The World Cup is finally over.. For me it is the end of my night shifts (I'm still trying to figure out if that is a good thing) But if I were to pick out one particular moment that left its impact on me in some way... I would have to call on the Zidane-Materazzi incident. I still remember how I felt that morning when it all unfolded.. We had run a special show at 3:00 in the morning... and the adrenaline and excitement kind of fuelled it.. I felt that I was in some way so close to that event... happening miles away..
Zidane's greatness tarnished by this single act.. Materazzi's unsportsmanlike behaviour (or can we pen it that way really).. When I saw the first replays, I was shocked, angry and upset even... And I immediately shifted loyalties.. How could Zidane have been so foolish and stupid to have thrown away his team.. his country..?? And I bet it was more than that for a player who had worked his way out of all discriminations to become the captain of a country.. to represent one of the best teams in the world.. and then lose it all, playing in the last match of his entire career.. illustrious career! And it comes down to that now doesn't it.. A black mark.. rather a 'red' mark on his football career...
Zidane was never an ordinary guy.. Zizou was the god.. an idol that millions adored...
Then the postmortem began.. And suddenly.. My hatred evaporated and redirected itself... Materazzi took centre stage..
Sledging is an age-old game in itself! I do not know where that phrase was truly born. But If anyone asked me to close my eyes and uttered the word -'Sledging'... Images of Bodyline cricket would appear... Cricket has had its share of the jeers.. The Englishmen probably gave birth to one form of it against the Australians, particularly Don Bradman.. But it is probably the Australians themselves who have perfected it..
Sledging is a sport in football as well.. And Italians have had their tryst with it.. for long now.. Popularly cally 'Furbo' meaning cunning and savvy.. the Italians have found many ways of winning.. I can't help but smirk at this sad reality.. Many would berate this point. But whatever happened to playing fair?
And if only Zidane had kept his head on his shoulders before directing it towards Materazzi's chest.... there would have possibly been another team celebrating.. another country rejoicing.. another captain holding the Jules Rimet in his hands.... Zizou... It could have been you.....
But the head-butt was a glory :) I've felt like doing that to CR and Mathai so many times. Vaazhga Zizou.
ReplyDeletehmmm...btw...in the entire post, what struck me was the BIG difference u brought out between being a sportsperson..and a person who plays..sports.. :) nicely put
ReplyDeleteabout the head-butt...u know..sooo many ppl had such similar reactions...all askin "why????"...somehow...what zizou did didnt disturb much...this guy's been around for loooongg.."the best player of this generation"etc..this one incident does not take that away from him...and takin away the golden ball from him won't minimise in any way what he's achieved..ppl wont forget him.
and i agree with a person who'd posted a comment on another blog (i read it in a paper)...all this while ppl thought zizou was GOD...now he's just like all of us...weakness and hate...and this makes him all the more endearing.
i don't think being actively into sports would change a person (although that is exactly what is expected). zidane is a human with all human emotions. and when you insult someone's mother and sister (if what zidane said is true), you should be prepared to accept the consequences. materazzi should consider himself lucky that zidane didn't break his neck. may be, zidane was deeply into rules of football at a subconscious level - never use your hands in a football match.
ReplyDeletemay be, you are right. zidane should not have responded physically. but, that very action has raised zidane higher in my personal view. zidane gave materazzi what he deserved. about pointing this incident as the reason for france's loss in the final... well, i don't know.
@gounder.. lol.. vaazhga zizou!!! :D
ReplyDelete@pavi..
ReplyDeletei think he was always human na.. but ppl never c tat.. it has been in every sport.. take sachin.. he was GOD till he got out for a duck!! its lik tat.. i thot this incident had to happen for ppl to realise that fact..
@inder.. hey.. no matter wat materazzi said... i stil don go for gettin physical. btw.. materazzi called him a son of an islamic terorist.. those were the exact words.. i think he became more human in everyone's eyes.. he always was.. and to me he wil continue to be a great player.. but stil i believe this incident also showed how weak he was..
