Neowin's Official World Cup 2006 Thread

[ekerazha]

And... Italy took only 2 goals on this World Cup: 1 own-goal and 1 penalty that didn't exist ;)

Yes but it's too hard to finish a World Cup finale with a poor Italy team performance..... :whistle:

Italy don't play football after half time......... :laugh:

France can't goal after... the match ;) Italy defence scored out the poor French attack.

For me France is champion.

That's ok :rofl:

[ambiance]

The version they didn't want the public to see!

[D!rtySh@dy]

And... Italy took only 2 goals on this World Cup: 1 own-goal and 1 penalty that didn't exist ;)

France can't goal after... the match ;) Italy defence scored out the poor French attack.

That's ok :rofl:

No problem for french defense also........but Materazzi is a ****ing man. :angry:

Italy is great for simulation, cheating, non-existing penalty, etc......

Italian attack is not very good........ :whistle: Italy is good only on free kick or corner.

Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina, etc......next season ? LOL LOL LOL just cheater

[Michael_C]

I don't watch soccer but I saw that headbut on the news and thought it was bloody awesome. What a way to end your career. :laugh:

[ipodman715]

Zidane Extreme Headbutting (full):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgzSn2e1syg

:p

[iconoclast]

The red card towards Zidane was deserving...

BUT

I do not agree that he had to talk/comment it to another referee to make his final choice when he didnt see anything. Thats the only thing I didnt like. Personally, It hurt to see Zinedine Zidane go out like that and I would have said "**** it" and taken out a yellow. My explanation to the FIFA would be that I didnt see anything.

And France was better and dominated Italy. I think also France's coach made a error taking out of the game Thierry Henry and putting in Sylvain Wiltord. Yes, Henry was tired but you need someone like Henry when it comes to penalties. David Tr?z?guet shocked me...

Did Italy deserve the win? Not by a long shot

Was the red card towards Zidane correct? Yes

Is Italy the luckiest team in the world cup? You betcha.

Those are the facts. There is no other way around it.

I don't get you. That is the whole point of the assistant referees; to see what the other can't! Should the ref had not called offsides because it was the side judges, not he himself, who saw the offsides? Should he have called Zidane's PK a no-goal because it was the side judges, not himself, who clearly saw it go in completely?

The ref did the absolute correct thing in consulting with the assistants before making a call. The only fault on that play; other than obviously Zidane, who is not only a grown man, but a (supposed) professional who should be able to ignore taunts in such an important game, was the stadium screen workers. The video should not have been shown untiafterb> a call was, or was not, made on the injury.

Now there will be speculation of whether or not the assistants saw the actual foul, or the video.

In my opinions:

Was Zidane a disgrace? Yes

Was the referee's actions and decisions appropriate? Absolutely

Should Italy have won? I do not think so. France was the better team throughout the tourney. Too many times they got lucky goals in the final minutes of a game. I don't believe they were the best team in the tournament, but that is soccer, on any given day, any team can win, and Italy had a lot of those given days this past month.

[TokyoKiller]

Yeah, well done Italy but next time try to play more fair and maybe don't jump and kickbox on the field as this is soccer where youre supposed to run with the ball not jump with/for the ball.

Materazzi is an ######, I don't care what you think but that ****** needs a good lesson and I think Zidane had it with that ******, and that's why the French coach was clapping for Zidane when he was red-carded.

Oh and the person who's saying Penalties are not about luck, then maybe you need to go and look at the Australia and Italy game :rolleyes:, other than that, France played like a world class team while Italy...Well they just played like a bunch of kids who fell every other minute and bitched about it.

I wanted Germany to win this cup, and I hope they get it next time they qualify to the finals.

[mz_]

Congratulations to Italy!

Football is about winning games, no one ****ing cares who is the "moral champion", so french people STFU and live with this.

[blackhorse]

Congratulations to Italy!

Football is about winning games, no one ****ing cares who is the "moral champion", so french people STFU and live with this.

If morals, sportsmanship and ethics were not a part of the game, then football would be like WWF where each and everyone would be kicking, yelling and p*ssing on each other. So you better watch your tongue, else you might get red carded :laugh:

[sn00pie]

Could somebody win against Italy? No.

Could France win against Italy? No.

Who is the champion of the world? Italy

Couldn't have said it better myself. End of story. :)

[mz_]

If morals, sportsmanship and ethics were not a part of the game, then football would be like WWF where each and everyone would be kicking, yelling and p*ssing on each other. So you better watch your tongue, else you might get red carded :laugh:

My english is very very bad, but I was referring to this "moral":

mor?al (m?r'əl, mŏr'-)

adj.

