World Football Thread XIV - Italy: Hail to the Champions

[ískallin]

No, in a football match, that kind of thing HAPPENS ALL THE TIME.

Maybe I didn´t make myself clear enough. What I´m trying to say here is that Materazzi, the cheating c*nt, was looking for that reaction from Zidane. And he got it, Zidane has got some troubles with his temper sometimes, I admit that. The winner here is Materazzi, not the victim, Zidane fell into Materazzi´s trap. By calling Zidane´s mother, sister, and whatnot filthy names, and of course the occasional nippletwist. And you get frustrated in football matches, so it doesn´t really help does it, to have your mother called a dirty terrorist?

I know that these verbal attacks happen all the time in fottball, especially in Italy, but that doesn´t mean it´s right. Do you think so, Lord Shiva?

Oh, by the way, I HAVE played football.

[Frozzy]

Berlin's top World Cup official shot himself in the head just hours after the tournament ended and is now fighting for his life, police say.

Juergen Kiessling, 65, was rushed to hospital from his house in Reinickendorf, a suburb of Berlin, after a neighbour heard the shot.

The motive for the apparent suicide attempt is not yet clear.

German media report that he left two suicide notes - one for his daughter alone, and one for his family.

Berlin hosted the World Cup final on Sunday, when fans watched Italy beat France on penalties.

Mr Kiessling was known as "Mister WM" (Mr World Cup) by colleagues in Berlin. He was responsible for the hugely successful Fan Mile in Berlin city centre, a concourse where giant screens showed the matches to hundreds of thousands of fans who could not get tickets.

The tournament was widely seen as a great success for the host nation.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5168890.stm

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by ískallin
I know that these verbal attacks happen all the time in fottball, especially in Italy, but that doesn´t mean it´s right. Do you think so, Lord Shiva?

No, I don't think it's right. I'm taking issue with two completely different points:

1. People claiming that Zidane did the wrong thing, that he deserved a red card, and that his actions weren't justified, all of which I agree with, but then u-turning and saying that since Materazzi has made dirty tackles in other games, that he deserved to be head butted in the solar plexus. Zidane was not the victim here; you can't say "Yes, I know what he did was wrong, but we all know he has a short temper, and his sister was insulted, and he came out worse of the exchange, therefore he is the victim." Having a short temper is not an excuse - it's a personal failing. And he couldn't both deserve the red card, and be a victim. By that logic, I could make the symmetrical argument that "We all know Materazzi plays dirty, therefore, it's not his fault that he provoked Zidane." Zidane is one of the greatest players to have played the game, and we should demand better of him.

2. I'm not Italian (my country, India, which sucks more than almost any other country on Earth in football, did not qualify). So I came into the World Cup as an unbiased, neutral spectator. I liked how Germany played, I liked how Argentina played, I really felt for Angola and wanted them to do well. But most of all, I was really impressed by Italy. To see them come out of their scandal-rocked domestic league, and have them play like a real team was an admirable thing. The closest thing they have to the likes of Ronaldinho, Rooney, Zidane - i.e. in the popular mind, individual greatness that carries a team - is Totti, and he was injured. So I liked how their 12 goals were scored by 10 players. I liked how solid their defence was, and how imperious Cannavaro was. I liked how, despite how solid their defence was, Zambrotta and Grosso could own the flanks, make incisive runs, and score goals. The Germany-Italy game was one of the best I've ever watched. In short, Italy were deserving champions. So I take issue with the fact people belittle this achievement by saying things like "Oh, look at those dirty Italians, they only won because they cheated and got Zidane ejected," and (a la Agathon and co.) "Italians are greaseballs and have destroyed world football" and "I wish Zidane did more than just headbutt that dirty Italian, I wish he kicked him in the nuts with his studs."

[Imran Siddiqui]

Wait... so you were neutral and you CHOSE to root for the Italians? WTF?! Why not pick an exciting team like the Germans?

[Drake Tungsten]

Why not pick an exciting team like the Germans?

What is the world coming to when the words "exciting" and "Germans" can be used in the same sentence?

[notyoueither]

I want Zidane to apply for Canadian citizenship and come play here.

We may never win, but we won't take no ****!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

Why not pick an exciting team like the Germans?

What is the world coming to when the words "exciting" and "Germans" can be used in the same sentence?

I believe this joke was made like a thread ago

[Drake Tungsten]

You actually read the threads here?

[MRT144]

football should be more like hockey and im sticking to that.

[Drake Tungsten]

Thank you Zizou, for making soccer interesting again at the very end of that terrible World Cup...

http://johnnytriangles.blogspot.com/2006/07/fun-with-zidane.html

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Colon™

I don't know about you, but when I was playing defender I somehow managed to do my job without planting spikes in other peoples knees, spitting in their neck and even without calling them any names.

Same here. If our opponents did the things that are apparantly commonplace in other countries, what Zidane did would be considered the height of restraint. If I got held, nipple tweaked and insulted in such a short span I wouldn't let the offender off without a game or season ending injury.

[MRT144]

I would have just beat his team by myself and then pissed on his mum

[Harovan]

That greasy pizza cook round the corner keeps saying things like "bon giorno signor" to me. That's probably a dirty macaroni insult, and I should punch him in his face for that next time.

[MRT144]

Sir Ralph, I highly advise you just eat as much of his pizza in ill gotten ways as possible.

[Datajack Franit]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui




Sorry, I know you liked him, but this is GOOD news for the US team as they were aggressively going after Klinsmann for the US National Team Coach .

Now that you have a coach all you need is to aggresively go after the football players as well