played incredibly well and lose, than win some shitty match. Italy did play well, but all this crap about Materazzi being brilliant by insulting Zidane, I don't buy it. I also hate the opposite extreme (that of Chris Mooney) where the game is transformed into a morality play.
Alex, I thought I was done commenting but I have to respond to this. Brilliance is winning fairly. A person can say whatever the hell they want on the field and that is fair. The idea that players have some responsibility to be 'gentleman' is ridiculous. Words should never cause a person to not be able to play their game. The game has lots of faults that make it less fun to watch; however, those sorts of things also make it interesting. France would not have made it to the finals without the un-gentlemanly fakery by Henry.
Italy has won and Zidane has brought shame to his name. That is the end of it. He did something that will go down in history as one of the dumbest moments in football. Irrelevant is the affect on the game. And sadly, he has no one to blame but himself. Let's face it, if he had done that on the street he would be in jail now.
"I'd rather that Italy played incredibly well and lose, than win some shitty match."
Oh no you don't, believe me, Alex - at least as long as you have been following football/soccer for some time.
Soon after the game, I was kind of unsatisfied about the way Italy played and won. I thought they could have easily dominated this overrated, one-man French team. I guess game psychology and the effort spent on the semifinal took their toll.
At this point, however, between Zidane's pouting and not coming out to say what happened (if anything), leaving all the craziest conjectures take hold, the French histerical inability to sportsmanlike accept defeat, the bizarre outpouring of anti-Italian stereotype that freely and unashamedly flows from people who clearly should know better, and all the ridiculous sanctimoniousness in the media, as if soccer games were tea parties or something (I am shocked - SHOCKED - that players would use scurrilous epithets during footbal games!), I am glad Italy won, and in this exact way.
Short of a 4-0 triumph, which would have been a very boring game in any other sense, this was certainly the best outcome possible.
And so would Materazzi for that tweak of the nipple, which is certainly not an appropriate defense tactic. Criminal codes often ban words that tend to provoke violence. If FIFA can penalize Aragones for making racially inappropriate comments to his own team, it is certainly within bounds to do the same for Materazzi, if it is egregious enough.
BTM, you write as if what is "fair" is black and white -- no one is saying that this incident has been handled unfairly. What Materazzi might or might not have said strikes some as underhanded, indecent, disgusting and despicable, and like it or not, does cast a shadow of shame over Italy's victory.
Considering everything, I thought they did fine but ran out of steam at the end probably (as you stated) due to the tough semi-final game. Sure it wasn't the greatest performance, but they fought hard and after all they went through they deserved it. My biggest complaint was PKs, I think I would prefer Italy being beaten outright then PKs. I just hate PKs. About Zidane I was upset about his actions, he should know better. In any case I've said this all before. As for the French accepting defeat, most (that I 've talk to) do and it would seem like most of the French team did as well. Yes there are some asses like Gallas, but I don't think anyone who really knows the game would think that Italy cheated or stole the game. What I was arguing is the idea that Materazzi executed a brilliant plan. That just pisses me off. It's not that I'm shocked. Quite frankly this line of reasoning is simply moronic. Sure it may happen all the time, but if he did blurt out some racist comment, I hope he gets it.
I hope he gets it!? What the hell kind of response is that. I know Materazzi is probably an ass but that is taking it a bit to far no matter what "it" is. If I have a complaint about the world cup it is the fact that it is so hard to stop the play acting on the field. That is really what sucks. The thing is that, like taunting, no matter how much I hate it the way the game is set up allows for it. The game has some intrinsic flaws (or virtues) that involve things that aren't just who handles the ball better.
As far as racist comments are concerned, it is always interesting when a big stink is made by people who haven't had to deal with that issue in their own lives. Something tells me that Zidane wouldn't have thought that a racist comment was something worth attacking someone for.
As for criminalizing a nipple twist or a slur it is hard to compare to a header to the chest. If I grab your nipple or shout something rude I won't go to jail. I may get told off but I haven't purposefully tried to permanently hurt you. What Zizou did was one of the most violent things I've ever watched live. He walked up to another human being and tried to cave his chest in. It was brutal and ridiculous. Please don't try to compare it to any other actions on the field.
