Sunday, July 09, 2006

World Cup Wrap-Up

I interrupt my Utah travelogue for this World Cup note. Italy topped France today in the WC final on penalty kicks after 90 minutes of regulation play, two 15-minute overtimes.

PKs are a poor way to decide a world championship, by the way. The teams choose five of their best players and then they take turns peppering the other team's goalie with shots and whoever makes the most wins. All this can be complicated when your goalie -- France's keeper Fabien Barthez, for example -- goes down easier than an old French whore, left, allowing shot after shot to find the net.

In this critical phase, France was without its best player and penalty kicker, Zinedine Zidane, far left, who was sent off for headbutting an Italian player during the second overtime. Damnedest thing I've ever seen. The guy was in line for sainthood, if you listened to the announcers who called the game, the second coming of the second coming, if you will. Then, in his last World Cup game before retirement, he gets into a scrum with the Italian guy and turns around and BAM, nails the guy in the middle of the chest with his head, knocking his opponent ass-over-applecart. Folks, that's an automatic red card for a flagrant foul and just like that, France is down one player. The team seemed like it had been kicked in the noisettes from there. End of story. The cup now resides in Italy. We should all be so lucky. And if you read the Euro press on the matter, Zidane finishes his career in disgrace.

Posted by Unclejbird @ 9:11 PM