ReplyDeletehe got angry so easily!.. that is wat is marring his spotless career..
players are supposed to play on field. not badmouth opponents. by badmouthing zidane, materazzi invited the head-butt. i don't think zidane's action was wrong (though the rules of the game say so). i think that incident has got nothing to do with zidane's sporting ability or career. he just answered a bigmouthed opponent in a way not accepted by FIFA. unfortunate but just.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete@ inder.. m sure u wud hav heard this a lot of times inder cos it's so cliched to me.. a thousand guys say a thousand stupid mindless stuff tat u wud do best to ignore,, heard of sledging.. i and so do many others.. think sledging is the most unsportsmanlike behaviour any player could possess.. the italians are masters of that.. y do u wanna counter their stupidity (to put it lightly) who's the loser???!!! not bone-head materazzi!! he got away wit the cup...
ReplyDeletethat is right. sledging is stupidity and it is always better to ignore stupidity. unfortunately, it is easier said than done.
ReplyDeleteas a sportsperson, i can develop my sporting skills. i can make myself mentally tough enough to face the match pressures. but, sledging is something unsporting and inhuman. not just it is tough to hear my opponent making crude comments on me, my family, friends, people, country, race, religion and whatnot, i think that it is degrading to me if i let my opponent to get away with it. i expect that if the rules of the game could not prevent my opponent from sledging at me, it should also not take my reply to him seriously.
the refrees who failed to stop materazzi from sledging at zidane should not have taken zidane's head-butting into consideration. it would have been just if the refree had shown red-card to materazzi along with zidane. yeah.. yeah.. refrees didn't know what actually had happened when it all happened. but, fifa threatening to take back zidane's golden ball award... that is a joke. why don't fifa take back the world cup from italy for materazzi's ungamely behaviour?
@ inder.. wat ur saying is.. "if u slap me once, i wil murder u.. and if i m sent to hell for that, so shd u for slapping me" tats plain stupid.. because ultimately.. materazzi was not uses physical force.. zidane could hav retaliated verbally.. y head-butt.. temperament is a VERY important thing for a player! y shd u b bothered if some nut-case is having loose-lips!! concentrate on the game yaar!! it's ur last!! and as far as the referees r concerned.. thy were dumb thru out anyway! first of al thy dint c wat was happenin.. then thy take a long time to giv the red card.. so no pt bringing them in.. and in case u hav not seen the news.. the golden ball was not taken away..
ReplyDeleteZidane was fined and banned from 3 matches.. Materazzi will b missing 2 games..
yeah. if u slap me for no fault of mine, i will slap u back
ReplyDelete// materazzi was not uses physical force.. zidane could hav retaliated verbally.. y head-butt
what happened was not a sport, where players are directed by rules - don't hit the opponent after he is knocked down, don't punch below belt, stop the fight when referee intervenes and yeah... don't bite off opponent's ear. sledging is unsportsmanlike. it obviously triggers an unsportsmanlike reply. materazzi may be good with words. zidane is good at his headbutts. materazzi awakened the animal in zidane. he knew what he was doing and he repeatedly did it on purpose. as zidane himself said, we look only at the reaction. we should also look at the action that provoked the reaction.
// temperament is a VERY important thing for a player
that temperament is different. batsmen need the temperament to score at a rate of 10 runs per over (if that is what is required) facing bowlers bowling at around 100 miles per hour and alert fielders around him covering his tail-ender partner. bowlers need the temperament to bowl well at jayasuriya/sehwag/afridi on fire. we can't expect a sportsman to have the temperament to face unsportsmanlike behaviours from opponents.
i actually mentioned about fifa president sepp blatter's suggestion that zidane could be stripped off his golden ball award.
anyway, what has happened has happened. to my eyes, zidane has come out of the nasty ordeal like a brave knight in shining armour (yeah.. i know that it is a cliched statement :P). my admiration towards zidane has only increased :)
@inder.. puhleeeeez.. ur argument is now beginin 2 sounds baseless!!
ReplyDelete"as zidane himself said, we look only at the reaction. we should also look at the action that provoked the reaction."
who said no!!???!!! he got banned from 2 matches as well!!!
"we can't expect a sportsman to have the temperament to face unsportsmanlike behaviours from opponents."
my response to that is.... DUH!!!!