Quoting FIFA regulations http://www.fifa.com/en/regulations/regulation/0,1584,3,00.html:
A player, substitute or substituted player is sent off and shown the red card if he commits any of the following seven offences:
1. is guilty of serious foul play
2. is guilty of violent conduct
3. spits at an opponent or any other person
4. denies the opposing team a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball (this does not apply to a goalkeeper within his own penalty area)
5. denies an obvious goalscoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player?s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick
6. uses offensive or insulting or abusive language and/or gestures
7. receives a second caution in the same match.
So there you go. Depending on what Materazzi said, his words are punishable by the FIFA regulations.
Only if the ref hears it and judges it worthy of a red card, or there is conclusive video evidence, which is to say, it most likely won't and shouldn't in this case (short of some directional mic having been pointed directly at the scene, that is). Otherwise, by the letter of the rule, by half time of any game half the players would be red-carded.
By comparison, during Euro 2000 Totti was caught, based on video evidence, having spit on a Danish player. He took responsibility, but claimed the Dane had insulted his wife. Totti got a 3 games suspension, the Dane nothing. No one flinched (and justly so).
Note also that Zidane had plenty of time after the fact to explain the ref the reasons for his headbutt on Sunday, vocally complained about the red card but, as far as we know from the FIFA game report, provided none.
In the words of the eternal Vince Lombardi: Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.
Viva Italia
For some late night reading for those who aren't already exhausted by this subject:
http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2006/story/0,,1818283,00.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,28788-2266145,00.html
http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2006/comment/story/0,,1818315,00…
Seen on a website:
What made Zidane attack Materazzi?
Hey Zizou, try Googling "French Military victories"
From the last Guardian article (see link above):
Apparently Zidane is giving a press conference at 8:00PM (Paris time). I hope that he refuses the Golden Ball and apologizes for his actions, it would be the right thing to do. I'm actually doubtful that he'll reveal what Materazzi said.
But we'll see.
Zidane apparently said Materazzi used "heavy words" against his mother and sister, and that he apologizes for but does not regret the action.
Materazzi in an earlier interview to an Italian paper said he categorically did not use racial, religious or political insults, and did not insult Zidane's mother.
Besides the disagreement about the mother, the accounts substantially coincide. Looks like a routine game spat to me.
Actually, according to another account of the interview I just read, it is the journalist who asked "Did he insult the women in your family, your mother, your sister?" and Zidane just replied "yes" without specifying. So, he may have just meant Materazzi insulted his sister, not his mother.
I don't know what to think. I'm generally turned off by violence, but usually it's a player trying to injure the stars of the opposing team to get an unfair advantage, which is different from what we have here. Zidane's headbutt was a visceral reaction to verbal provocation. While no one can say that it justifies his response, it does make it less bad, in my view, than all those karate-chop cleating incidents we've been witnessing these past few weeks, many of which have gone unpunished. His response was human, flawed, and as he himself stated, unpardonnable. Yet I regret that by virtue of him being who he is, having committed his error on the day that he did, will be paying a disproportionately higher price above the rest.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/12/opinion/zidane.php
I guess he apologized (although he said he is not the only one to blame) and he said that it was an insult to his family. He did not talk about the award.
I'm officially more disappointed with Zizou. He essentially said that it is okay to attack people just because they say things that hurt your feelings. His apology was effectively, I'm sorry you had to see that but I had to do it. Zizou the Thug. Nice one.
I don't think he is saying that violence is an OK response to hurt feelings. He may be saying that violence is a natural and likely response to insistent provocation or perhaps to defend family "honor", which some societies might agree with. Some criminal codes recognize an excuse of provocation to reduce the seriousness of a charged crime -- kind of like a momentary diminished capacity. I think what Zidane is saying is that Materazzi's comments were so instigatory that he forgot himself, and that put in that same situation again, he knows he would have that exact same response. Whatever Materazzi said is so repugnant that by his values, invites a violent response. Thuggish? Maybe by our idealistic, holier-than-thou standards, but quite common in practice.
