FINAL MATCH: ITALY - FRANCE

ITALY BEAT FRANCE, INAUGURATE FOUR YEARS

OF GUIDO ARROGANCE; ZIDANE

HEADS FOR RETIREMENT

The Lowdown: Italy are World Cup champions, and who can argue with the manner in which they accomplished it? Normally a cursed side from the penalty spot, the Azzurri converted all five of their spot kicks to win the country's fourth World Cup trophy, putting them firmly atop the European hierarchy and just behind Brazil for world supremacy. These were undoubtedly the two best teams at the tournament and a close, even battle was expected from the outset. Things started out quite physically and France almost had an early nightmare after the clash between superstars Cannavaro and Henry which left the French striker dazed and confused. Luckily for France he returned and played a stellar match as well. It was always expected and perhaps feared that this would turn into a defensive stalemate, so who could have guessed that the first goal would come 7 minutes in? Malouda made a daring run into the Italy penalty area only to be clipped down from behind. The replay looked highly dubious but once again Zidane was given the task from the spot. Buffon no doubt remembered his lovely penalty against Portugal and dove right, but the crafty Zidane chipped high-centre; the ball bounced off the top crossbar and straight down over the line. It didn't rattle the net but it didn't matter as France took another 1-0 lead and Italy found themselves trailing for the first time in this whole tournament. Les Bleus had been able to shut down opponents with those previous 1-0 leads but today they were facing a team of a very different caliber; it wasn't long before Materazzi rose to beautifully head home a Pirlo corner, levelling the scores and setting the stage for a legendary final. Italy dominated until the interval and at half-time it seemed France were very fortunate to be in the game at all. The second half was a different story, however, as the French took the game to Italy by dominating for long stretches with Henry terrorizing the Italian defense on more than one occasion. France maintained this dominance into extra-time and only for a superb Buffon save of a Zidane header, Zizou would have went out in a blaze of glory. The reality was far different and the French legend left the field in disgrace after uncharacteristically headbutting Materazzi in the chest. Spectators around the world no doubt did a double-take to see that they weren't dreaming: alas, Zidane actually did end his incomporably brilliant career with a disgraceful red card. Unfortunately the game had to go to penalties. Unfortunately for France they were without star penalty man Zidane as well as likely takers Henry and Ribery who had been subbed. Italy defied the odds and history by making all five of their kicks to avenge past French defeats and send Italians everywhere into euphoria.

Match Rating: 5 out of 5. Hate to see a World Cup final or any game decided on penalties but overall this was a great final, certainly the best I've seen. A tale of two halves really though it's a shame Italy retreated into their old defensive tactics after the break. Perhaps we have to credit the French for that, though, as without defending in numbers they probably would have conceded a goal to the likes of Henry, Malouda, or Ribery.

Man of the Match: Should be Materazzi for his sublime goal but you have to wonder what he said or did to provoke the normally ice-cool Zidane, and he was also responsible for France's penalty. Could also be Buffon for some key saves and Henry also played superbly for France but for all that, it's Fabio Cannavaro. Very fitting that Italy's captain lifted the trophy because he was the best player at this tournament and was all over the field today.

Disappointment of the Match: This is an absolute no-brainer. Why, Zizou? We'll certainly get an explanation in the coming days but for now we can only scratch our heads and wonder why the most talented player of his generation would do what he did. There is no doubt that the Italians were very rough with Zizou throughout the match and perhaps the headbutt was the result of frustration that built up throughout the match.

Extra: Saw this match with some friends at an Irish pub in Sunnyside and the Irish showed their old affinity for the French as there were few smiles after the final whistle. Took part in a raffle: 10 bucks to pick a player's name from a hat with all the spoils if that player scored first. I smelled a fix from the moment a short, shady Englishman approached me with the bag of names and it was no surprise to find that the bartender had Zidane. Go figure. Mind you I wasn't so disappointed with my pick(any French sub) as Trezeguet broke Italian hearts at the Euro 2000 final.

Extra: I was initially partial to Italy because I felt they were the best team of World Cup 2006 but with their second-half and extra-time performance the French were perhaps unlucky not to come away with the trophy. Then again their only goal came on quite a dubious penalty. However, I now rue their victory as I will have to endure four years of Italian-American braggadocio. On my drive home alone I heard two Italian songs on the radio, numerous dee-jays yukking it up, and apparently Brooklyn became one big street party. Still, from start to finish of this tournament Italy were the most consistent team in my opinion. US fans can take heart that with the exception of France they gave the Azzurri the best challenge of the cup. France are a more athletic team than Italy and the Italians showed signs of exhaustion late in the game. Who would have guessed that Italy would put away all their spot kicks? I think this was the best final in quite a while, the best one I've seen anyway though I'm not so sure about the tournament as a whole(that's another post). The question of this game, and maybe the whole tournament is this: What bearing did Zidane's red have on the outcome? Certainly we could have expected him to bury his spot kick, and maybe his sending off demoralized the French but you can't argue with 5 out of 5 spot kicks for Italy.

Fun Facts: Before he left in shame Zidane became the 4th player in history to score 3 goals in World Cup final games, along with Hurst of England and Vava and Pele of Brazil.

Italy have now appeared at the final game of the World Cup every 12 years since 1970.

De Rossi of Italy, in his first game back since viciously elbowing McBride in the group stages, got one in return during this game.

Question: Did Totti play in this match? I don't remember him touching the ball, much less creating anything. Andreas Pirlo picked up his slack with an amazing performance though.

What effect will Zidane's headbutt have on his legacy? To my mind, he'll always be regarded as one of the all-time greats and a very classy player, but the metion of his name will always conjure the above image. It's just indelible.

Adios Copa Mundial: Hate to see the tournament end and this blog along with it but I promise two more posts: my all-tournament team and a final assessment of World Cup Germany 2006.