The World Cup - do the Americans care?

[Professor Gast]

Kinda sad that the German team did not make it all the way to the final. At least the team played wonderful soccer and managed to grab the third spot. Provided Klinsmann decides to continue working as coach, this young team has a bright future.

[Degolas]

Disgraceful as it is, that was a great headbutt :P

[Dice]

Congrats Italy. =)

[Dincrest]

I was definitely aghast at Zidane's headbutt.  Getting himself red carded in the crucial moments of the biggest game... a shame it was.  A shame.  Especially since France were playing so well, especially in the 2nd half and overtime.  What in blue blazes was he thinking?  

Now we wait till the next World Cup.  Till then, I'll still root for Real Madrid since my favorite players are on that squad (i.e. Robinho, Zidane, Beckham.)

[Professor Gast]

This just sucks big time. The French were the better team for the entire second half and overtime. Just like in the last two minutes of the overtime against Germany, the Italians were lucky in the finals again as well. Such a team doesn't deserve the Cup.

[Masamune]

I honestly don't think the refs even saw the headbutt and then they called it after seeing the replay.  Which is lame, even though the headbutt was bad too.

[Degolas]

Good final. I agree that it's a shame, as France played really well, especially the second half.

What the hell was Zidane thinking though. I mean, it was a great headbutt, but why do it? What a shit way to end such a career.

[Leo]

To be fair, though, we're not sure how it all began. Perhaps the italian player instigated Zidane beforehand. I'm not so sure myself, were those two at odds throughout the match?

It will go down as an upset--the team captain of France's team deliberately headbutts an italian player square in the chest, and he went down cold. I can't help but wonder what it was all about. I wonder if we'll ever know. Ah well.

The match was pretty exciting. The pressure was certainly on throughout the 120 minutes, and the penalty kicks, of course. I agree, that France dominated the ball throughout the game, but I have to give Italy some credit for making some good shots.

[Dade]

Good final. I agree that it's a shame, as France played really well, especially the second half.

What the hell was Zidane thinking though. I mean, it was a great headbutt, but why do it? What a shit way to end such a career.

I have to agree about the Zidane part....

The guy could have left the game with a great legacy....being in multiple World Cups, coming out of retirement to play and try to win one last tournament....only to pull that bullshit?

What a fucking joke. I'm glad France lost just because of that crap.

[GhaleonOne]

Such a team doesn't deserve the Cup.

I'm with you. Italy didn't deserve the Cup, and I honestly felt they were the second dirtiest team in the tournament (Portugal easily taking the first place in that department by a mile).

Regarding Zidane... for a player of that respect, you can only assume the Italian defender made some kind of comment to him that must have really set him off. He's done it before though. He did it to a player when he played at Juventus. Some of the best players are known to loose their cool on occassion (ie. Rooney). Just too bad it had to happen in Zidane's last game and arguably the most important game of his career. I hope people remember him for his legacy, and not a moment of lost control. He's too good to be remembered only for that.

And what was the deal with taking off Henry? He was playing fantastic. I heard something about cramping, but unless it was really bad, you shouldn't be taking off a player of that caliber when PKs looming.

[Sazabirules]

http://imagesocket.com/images/zidane29b.gif

Someone probably already saw this here but I wanted to share it.

[Degolas]

http://imagesocket.com/images/zidane29b.gif

Someone probably already saw this here but I wanted to share it.

That got a LOL out of me :P

[Cauton]

I, too, am sad that Italy won. France were the better team, and it's always disappointing when a game has to be decided with penalty kicks.

Also sad about Zidane's headbutt. What a horrible way to end a magnificent career, and it might well have cost France the victory. Materazzi must've said something increadibly insulting for Zidane to react that way.

All in all I'm not too impressed with this World Cup. The Gold and Bronze matches were pretty good, and there were a few other good games in the cup, but I felt it was dominated by boring, defensive tactics.

[Professor Gast]

According to German TV news, Materazzi called Zidane's mother a whore and Zidane himself a terrorist or something like that. If that's really the case and they can somehow verify it, FIFA should take action against Materazzi as well.

[Dade]

Aww c'mon, Gast, you cant really believe that that kind of trash talk like this is an isolated incident. No matter what was said, Zidane had no fucking right to do anything like that.