I would advise u to plz plz chk the dictionary for the meaning of temperament...
And i do no abt the sep blatter suggestion and that dint happen!! his golden ball is stil wit him!!
You got paid to watch FOOTBALL?! I dont know what to say really!
ReplyDeleteHe over reacted. The funny thing is that Italy would have gone on to win anyway. France didnt lose because Zidane got sent off. There were only 5 minutes left in ET anyway.
ReplyDeleteItaly were destined to win. Thats it. Coming through after the scandal that rocked Italy it was just destiny that they would win it.
@z if u've been in any sport for long.. u wud no.. tat nothin can b said til the last min.. evn second.. til the last ball.. etc.. so whether italy wud hav won the wc.. can b argued..
ReplyDeleteand...
"You got paid to watch FOOTBALL?! I dont know what to say really! "
eh??? meanin wat???
baseless argument?! let me reinstate the base of my argument.
ReplyDeletezidane doesn't enjoy head-butting random people. he didn't head-butt materazzi for no reason. head-butting is for sure unsportsmanlike. no doubt about that. but, materazzi invited it by his repeated cheap unsportsmanlike behaviour. it was a case of tit for tat. the problem should have ended then and there. but it didn't what happened?
1. zidane was shown red card.
2. materazzi was not. he played on.
3. the whole world called zidane a freak
4. inspite of being aware of the doubt that materazzi compelled zidane to commit that nasty act, the most responsible fifa head shouted that golden ball may be taken away from zidane. come on, you can't go according to the book at all time. you can do it when you are sure that nothing has gone outside what is said in the book. your referees missed what materazzi did to zidane. so, don't refer to the books to decide on what zidane did to materazzi.
was justice done? well, zidane was banned for 3 matches, materazzi for 2. zidane keeps his golden ball. all these can never rollback the way the world behaved towards zidane, which i think is stupid.
we all know what temperament means. let us look into the positional meaning of the word 'temperament' in sports. in the context of sports, a sportsman should have the temperament to face sporting crisis or extreme situations. we can expect a sportsman to behave sportsmanlike only till he is subjected to sporting situation. the moment he is made to face unsportsmanlike behaviour from his opponent, he is bound to respond in an unsportsmanlike manner.
what zidane did may be wrong. but he didn't do it without any reason. he was compelled to do it. to me, i repeat, TO ME zidane is wronged. this is my view and i don't expect others to share my view :)
good tat u said tat.. cos i don share ur view.. :) and btw.. guess u wud never understand tat if it was tit for tat.. then zidane shd hav verbally reacted to materazzi.. THEN it is tit for tat.. i hope u TRY and understand tat.. a head-butt in response to a verbal insult is NOT.. i repeat.. NOT.. tit for tat!!! amen!!
ReplyDeletehey this is monkey shit man.. whether zidane butted him for good reason or bad is a bad basis for the golden ball thing.. butt or no butt, as long as someone plays as freakin' well as zidane did this time around, the ball is his..
ReplyDeletewhatever happened happened in the heat of the moment, sh'd be over looked..
anyways, 'balls' to fifa..
was just refering to the fact that you were staying up every night to watch football and put a show together! And you were getting paid..thats great! Isnt it?
ReplyDeleteAlso, you look bloody familiar..Are you from PSBB by any chance?
@anonymous.. hmm... interesting.. i no it's wrong to make character judgement.. but u gotta admit.. that was the most stupidest thing zizou could do.. and u sound very familiar..
ReplyDelete@z.. i was not in psbb.. but p.s senior.. u studied in chennai??? mayb u saw me in some culs.. tat possible??
ReplyDeleteinterestin forum this post started huh doofus? u do remember me na??? hardly c u in my comment list anymore.. or on orkut or in my inbox... u get the point dontcha?
ReplyDeleteand i agree wid gounder. vaazhag zizou.. o did i mention, my friend has plans of gettin a cat.. a persian cat named called zizou...now, vaazhga zizou? or jus plain zzzzzzzzzzzzzz?
maami...update already wogayvaa?..
ReplyDeleteHi galll....no new posts?
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