Does anybody have a video link to Zidane's head butting?

[The Backlash Cometh]

What a way to make an exit.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/soccer/specials/world_cup/2006/07/09/zidane.finale.ap/index.html

[HarveyBrooks]

1. Yup

Here ya go

[wicket]

2. I couldn't believe it

What a pathetic way to end one's career.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. I couldn't believe they allowed the Italian to hold him with both arms.

Still, if there was any moment that a classy guy like Zidane needed to keep his cool, it was that moment.

My husband said that he thought the sideline ref only called it after he saw it up on the overhead monitor.

[DelawareValleyDem]

3. Here

Yeah, it sucks. Great player, horrible act. What a way to leave.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOGL9y-ggVU&search=Zidane%20Head%20Butt

[Mass]

4. French media report that the Italian player called him a terrorist.

Sure, he should have not answered like that in a game of this level, but if it is true, it is very sad.

[MadHound]

6. And sadly, Zidane took the bait

I was actually rooting for Italy to win, but more than anything I wanted a good, memorable game. Zidane spoiled that with his stupidity. It is the oldest trick in the book, find your opponent's most valuable player, and try to get him to commit a game ending foul. Zidane fell for it, hook, line and sinker. He was walking away, he should have just kept walking. But instead, in a game that was obviously going to come down to PKs, he took himself, France's best PKer, out of the match when he was most needed. Utter stupidity.

What's sadder yet though is how Italy's victory has been overshadowed by Zidane's stupidity. Every story leads off with "Italy Wins, ZIDANE HEADBUTTS!!". A huge slight of Italy and all their effort in winning a great World Cup.

[seabeyond]

7. being pacifist, and good sportmanship. everyone should equally

jump on the other guys ass too and call him a jerk along with the head butter. the head butter (as you see i dont follow the game) may have reacted poorly and should be punished, but the one that received the head but egged it on. it is always the one that does the second punish that gets in trouble..... i tell my kids

[devilgrrl]

8. Not to defend Zidane but the instigator should have been booted too.

You know he said something vile - why do those assholes always get away with it?

[Mass]

9. Because insulting another player is not an infraction to the rules.

[seabeyond]

11. i think holding his arms like that is, though. and i am not a soccer

follower, but pretty simple. he was cheating.

[Mass]

14. I have not seen these part.

[seabeyond]

it is clearly on video provided by poster one or two... leading up

to the head butt

[sendero]

48. cheating is for the refs to deal with..

... not with an assault.

[seabeyond]

49. i was clear in my post...... never said assault warranted. did i? n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

28. But holding someone with both arms is an infraction of the rules.

[Codeine]

34. But's that's *at most* a foul.

Players hold each other up all the time. If it's off the ball and non-violent it rarely gets called and almost never results in even a yellow card; usually the official will just warn the player.

[WinkyDink]

41. Maybe because taunts don't cause, you know, actual injuries?

Just a thought.

[seabeyond]

10. exactly. that guy was breaking rules all over the place. clearly

it is not to defend zidane behavior, lol lol . but...... the other guy was an ass and gets away with it

[RagingInMiami]

61. The Italian guy did not commit battery

[seabeyond]

68. no he didnt. nor did i suggest he did. yawl come on my post

implying i am saying something i am not. go figure. i clearly made a statement, yet some are purposely being obtuse to make a point

[DelawareValleyDem]

12. Cause no official heard it

"He said this to me." "No I didn't". How's the ref going to know who's telling the truth?

[devilgrrl]

16. The ref didn't see the head butt happen either...

he relied on another witness.

[Mass]

18. Thanks. I had not seen that part.

[DelawareValleyDem]

20. A witness who is an official

He's allowed to help on something like that.

[devilgrrl]

22. What if he heard the comment, does that matter?

Whatever the case, the Italian should have gotten tossed as well and I'm sticking with.

[DelawareValleyDem]

27. Sure it matters

but there's no evidence that he did hear anything.

[Codeine]

36. Nope. Doesn't matter at all.

Trash-talking is a part of every sport. It's what players do to throw each other off their game. Only the weakest allow themselves to be baited. I love Zizou, but he made an ass out of himself.

Nobody gets red-carded over a comment -- it's not how the sport works.

[The Stranger]

57. Suppose a White player used the "N" word against a Black player.

Maybe this puts it in a little more perspective.

