Shots In The Dark: Zidane to Speak

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Zidane to Speak

Is the tide of public sentiment turning in Zidane's favor? His sponsors have rallied round him, and Adidas is actually launching a website so that supporters can thank him.
The people of France are supporting him, and so is President Jacques Chirac.

On the other hand, in what seems to me like a remarkably stupid public relations move, the head of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, is talking about stripping Zidane of the Golden Ball award, given to the best player in the World Cup. This is wrong on so many levels...

Meanwhile, the Italian, Materazzi, is clearly on the hot seat. "I did insult him, it's true," Materazzi said in Tuesday's Gazzetta dello Sport. "But I categorically did not call him a terrorist. I'm not cultured and I don't even know what an Islamic terrorist is."

Sound credible to you?

More evidence of Materazzi's preferred style of play—dirty—is coming out. He was suspended for two months for punching an opponent in the face in 2004—without provocation—and was roundly criticized for a brutal tackle on a Swedish player in 2005.

And according to Africa's Mail & Guardian, "One Italian senator even suggested that Materazzi -- also sent off three times while playing for Everton in the 1998-99 season -- didn't merit selection for the Italian team because of his physical style."

Meanwhile, the far-right vice-president of the Italian Senate stoked anti-French feeling in the country on Tuesday, branding the French team as "blacks, Islamists and Communists".

Roberto Calderoli, head of the right-wing popular Northern League party, refused to retract earlier comments in which he hailed Italy's defeat of France in Sunday's World Cup final as "a victory for Italian identity".

"When I say that France's team is composed of blacks, Islamists and Communists, I am saying an objective and evident thing," Calderoli was quoted on Tuesday as saying by the Ansa news agency.

Italy's all-white team, from a largely devout Catholic populace, had won against "a France team which sacrificed its own identity by lining up blacks, Islamists and Communists to get results," Calderoli had said on Sunday.

Zidane will be speaking about the incident on Canal Plus television (whatever that is)tonight at 8 PM European time. Does anyone else get the feeling that Italy may have won the Cup, but it's losing the war?

¶ 7:55 AM

Comments:

Richard, I agree with you on many things, but you are wrong on this matter. FIFA should strip Zidane of his award. Failure to do so would suggest that you can head-but opponents but still be adored as the BEST player in the tournament. It is, of course, awkward to reverse a decision made by a vote of journalists, but the alternative is even worse. I am confident that if all the votes had been cast at the very end of the game, even journalists would not have cast their votes for Zidane. There is absolutely nothing that the Italian player could have said, including insulting Zidane's race or religion, that can be said to excuse or justify Zidane's conduct. That is not to say that sponsors or even the Italian team might not want to distance themselves from a player whose words really crossed the line.

# posted by Anonymous : 9:20 AM

Why don't you focus on Zidane stomping on the groin of a Saudi player in the 1998 World Cup? Why did you focus on only Materazzi? Materazzi didn't head butt anyone. Materazzi didn't intentionally try to injure a player. Zidane did.
Italy is the World Champion. Zidane eventually became just a thug in final game (albeit a very good football player).

# posted by Anonymous : 9:37 AM

While all of this controversy has journalists, and even some bloggers, in high heat, one wonders what the motivation is in pressing the case for Zidane vs. the Italians. Zidane was guilty of what he was guilty of, and by any fair measure of the sport he is a dubious candidate for a World Cup award. He certainly deserved the red card. The Italian player said some nasty words, within the rules, and so what? All this media blather -- complete with right wing politicians trotted out to make idiotic statements -- changes not a whit what happened on the field or what it means. It's kind of shameful, not to mention trivializing, to take such glee in turning a sporting incident into a culture war. At least you have to pay a quarter for this sin when you buy the NY Post.

# posted by Anonymous : 9:38 AM

You know, I agree with anon #2 that Zidane's history of bad behavior is relevant, and it's probably true that I've been a bit excessive in praising him. I can't condone or justify what he did, and it has certainly marred the World Cup, that's for sure.

However, I don't believe that stripping him of the Gold Ball is a good idea. It was awarded him by a vote, and that vote seems to have taken into account what happened in the final. So...let it be.

As for the culture war aspect...well, if it's there, it's there. On the other hand, I agree that when politicians use such incidents to try to whip up nationalist fervor, it's deeply unfortunate.

# posted by richard : 9:45 AM

Richard,
The vote did not take into account what happened in the final. The vote was taken at halftime. That has been widely publicized.
You're getting sloppy.

# posted by Anonymous : 10:11 AM

Thanks for the correction, but no need for the ad hominem remarks, eh? As the Blues Brothers once said, "What do you want for nothing?"

# posted by richard : 10:17 AM

On the culture war point, the question is whether to fan the flames or not. I would caution that, just as one would not want to be seen as attacking Larry Summers just for the hell of it, it would be wise to avoid heightening the lurid aspects of this ultra-European drama and focusing on the central issue of sportsmanship and how to define it. Many have argued cogently on this blog that the Italian did not commit the sort of heinous violation of sportsmanship that would justify the villification machine that is now arrayed against him (and his team and his nation, and one fears, his race). Zidane was the one who committed an act of clear unsportsmanlike behavior.

