That's my point. Look, I understand the whole "Oh, he should have kept his head and not done anything to jeopardize his team's chances" line of thinking, but these guys are human beings and I honestly can't assure you that I would keep a cool head if some guy made a racist comment toward me. I am not a hot tempered individual by any stretch, and few things over the years have drawn my ire to the point where I got in a physical altercation, but I am not sure that I would have reacted any differently if I was in his place...of course all this is assuming that the rumors are accurate. That's all really. Regardless, it was a great game in terms of drama and entertainment value. I have thoroughly enjoyed this WC and have enjoyed debating all-things-soccer with you guys...You guys rock!
Come on, bigtexxx, an insult on an Internet discussion forum is not the same as someone saying it to your face...BIG difference.
Wow, I didn't know he's pulled the headbutting stunt before. The guy is a hothead and can't control himself on the field. His legacy is tarnished.
Sadly so... I think soccer fans that truly follow the game won't think too badly about him because the sad fact is that a lot of soccer players do some really violent and unforgivable things all the time. Plus the serious soccer fan probably has seen Zidane in all his glory and this incident probably won't be enough to tarnish everything he has done. The real change will occur with the casual fan who's only memory will be that head butt. Kind of like when Woody Hayes punched a player in his last game at Ohio State. For the average fan, that's all we remember even though he was a great coach.
yeah 2 or 3 isolated incidents during a career that spanned 18 years professionally makes you a hot head... looking at the compilation below, if anybody is a dirty player, it's materazzi
Look I think how Zidane responded was bad, even if it was a racist remark or remark about religion...and I am muslim. That guy did it to get in to Zidanes head. Zidane as a vet and as has been said before the best player in the last 10 years should know better. Even though he is an old G who usually doesnt take crap from dumb lil pretty boys. He should also know soccer better. He should know that he should let that guy get the ball and tackle/slide tackle the **** out of him. Will not only just get him a yellow card but it will hurt the stupid ass more. But he didnt, he completely stopped thinking at that moment. And I dont know where everyone gets this crap about tarnishing their career. People blow up all the time. Who cares. The guy has done so much that it does not even matter. If he had just won one world cup back in '98 then it might have been different. But that has just been one of his accomplishments. Especially that beautiful spin move that he does.
he is the greatest footballer in the past quarter century. and for the most part he's recognized as classy. his legacy is not anymore tarnished than mj's was for coming back with the wizards.
I don't think so. Dumb move yes, but hardly worthy of tarnishing his career. It's not like he gambled on baseball or anything.
Woody Hayes ruined his reputation with one punch in his last game as a coach at Ohio State. The serious fan will look beyond that and recognize what he did in its totality. The casual fan only remembers that punch. The casual fan doesn't watch club soccer, Champions League, etc.., they only watch the world cup and maybe only the finals and they will remember that incident. Like it or not, most people are casual soccer fans that only watch the world cup and will only remember what happens here so to most he's the great soccer player that headbutted a guy in his last game.
maybe most people in america, but the rest of the world follows club soccer and will remember zidane as the best player of our generation...plus who cares what the once every 4 years soccer fan thinks
No, he is not. This guy is the best in the past 25 years. Argubaly these guys were as great as Zidane
Congratulations Italian Rocket, i think italia deserved it, they were the best team this tournament, they have a great defense and goalie, i think cannavaro is the best player this tournament. The move of Zidane was stupid, i do not think his career is tarnished, however no matter what the guy said it is stupid to do those sort of things, you know he wants you out of the game, or atleast he wants to be in your head, so letting him win like this by loosing your temper is stupid.
Ditto. I already miss it. I think I am one of the few that likes it every four years. Makes it that much more important and meaningful. And the fact that I just went HD this year made this World Cup flawless. I even went and got my Pop's old tapes of previous World Cups from him and began watching a few of the classics. (Side Note: "El Pibe" was great with that ball) I enjoyed reading EVERYONE in this thread. I checked and read this everyday since the beginning of June. ALOT of you know this sport, and I hope 4 years from now, many of you BBSers will once again post in the... "Official World Cup 2010-South Africa Thread" ...coming in 3 years and 9 months...
