Hallo.

Monday, July 10, 2006//

sigh. france, the team i support second most lost to italy in the world cup final this morning. they played great football, with free-flowing passing(maximum credit to the one and only zidane) and bursts of lightning-quick attacks. however, they lost by penalties.

the most dramatic point of the match was when zidane executed a headbutt onto materazzi. i was shocked. however, i personally feel that zidane had been treated unfairly. according to today's newpaper, both zidane and materazzi had tussles with each other throughout the match. and in one point of time, materazzi dealt a punch onto zidane's already-in-agony arm. gamesmanship you think? and right before zidane executed his headbutt onto materazzi, materazzi appeared to have said something to zidane which ticked zidane off. that was the last straw.

i feel very sad because zidane's star-studded career had to be ended in such a manner. the moment where zidane walked past the world cup trophy heading into the dressing room was indeed heartbreaking. zidane wept, millions of people wept. zidane, who had actually retired from international football before the world cup, was persuaded and finally decided to participate in one last world cup. this was a huge inspiration to the juniors of the team like franck ribery.

things must have felt even worse when france lost to italy by penalties. however, i don't think zidane should be blamed entirely for france's loss. this is because france did not lose when they were 1 man down. no one would know whether zidane would have scored in the penalty shootout if he was not sent off. what if he missed? the best players in football still do make blunders and mistakes. as many people say, a penalty shootout is like russian roulette. unfortunately, france lost the priceless gamble.

i shall hereby salute my favourite midfielder, zidane, for what he has done in football. in spite of his headbutt, he deserves the maximum respect, for he's legendary. anyway, he still won the fifa golden ball? something to be proud about man.

brandon--
11:12 PM