Ah, the jealousy. The 66 side was a great team. You'd be a footballing know-nothing to deny that. Oh, wait a minute...
So you are automatically calling Materazzi a racist based on what a newspaper believes he said? That's totally unfair. There is no evidence (yet) that he made a racist comment. Professional lip readers are making this claim, however if you read what all "professional lip readers" are saying they're not in agreement. There is a big group of them that Materazzi made a comment about his sister and mother. There is another group that believes he called him "a son of a whore." Don't just jump on the terrorist bandwagon to make Zidane out to be some martyr here. What he did was completely uncalled for. By the way, Materazzi has admitted that he did insult Zidane but he DIDN'T call him a terrorist. I believe him. Furthermore, if you condemn Materazzi for that you are completely sheltered from competitive sports. I don't like trash talking but it is constantly part of the game. Don't be naive to this. As Materazzi said, he didn't say anything that isn't said dozens of time every game. I don't think Materazzi is a saint by any means, but why is everyone so interested in defending Zidane here. How do we know Zidane didn't start it? You can go keep saying the "he started it line" but the bottomline is Zidane made a completely fool of himself and is responsible for his actions. Don't give me this "poor Zidane" line as if he was making some type of political statement. What a bunch of crap. He's the best player we have seen the last 10 years but was completely out of line. He went out in the worst possible fashion, taking the momentum away from France and letting his team and country down at the end of the World Cup final...Don't blame Materazzi and don't call him a racist until it's validated!!!!
Great reponse... pretty suprised by your statement Rostam... you've taken all speculation as fact. tisk tisk
Italy '82 can beat Italy 2006 and others before from Italy. With Rossi and his accuracy in Spain '82...GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I rated a team based upon the number of all-time greats that this WC Finals produced. Zambrotta, Nesta, Buffon, Cannavaro or perhaps Pirlo are probably the only all-time greats on the team.
Somewhere in the middle of the pack. Defensively? Superb. Offensively? Decent, but not first-class. Midfield? Some good passing, some notable play. Players? Buffon, Cannavaro, Nesta, Zambrotta, Pirlo, Totti, and Gattuso are players of a very high standard. But Lippi often used some very average players to squeeze results out in games. There were workmanlike players too - Iaquinta, Zaccardo, Grosso, Toni, Perrotta, etc. Memorable games? Germany in the semi-finals. Smart wins over Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Ghana - though nothing too dramatic. Italy 2006 is not comparable to Brazil of 1970 or 1958, it is a bit like Brazil of 1994: solid, difficult to break down, balanced. Personally, I don't doubt that the Italy of 1970 that lost to Brazil had more quality. But Lippi is a better coach than Valcareggi was . . . .
I explained my comments based on the news and also my own judgement after having watched the clip quite a few times. Zidane would have to be completely insane to react as such if the comment was not painful, and also had not been repeated before. We may never know the truth, as I am sure there is high level discussions to calm this if there was any racial comments. Remember this WC was also supposed to be anti-racism thingy!!! I am not jumping on any bandwagon, it's a tough thing to swallow, and again, we may never know the truth, but to me and many people, Matterazzi's comments must have been uncalled for. that's all your point of view, I am not gonna make an argument. I have stated why I think this ought to stop if t was a racist comment which leads common sense to believe it. btw, Matterazzi, or for that matter anyone, doesn't have to be a racist to make racist comments; to the person(s) having to tolerate it is just as bad. This is no reflection on Italian people or even the entire team but a foolish mistake by one can hurt all.
No offense, but both you and Lotharis are complete morons. You miss the point. You don't know what was said. Both of you seem to have been dropped on your heads at birth. You have NO CLUE what was said between Materazzi and Zidane. You don't know. You didn't hear it. No one knows. And yet, the facts never seem to stop either of you. Truly amazing. Here is how a conversation between the two of you might go... Lotharis: The moon is made of cheese. Rostam: Yeah. Big cheese. Lotharis: I once read a book. Part of a book anyway. And it was about class in western society and how it all revolves around cheese. Rostam: Yeah. The newspaper said the same thing. Lotharis: The moon is made of cheese. Rostam: I knew it. Cheese!
im only 21 so i have limited knowledge of World Cup champions of the past...but from what I DO know... This Italian team has a better defense then the 94 Italian team that held Brazil scoreless untill PK's...And I feel that the 06 offense was better (minus Baggio). So i doubt that 94 Brazil team is scoring on the 06 Italians, and I say Italy could score... THe 06 defense is better than the 98 defense that couldnt be beaten by France without PK's, and the '06 offense is MUCH better than the 98 Offense (again minus Baggio). Are they better than 98 France? don't know possibly a wash...But I think the 06 France offense was better than France's offense in 98, so IDK!! lol This is the best Italian team of the decade....and I personally feel the 2nd best WC champ since 1990...2002 Brazil being better...maybe 3rd depending on how good you think 98 France was sorry for my knowledge of cups prior to the mid-late 80's being not so great I was 1 when the Argies won in 86 lol....
The only teams better than this is the italian 1982 side overcoming Brazil who were favourites in a tense game then going on to beat Germany pure class from the Azzuri.
with no mention of how the west germany they beat had the hotly competed pk game just days prior with France... and how a controversial goal changed the game... and how UGLY that 1982 team played... constantly kicking it back to Dino Zoff all the time to relieve the constant preasure of their opponents... OR how great the argentina and german teams were in that time that also went on to win championships of their own this 2006 team isn't even as good as the 2002 brazilian team...
yes... welcome to negativerepville... I never once said that I knew what was said, nor do I condone what Zidane did... for you to miss the obvious sarcasm of my response, and then go on a tirade making claims about what I think shows your complete ignorance... and bias towards Italy... and if you could see "Rostam" was not agreeing with what I said... but making his own sarcastic retort... so we are not in agreement over the issue... to lump us in together without knwoing what youre talking about shows again... your ignorance... personally I don't care what was said/done nothing warranted that response from Zidane... and as far as I'm concerned I do have a pretty damn good idea about what was said, going off several reports of the incident and the video... it went to the extent of Materazzi grabbing his shirt and pinching his nipple, and Zidane responding that if he wanted the shirt he would give it to him after the match... and then im sure they went onto the discussion of which one of them was gay... prompting Materazzi to say what lip readers have pointed out to be an Italian term meaning something alongs the lines of "you take it up the @$$" which is when Zidane turned around and did that... sure I think the particulars may be slightly different than that... but piecing together everything which has been said about it... thats probably close enough to what happened... nothing that would provoke a head-butt he challenged Zidane's manhood and Zidane chose the wrong time/way to respond...
Its quite sad, actually. Just like the 'Hand of God' will forever follow Argentina's victory, so will the current fiasco cling to this World Cup. And although Zidane was WRONG, the effect on children is overly exaggerated. Zidane was instantly punished, his legacy in doubt, and the whole world is condeming his actions. If anything, we told our children that violence will never, ever be tolerated. No matter how important the game, no matter who it is, no matter what the cause. Now all that is left is to punish Materazzi IF (I said 'IF') he indeed said racist remarks. Punches, bruises and headbutts heal much faster than verbal insults that make you feel inferior and rejected. Something we do not teach our children enough.