# posted by Anonymous : 10:36 AM

You know what, I think the last poster is dead wrong. There is a replay on YouTube of the head butt incident that has a very telling image I did not see watching on US television. We see the head butt, but then there is a shot of Buffon, the great Italian goalkeeper, talking sympathetically with and then hugging an obviously disconsolate Zidane. The feeling resonating from the Italian, responding to Zidan'e emotion, is the essence of sportsmanship. And it also rather clearly demonstrates that the incident is really a tragedy (of sorts) for BOTH of the players involved. Surely the Italian team should not be proud of what their man did, just as Zidane, it seemed to me, was devastated by his own ill-advised act. Sometimes the truth is just complicated.

# posted by Anonymous : 11:56 AM

from anon 10:11.
Ad hominem? To say you're getting sloppy is a personal attack? No, it is just a fact. Saying your aunt is a whore is ad hominen.
Anon 11:56 got it wrong. If you had read the Italian papers today, Buffon said that he was talking to Zidane as a former fellow Juventus player, that's all."The Italian team should not be proud of what their man did?" He did what had been going on throught this game and every other game, by all teams. It is Zidane who should not be proud... he did something that no one else did.

# posted by Anonymous : 12:36 PM

Zidane's behavior was abhorent in the WC final, and there's an established history of similar incidents...

Materazzi's behavior was abhorent in the WC final, and there's an established history of similar incidents..

Sepp Blatter is just an idiot.

# posted by Anonymous : 12:51 PM

You're all idiots, and your mothers are all terrorist whores.

# posted by Anonymous : 1:03 PM

Calm down, people...or person. No need for that.

I agree with Anon 11:56—the truth is complicated here, and what happened is tragic for both players and both teams.

# posted by richard : 1:29 PM

Thank you. I agree with me too. What's more, I like the way it sounds like you're quoting the Bible. "As it saeth in Anon 11:56....." What's most interesting in this whole imbroglio perhaps is how passionate a bunch of Americans like us can get about a game we generally only play out there in the suburbs between the ages of Barney and Nintendo then (if we're good) give up in favor of bigtime sports like football and basketball. When, oh when, will the US finally break through?

# posted by Anonymous : 2:41 PM

So this is what it boils down to:
"I reacted badly and I would like to apologise for it,” Zidane told Canal Plus. “I would like to apologise because a lot of children were watching the match.”

He added: “There was no tension with Materazzi before or during the match.

“He just put his hand onto my shirt and I told him to stop. I told him that if he wanted it I could give it to him at the end of the match.

“Then he said very harsh words to me and repeated them several times. I left but then I went back toward him and things went very fast.

“The words he said concerned my mother and sister.

“I heard them once, then twice, and the third time I couldn’t control myself. I am a man and some words are harder to hear than actions."

This is what was said (n.b. Richard, he denied that Materazzi used the word terrorist). What a disgrace on the part of Zidane. A great player who can't control himself. A great player who tries to injure another player over trash talk. A great player, but not, no matter what Chirac (that hypocritical French President) says, a great sportsman.
Materazzi did what many athletes (including Jordan, Bird, Pippin, Moss,Ward)do...get inside an opponent's head.

# posted by Anonymous : 5:01 PM

"My act is not forgivable," Zidane said. "But they must also punish the true guilty party, and the guilty party is the one who provokes."
He doesn't get it.

# posted by Anonymous : 5:16 PM

Some of the anti-Zidane crowd are "like unto whited sepulchres." Everyone a preacher on ethics, but everyone also human and capable of anger and mistake.

# posted by Anonymous : 6:53 PM

I refer to Anonymous 5:01 who excused Materazzi's behaviour by saying that this is how Jordan, Pippin, Moss, et al did..."get inside a player's head"? And this is good sportsmanship? Michael Jordan? I thought he was one of America's greatest sportsmen...apparently he was not. I didn't know that, thank you. Any player who needs to resort to trash talk "to get inside someone's head" is no great sportsman in my estimation...and that, then includes Jordan. Even though he who retaliates gets the penalty...I realize that and it applies to all major sports...just don't tell me the provoker is a great sportsman and excuse it.

lmpaulsen

# posted by Anonymous : 9:40 PM

This seems very naive. Sports is surely a controlled (most of the time, ahem!) sublimation of the urge to kill or at least best the competition. Any way, in the heat of the contest, one can bring that urge closest to the extreme act will help with adrenaline, edge, etc. Then when it's all done, you shake hands/trade jerseys, etc.

# posted by Anonymous : 12:35 AM

I would say this all sounds like the kind of stuff you often hear on WFAN -- a bunch of non-athletes commenting meticulously on minute points about which they have very little experiential knowledge. The truth is, it is extremely naive to use sportsman in the same word with any professional athlete. (Oh my god, Michael Jordan not a sportsman?) That goes double, I might add, for European soccer players of any stripe. So, can't we just end this discussion by saying Shit Happens and move on? No one has even commented this morning on the latest Harvard news: rumour has it Larry Summers head-butted the John Harvard statue on his way out!

# posted by Anonymous : 10:03 AM

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