[Codeine]

64. So? They're all big boys.

That's sport. People say whatever they can to piss you off. The better players won't rise to the bait.

[Bassic]

73. Bingo

It's exactly the same situation. Or imagine Zidane had been Jewish? Everybody would be rooting for him right now. It's all a matter of perspective.

[Freddie Stubbs]

17. Do we actually know that he said it?

Is there any audio of it?

[Mass]

19. As I said, it was reported in the French media.

Obviously, there was no audio.

[Freddie Stubbs]

35. So, we are taking the head-butter at his word?

:shrug:

[Mass]

42. Well a French arab can only be a liar, of course.

[Freddie Stubbs]

58. It seems that it is a he-said, he-said

I have no idea who said what to whom. All I know is that one guy head-butted another guy.

[The Stranger]

62. Thanks for sharing that with us, but racist remarks need to be addressed,

not dismissed or condoned -- especially here on a Progressive web site.

[Freddie Stubbs]

63. Do we know if any racist remarks were made?

Were there any witnesses?

I watched the end of the match yesterday, and had no idea the guy was an Arab.

[The Stranger]

72. Algerian, and Italy has a long history with Imperialism/war in N. Africa.

[Codeine]

66. This isn't political.

It's sport. It's highly paid, lionized athletes seeking to get under each other's skin. They all do it, and Materazzi knows that Zizou has a temper and took advantage to needle him.

It's not good, or moral, or nice, or PC -- it's just a bunch of competitors on the field psyching each other out. Zidane turned out to be the weaker mind on the pitch that day.

[The Stranger]

60. Oh, come on, you know cowardbigots always make their taunts on the record.

What planet have you been living on?

[Freddie Stubbs]

65. So we are assuming that the Italian is guilty becasue the type of offence

is usually done off the record?

[The Stranger]

71. No, we're not assuming innocence because the remarks were unrecorded.

[Codeine]

67. Talking crap isn't grounds for a red card.

Right or wrong, that's just the way it is. Headbutting a player that hard, however... no excuse.

[RagingInMiami]

56. Regardless of whether he said it or not

It was only words. It happens all the time in games.

[Codeine]

69. Exactly.

What he said was immaterial. I'm sure people have said worse to Zizou before, and he's said things just as reprehensible to others. That's what happens when the stakes are high and tempers run strong. That's sport!

[RagingInMiami]

70. In the NFL and NBA

Trash-talking has become another strategy to intimidate your opponent. Warren Sapp is notorious for it. And why should there be a penalty for it? Who is to define what is acceptable and what is not?

When it gets physical, then there is no question on whether somebody crossed the line.

[MadHound]

21. Why should the instigator have been booted?

First off, the only people who truly know what was said are Zidane and Matterazi. Secondly, it could have been a fairly innocous statement that Matterazi made. A few minutes earlier, Zidane was obviously deeply frustrated when the Italian goalkeeper Buffon made a miraculous block of Zidane's header. Matterazi could have simply made some innocous statement concerning that which set Zidane off. This isn't Zidane's first, second, or even third ejection for such behaviour. The man has a temper and was known to take it out on the field.

And again, this is the oldest trick in the book, across all sports. Football players regularly go after each other on the line in order to make their opposite number flinch and get called for an offside penalty, should the instigator of those conversations be punished also? No, I think not. Zidane is a grown man, and should realize the ramifications of his actions, and just walk away. Instead, he reacted with anger and violence and took himself out of the game. Stupid and foolish, no excuse for it. And no onus on Matterazi for using said tactic.

[seabeyond]

26. he was holding arms ... penalty. cant be thrown out of game

regardless of what was said. but he can be publically flogged. headbutter needs to be thrown out of game. poor sportsmanship. bad.... but.... we can understand why he reacted. too far, yes. but the other guy was an ass.

[MadHound]

29. Well, there was lots of holding going on throughout the match

The ref was letting them play, so they were ALL playing. It was after the two had seperated, after Zidane was walking away that something Matterazi said, either then or earlier, that stuck in Zidane's craq, he turned around, waited for Matterazi, and then butted him to the ground.

Sorry, but that is gross stupidity on Zidane's part. Having played in more than one sport(including soccer), getting and giving insults and smack talk from opponents is indeed part of the game. The only proper way to respond to it is simply ignore it, and keep on walking. This is drilled into every athelete from the first time they hit the locker room. Zidane failed to do so, and his whole team paid the price.

