GrandeCannavaro
13 Jul 2006, 05:59 PM
I saw this posted on another thread and felt it deserved an easy to find reference. GuyArthur posted it on one of the Zidane-Materazzi official threads. (see after my commentary below)
There are 8 offenses for either punching, slapping, stomping or butting opponents. These read like a criminal's wrap sheet and he should consider himself lucky that he commits this violence on a field where he can't be arrested.
Now let me save many of the naysayers some trouble. Materazzi is no angel. In fact I will say he is dirty and aggressive and violent. But that doesn't matter. Who kept their cool and who lost it? I was on a internationally syndicated radio show before the final saying that I was a huge Italy fan, but also being a fan of Zidane, if Italy had to lose, I wouldn't mind seeing Zidane raise the trophy. That was of course before the final. So I have no axe to grind and simply have no problem calling it as it is. The truth of the matter is I don't know whether I am more shocked with what Zidane did or by the many who try and excuse it. He is an incredible football player. IMO, he remains in top of all time, even after the incident. But what he did was wrong. It was wrong for his image. It was wrong for his teammates. It was wrong for the sport. And it was wrong for the country he represents.
In the final, go back and watch a particular moment. Henry takes a soft shot in the 2nd half which Buffon easily blocks. After the block, Buffon walks up to Henry and they exchange words. Primarily because a French player had gone down, but Henry kept playing and took the shot while his teammate was down. I don't know exactly what Buffon says, but I'm sure it was something along the lines like why are you taking a weak shot when your man is down. However, Henry's reaction is very clear what he says, even to a non professional lip reader (being sarcastic here). He says "VAFA CULO" Go F Yourself. Now Buffon doesn't drop kick Henry. He shrugs it off, stays in the game, and then makes a great save against Zidane later in the game. I'm not telling this story because it was Henry saying something dirty to Buffon. If I can find an example of an Italian player saying something dirty to a French player and the French player not reacting, I will gladly note it as well. In fact, I'm comfortable saying that even though I don't have visual proof, I'm sure several Italian players said dirty things (as did French players) without French players blowing their tops and vice versa. And those French players stayed in the game, played their hearts out, and were around to make big plays that could have changed the game.
The difference is how Zidane reacted to the comments. And here are instances of his past. One or two incidents I could understand. But 8?
_______________________
Zinédine Zidane has been sent off 14 times in his career, two more than Vinnie Jones. Here are those red cards in full . . .
Sep 1993: Marcel Desailly, the Marseilles defender, punches him and the Bordeaux midfield player retaliates in kind.
Aug 1995: Slaps Thorsten Fink, a Karlsruhe player, in the face.
Oct 1995: Sees red for a tackle from behind on Frédéric Mendy, a Martigues player.
Sep 1996: At Juventus, sent off against Perugia after two bookings.
Jan 1997: Punches Enrico Chiesa, of Parma.
June 1998: Stamps on Fuad Amin, the Saudi Arabia captain, during World Cup finals.
Oct 1998: Commits a two-footed challenge on Paolo Sousa, the Inter Milan player.
Oct 1999: Receives a second yellow card for diving against AS Roma.
Sep 2000: Late challenge on Emerson, the Deportivo La Coruña midfield player, in Champions League.
Oct 2000: Butts Jochen Kientz, of SV Hamburg, and receives five-match ban.
Feb 2004: First sending-off at Real Madrid for thrusting hand into face of Pablo Alfaro, the Seville defender.
May 2004: Sent off for second booking after a rash challenge on Djalminha, the Deportivo midfield player.
April 2005: Tries to punch Quique Álvarez, the Villarreal defender.
July 2006: Butts Marco Materazzi in chest during World Cup final
There are 8 offenses for either punching, slapping, stomping or butting opponents. These read like a criminal's wrap sheet and he should consider himself lucky that he commits this violence on a field where he can't be arrested.
Now let me save many of the naysayers some trouble. Materazzi is no angel. In fact I will say he is dirty and aggressive and violent. But that doesn't matter. Who kept their cool and who lost it? I was on a internationally syndicated radio show before the final saying that I was a huge Italy fan, but also being a fan of Zidane, if Italy had to lose, I wouldn't mind seeing Zidane raise the trophy. That was of course before the final. So I have no axe to grind and simply have no problem calling it as it is. The truth of the matter is I don't know whether I am more shocked with what Zidane did or by the many who try and excuse it. He is an incredible football player. IMO, he remains in top of all time, even after the incident. But what he did was wrong. It was wrong for his image. It was wrong for his teammates. It was wrong for the sport. And it was wrong for the country he represents.
In the final, go back and watch a particular moment. Henry takes a soft shot in the 2nd half which Buffon easily blocks. After the block, Buffon walks up to Henry and they exchange words. Primarily because a French player had gone down, but Henry kept playing and took the shot while his teammate was down. I don't know exactly what Buffon says, but I'm sure it was something along the lines like why are you taking a weak shot when your man is down. However, Henry's reaction is very clear what he says, even to a non professional lip reader (being sarcastic here). He says "VAFA CULO" Go F Yourself. Now Buffon doesn't drop kick Henry. He shrugs it off, stays in the game, and then makes a great save against Zidane later in the game. I'm not telling this story because it was Henry saying something dirty to Buffon. If I can find an example of an Italian player saying something dirty to a French player and the French player not reacting, I will gladly note it as well. In fact, I'm comfortable saying that even though I don't have visual proof, I'm sure several Italian players said dirty things (as did French players) without French players blowing their tops and vice versa. And those French players stayed in the game, played their hearts out, and were around to make big plays that could have changed the game.
The difference is how Zidane reacted to the comments. And here are instances of his past. One or two incidents I could understand. But 8?
_______________________
Zinédine Zidane has been sent off 14 times in his career, two more than Vinnie Jones. Here are those red cards in full . . .
Sep 1993: Marcel Desailly, the Marseilles defender, punches him and the Bordeaux midfield player retaliates in kind.
Aug 1995: Slaps Thorsten Fink, a Karlsruhe player, in the face.
Oct 1995: Sees red for a tackle from behind on Frédéric Mendy, a Martigues player.
Sep 1996: At Juventus, sent off against Perugia after two bookings.
Jan 1997: Punches Enrico Chiesa, of Parma.
June 1998: Stamps on Fuad Amin, the Saudi Arabia captain, during World Cup finals.
Oct 1998: Commits a two-footed challenge on Paolo Sousa, the Inter Milan player.
Oct 1999: Receives a second yellow card for diving against AS Roma.
Sep 2000: Late challenge on Emerson, the Deportivo La Coruña midfield player, in Champions League.
Oct 2000: Butts Jochen Kientz, of SV Hamburg, and receives five-match ban.
Feb 2004: First sending-off at Real Madrid for thrusting hand into face of Pablo Alfaro, the Seville defender.
May 2004: Sent off for second booking after a rash challenge on Djalminha, the Deportivo midfield player.
April 2005: Tries to punch Quique Álvarez, the Villarreal defender.
July 2006: Butts Marco Materazzi in chest during World Cup final