 It’s official, Italy are the World Champions.
While it wasn’t the greatest final you’ll ever see, there was still plenty of tension and drama to keep us on the edge of our seats. It’s always a shame when a big event has to be decided on a penalty shoot-out. England know all too well that they can go either way; but they usually go against us!
Perhaps the bigger shame, at least from an Italian point of view, was Zinedine Zidane’s sending off. People seem to be forgetting that the World Cup was won and lost on Sunday and instead are focusing on a moment of madness from the outgoing French skipper.
While the debate goes on about what was said by Marco Materazzi, let me say that I don’t think Zidane’s red card affected the outcome of the game. France didn’t play any worse in those remaining minutes of extra-time after he’d gone for an early bath.
Okay, it’s highly unlikely that Zidane would have missed a penalty, but David Trezeguet would still have taken one.
It’s inevitable that Zidane’s misdemeanour will be the abiding memory of the World Cup, but I think we can look back and agree, the tournament as a whole has been wonderful.
The highlights have been many, but I would like to pay special tribute to the African contingent.
Ghana did fantastically well to progress in to the second round before bowing out to Brazil, while the Ivory Coast performed wonders but just didn’t get the rub of the green.
Once again, England provided us with the major disappointment of the summer. It pains me to think of the high hopes we had for the boys in the build-up to the tournament when the end result was so poor.
Brazil also let us down – and lost me a few quid – and left Germany looking old and tired.
They say there’s no substitute for experience, and most of the older players performed admirably during the World Cup, in particular Zidane who has been named the player of the tournament. But, Brazil’s old guard of Roberto Carlos, Cafu and Emerson were way past their best.
The blame can’t be put solely on their shoulders though, as even Ronaldinho couldn’t turn it on, and he’s the best player on the planet right now!
Even so, I’ve still enjoyed (almost) every minute of World Cup 2006. Roll on 2010 and South Africa.
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