Sorry, but I find no fault with Matterazi, and I find all of this talk about how he should have been kicked out also simply to be sour grapes.

[Codeine]

37. What? Everybody holds in football.

It happens all over the pitch. Shirt-tugging, shoulder barges, obstructions -- that's all part and parcel of football and athletes in competition. And shit-talking goes right along with it. You think Zizou has never talked trash before? All players do it.

[seabeyond]

39. didnt know this. as i say, i dont watch soccer. jsut saw the obvious

holding. seems wrong to me, and they get a penalty in football, basketball.....

it is cheating

guess soccer it is not

[MadHound]

52. Holding is a penalty in most team sports

Such as soccer, football and basketball. However it is still quite prevalent, and goes unnoticed and unchecked. In fact the standard wisdom in football is that holding is so prevalent that the ref could call the penalty on every play if he so wished. However it would slow the game down and change it drastically.

[seabeyond]

59. in our house watching football, we all call holding each and everytime

we see it. and sometimes ref calls it sometimes they dont. when they dont, the watchers boo the ref. its cheating

[sendero]

47. Exactly...

... these guys arent' babies, they get taunted and screwed with verbally on the field (and off)ALL THE TIME. I don't care if the guy said "your mom sucks cocks in hell", he had no reason to do that and frankly it was an assault.

[Balbus]

31. The asshole didn't get away with it - Zidane got booted.

And there's no doubt about it - Zidane is an asshole. This wasn't the first time he committed "thuggery" during a game.

[oasis]

13. Ala Woody Hayes, Zidane wipes out a career of achievement with one act.

:-(

[Mass]

15. No he does not. He will remain one of the best players of his generation

[MadHound]

23. And yet the first association made with him

Will be how he got himself kicked out of the World Cup Final when his team needed him the most. A stupid act on his part, and one that will always haunt him.

[oasis]

30. It's how he will be remembered.(eom)

[Mass]

45. May be in this country. Not in the rest of the world and certainly not

in France.

He won the 2006 Golden Ball, BTW.

Sure what he did was stupid, but it seems way overhyped in this thread.

[oasis]

50. How do you remember O.J. ? Great football player?

[Mass]

53. He was accused of killing his wife . Nothing to do with anything.

But if you want to make a mountain out of a molehill, feel free.

[oasis]

54. And that's how you remember O.J..Get my point?

:shrug:

[Mass]

55. LOL - If you want. I disagree and only time will tell.

[malaise]

46. And he won the Golden Boot

to boot for best player in the World Cup.
ZouZou was stupid to head butt Matterazi, no matter the comment, but the bigget violation surrounding the incident was the 4th official calling the incident to the refs attention. FIFA does not allow replays to even decide goals so how did the 4th offical call this. The referree did not see the head butt since he was way down field and neither did the linesmen.

A stupid end to a lousy final.

[Bassic]

74. That's right.

The officiating was a joke from start to finish in that game.

[JVS]

25. Didn't Woody Hayes have lots of acts leading up to the ultimate incident

It wasn't as though he was even-tempered before hitting the guy

[DelawareValleyDem]

32. Yes, Woody did

Actually, Zidane had a couple too.

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/5760742

Despite the head butt, Zidane was awarded the Golden Ball as the best player in the tournament. You certainly can't argue with his performance before the ejection.

[oasis]

33. Woody assaulted an opposing player after he had intercepted a pass.

It doesn't get much worse than that.

[WinkyDink]

43. He attacked a player on the SIDELINES, as well.

[oasis]

51. "sidelines".

Woody assaulted a Clemson U. player on the sidelines., that was the incident I was refering to.

[Freddie Stubbs]

38. Few remembers any of Fatty Arbuckle's films

[NNN0LHI]

24. Thats terrible. And Barbaro was such a nice little pony too

Oops wrong thread.

Don

[devilgrrl]

40. The Italian probably called him a Liberal Loser...

and Zidane should have walked away like Democrats do when Karl Rove suggests that they give aid and comfort to terrorists.:sarcasm:

Right kids?

Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. :eyes:

[WinkyDink]

44. I think he yelled. "Freedom fries!"

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

75. Eh, it's soccer.

That's like hockey with grass.

[Kellanved]

76. Here's a video with more details

"hot headed" doesn't begin to describe it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDj8WqdzcO0