To say someone "had it coming to them" implies something bad happened to that person. On the contrary, Materazzi's shenanigans helped Italy win the WC.
just the fact that you ask this question, the answer is YES! no one will forget his greatness in the game but he will always have that headbutt with him as well, people will always talk about his achievements and in the end they will mention the headbutt cuz that was end of his career. No way you will see a special on zidane and wont see the headbutt. If it happened in the middle of his career and he moved on, it would be different but because it was end of his career and world cup final, it will ALWAYS be remembered.
Well "be remembered" is different from "be affected by" whatever incidence... Now, remember ... at WC94 (near Maradona end career) he was rejected for doping, people still remember that BUT it did NOT affect Maradona's legacy at all ... mostly #2 in ALL TIME
his legacy isn't tarnished for me. same with Eric Cantona and his karate kick. When you list their weaknesses, temper and rash reactions are at the top of the list, but that doesn't change all the items in the list of strengths.
Is Maradona's legacy tarnished because of the "Hand of God" Goal? Well, in my opinion yes, but in most peoples opinions no. I think its about the same thing with Zidane.
In my opinion yes. There's no doubting he was still a great player, but it has tarnished him in the same way that Maradona has been tarnished for many. It's a personal choice, many will take it into consideration when remembering him, many won't. It can never be answered. Hmm...
Muppet. You really are. To the usual haters, James, Tesos and co : Like it or not, Zidane is definitly on par with the greatest. You may prefer Maradona, Pele, (and soon Messi), Cruyff, but comparing Zidane to them or them to Zidane is perfectly possible.
Nice try, now care to explain to us why he should on par with these uber greats with facts and proofs and counter Tribune's posts.
Where exactly he ranks I am still unsure, but he is in the top 10, and though he is no Maradona or Pele, he is not far off. The proof is in the matches and not in any stats. I have posted several times regarding the matter so I dont want to repeat myself, but the best way to judge the player is to watch every touch (whether good or bad) he had in a game. He hardly got knocked off the ball and more often than not made the most efficient pass/play available. His ability to disrupt and destabilize the opposing teams coupled with his understanding and football IQ is rarely seen in football history, and this is all coming from someone who couldnt stand the guy and his personality.
Don't see how you can lose respect for him, infact i was happy he actually done that, especially for what the Italian said. Just because he done that doesn't change his legacy or anything, he's still that amazing player everyone knows. Take Balotelli for example, Ass hole, but one great talent. And i doubt his attitude will be taken into consideration when he retires as still being one hell of a player.
Oops my bad for giving recurring posts. Anyway here are Tribune's posts Why Zidane is overrated 1 Why Zidane is overrated 2 Why Zidane is overrated 3 Why Zidane is overrated 4 Why Zidane is overrated 5
It isn't just Zidane's mood swings, it was his over a dozen red cards that are taken into account when examining his legacy. Roy Keane's reputation was similarly tarnished by his on and off the field antics.
Except going to two WC finals and one Euro. NOTE: Named a thing that Zidane got over most of above players, not implying him being better overall. Haha awesome there's one guy saying Nakata and Micoud were better than Zidane.
Even though I agree with most of your points - especially the GPG part which I pointed out quite a few times - if you're focusing solely on the flaws of a player, you can make anyone look 'bad.' (see James & Co. on Messi) One thing I'm really interested in: Every player can be considered overrated in a sense it just depends on who he is compared to. So compared to which tier of AM do you consider ZZ to be overrated ? Maradona, Platini and Zico should be a given just looking at your posts. Gullit/Charlton? Suarez/Rivera/Kopa? Netzer/Laudrup...?
Thing is messi has a lot of years hopefully ahead of him so people have to wait till he finishes to analyze his career before saying things like "He struggles against physical teams" or "La Liga is hyped Spl" or any argument used against him. Just like Tribune did to Zidane you have to wait and see what the effect of messi dropping form/leaving/retiring on barcelona and if he will to take the team to unprecedented heights or records to rate him a top 30/20/10/5/3/1 player in my opinion. Exactly for example Pele can be considered overrated if someone says that Pele was 10x the player Maradona was. About other AMs I think charlton is clearly better, gullit not so sure. In my opinion in comme's list that is the highest Zidane can reach. One player I find similar to zidane is netzer, they were both brilliant passers who were more of CMs than AM, were not prolific midfielders but had a knack of scoring goals in crucial times and occasions