Having psychological rather than physical or tangible effects: a moral victory; moral support.

[blackhorse]

My english is very very bad, but I was referring to this "moral":

mor?al (m?r'əl, mŏr'-)

adj.

Having psychological rather than physical or tangible effects: a moral victory; moral support.

oopsie...my bad

[djsaad1]

Just wanted to add in some things.

A lot of people are saying the penalty kick was false it shouldnt of been a penalty and I agree. But there was another foul in the box that was a penalty that the ref didn't call probably a make up call for the first one.

Also the header by toni on the free kick did not seem to be offsides in my opinion it should of been a goal, and if the ref would of counted that then a lot of you would not be playing the italy is lucky card.

[L3thal Veteran]

Also the header by toni on the free kick did not seem to be offsides in my opinion it should of been a goal, and if the ref would of counted that then a lot of you would not be playing the italy is lucky card.

I respect your opinion, but after viewing it 4 times, it was clear Toni and his teammate were offsides during that cross by half a step.

Moving on to the future. I am curious to see how these players will feel when they get home and their teams are relegated to Serie B and C.

In my opinion, Italy did not play the best football, far from it. However, Italy plays a very simple style and that style gets them victories. They don't play beautiful like other teams do, but they play solid defense and the few times they attack, they are efficient.

Nonetheless, it is safe to say that Italy didn't deserve to be in the final after the Australia game, but many also say France probably shouldn't have been here either on that semi-questionable penalty on Henry against Portugal.

In my opinion, the refs made it up to Italy for what happened in 2002 against Korea. The poor victim this time was Australia who played one hell of a game.

[kombolcha]

i love the people who say italy didn't deserve it for whatever reasons :laugh:

[Dejon]

[ambiance]

LOL! CACACACOMBO BREAKER!

Sorry for the caps.

[_I am Reptar]

ROFL

[theyarecomingforyou]

LMAO @ oddity

[ekerazha]

No problem for french defense also........but Materazzi is a ****ing man. :angry:

Italy is great for simulation, cheating, non-existing penalty, etc......

Italian attack is not very good........ :whistle: Italy is good only on free kick or corner.

Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina, etc......next season ? LOL LOL LOL just cheater

Ohh... you had a BIG problem because we did a TRUE goal with Materazzi. The only problem we had was YOUR fake penalty ;)

Try again on 2010 baby... maybe one day your team will win 4 World Cups.

[KzR]

Italy's defense was rock solid throughout the tournament. They conceded only two goals, one was an own goal another was the penalty by Zidane. No one could score against them from normal play!

[deuz]

No they were for sure not. They lost, and Italy won, their is no way around it. If france was the better team they would have won. France didnt play good enough to win, so they lost, if they played better they might have won, but the didnt so they lost. So quit making excuses.

ffs u jus dont get it.....pls learn to read... :pinch:

[FlibbyFlobby]

Ohh... you had a BIG problem because we did a TRUE goal with Materazzi. The only problem we had was YOUR fake penalty ;)

Try again on 2010 baby... maybe one day your team will win 4 World Cups.

The penalty wasn't fake. Materazzi caught Maloudas foot, which made him fall. It may not look clear from the angle you watch most the match from, but watch the replays and its as clear as day. And the time he got tackled in the second half was a penalty too (but it wasn't awarded), as the defender did not win the ball.

[Vykranth]

I do think it's really unfair to concentrate on Zidane's head-butt.

First, the final was much more than that: the two teams played really well. Even if the second half was dominated by France, the Italian team did not break and, yes, Gianluigi Buffon deserves his title of Best Goal-keeper.

For Zidane, it's a sad end for him. The head-butt is an image I want to forget. He is known to lose his temper: during his carrer, he was red-carded a dozen of times for similar facts. He cannot be excused: he deserved that red card without question: he is merely human.

I only wish to remember all the magic and genius he showed us during his career.

For the World Cup, he pulled the team to the finals. Nobody in France at the beginning of the tournament would have bet an euro on France reaching the finals.

Zidane and all the other players of the team, Lilian Thuram, Claude Mak?l?l? to name those who stopped their international career, have made all of us vibrate. Seeing Thuram in tears at the end was truly heart-breaking.

You may find it sad but football has made the French come together. It's a sense of unity my country has been lacking for a long time.

For that, they deserve a huge thank-you.

[HoochieMamma]