"Holier-than-thou"?. Wow, nicely put Anon. Way to stand up for the criminal element. The next time I punch you in the face I'll declare that you insulted me so much that I had to do it. Maybe it was that arrogant look on your face that says violence can be justified.
If you really believe that words can justify violence there is nothing I can do to argue with you. Words can certainly incite violence, and those sorts of things should be stopped; however, to excuse a violent act as provoked is really just sad. I agree about what you said about Zizou's explanation Anon, which is really what makes him a thug. I was willing to forgive him in the heat of the moment of the game, but to say that if anyone said that to him deserves a head butt is thugish and childish, to say the least. I hope, Anon, that unlike Zizou, you are teaching any kids you come in contact with better morals.
Actually, I wasn't justifying the violence, but recognizing that many societies do, sometimes even our own. Your argument is with those societies -- good luck convincing them they're immoral. Zidane is being honest with himself about who he is and how he responds. He says on the one hand, "Mon geste n'est pas pardonnable", so I don't think he is asking for your forgiveness for that or is trying to be a moral model for others. He said, "Bien sûr que ce n'est pas un geste à faire" -- he speaks against others imitating this behavior.
Anyway, who are you, who advocates insults as a "great strategy" to be lecturing about morals? I certainly wouldn't want you teaching my children or coaching their soccer team.
I never advocated insults as a great strategy. I said that getting into someones head is. That is why you put three defenders on the best player. It stifles them and frustrates them. Taunting is a component of that, along with talking trash. I don't condone insulting someones mother; however, if you can't let that roll off your back you are childish. The comment is sad but it is even sadder to react to it.
My real issue with your comment is that it seems you think it is okay for someone to have a belief that includes a violent solution to an insult. If you don't agree with that then you should see Zidane's act as a total disappointment. The fact is that Zidane believes it and since he does he is no role model. Do I think that it is okay for professional players to taunt and insult each other? Not really, but that isn't my point. My point is that it is clearly part of the game and it would be stupid not to use it. When children play it is for the love of the game. There is no money or contracts involved. That is a completely different situation. That being said I would suck as a coach becuase I suck at playing football so you are correct. What I would say to my own children having watched Zidane's act is that he has done something that is shameful and he should not be easily forgiven for it.
BTM: It was an observation, rather than an endorsement. You seem to need to make it personal. With evangelistic fervor, seem to need to denounce Zidane as evil incarnate, when he is not so far from average.
Your insistence that Zidane's act is unforgiveable kind of gets old, especially whether neither Zidane nor anyone disagrees.
You can call his reaction childish, but that is unnecessarily condescending -- especially when he may have grown up in a community with different values than your own. Cultural divisions today cause many wars and deaths -- it isn't a productive strategy to declare yourself morally superior, and others as morally inferior. It's far better to acknowledge that, yes, verbal abuse has a tendency to provoke violence and create dangerous situations in the heat of a game, so you crack down on it, not promote it.
I don't want to drag this out any farther but I would like to finish with a few points. Zidane is French. He may have Algerian roots but he grew up in France and I don't think French people fit into your category. I don't have a problem letting him have any view he wants. My issue is that we can judge his choices, he is held up as a role model. You can be as PC as you want and say that anyone has a right to their own morals; however, if you want to live in a modern society you don't use violence to settle arguments. That is that.
Zidane does disagree, he says that he is sorry for his act but then he follows it by saying that he would do it again. All he is sorry about is that he got caught and that is what troubles me the most.
I can't wait to here Palazzo way in on this one...
These are seemingly contradictory statements. He admits his act is wrong (not that he just got caught -- these are your words), but can't fathom having acted otherwise. Perhaps Zidane means to say, "Don't make me your role model, kids and viewers. I'm not. I'm just human."
u no wat: Italy won get ova it! mamma mia!!!
The other story is that there was rumour about zidane back in the late 1990s,and that some very personal unpleasent business had taken place in turin when zidane was laying for juventus,and marcelo lippi who was zidanes manager at juven at the time sad to matterazzi.''say this to zidane and what his reaction.and we did see the reaction.