Male tradition or not, the headbutt comes out second best worst.

I love video games. [Via Ryan.]

Here is a video of the actual incident if you haven’t seen it yet:

I have watched four world cup finals now. This has easily been the most memorable. People from a generation earlier will compare it to the 1986 final and older generations will look back further. While there will be debate on this, we all will cherish having witnessed Italy win their 4th final.

A Dazed Henry and France 1-0 up

The first 10 minutes of the match was scrappy with Henry in pain and looking as if he had seen a ghost after the clash with Fabio Cannavaro. Henry returns to the field and people are relieved. The short period also saw Florent Malouda go down courtesy Marco Materazzi’s leg. Zidane scores from the penalty spot and it looks like deja vu 1998 with another Zidane goal.

An equaliser and Italian lobs

The Italians equalise with Marco Materazzi jumping higher than Vieira and with better timing. That is the story of the Italian strategy for the first half as well. We saw a lot of lobs with taller players being utilised, some thing Italians didn’t do as much before in the tournament. The Italians dominated possession and looked much more in command though we knew that a moment of inspiration could help win France win as well.

A sizzling second half

As the two teams saw that going into extra times or penalties would mean lesser control regarding the result of the match, they tried to press the issue. As a result, we saw some of the best football from the game. The Italian defense looked tight and if it was not them, Buffon always seemed inpenetrable. It was a question of which side will effect the perfect play for a world cup win. Goals didn’t look likely to be gifted and it was precious and yet attacking football with small but definite chances for both teams - the other team would just not let them capitalise those chances each time.

Read the rest of this entry »

Video uploaded by You Tube user bws001.

I am back from Jammu earlier than I expected. Who cares. Let’s talk football. 2002 was Ronaldo’s redemption. Will 2006 be Zidane’s? On paper, it is any one’s game with the Italian defense versus the French brilliance giving us an unexpected but just perfect final. However, with the Zidane magic on display, most people except the Italians will be behind France to win the world cup. The French are the sentimental favourites.

Zidane placed himself in the history books forever when the 1998 finals ended. The more you see him playing football, the more your admiration grows. It is such a joy to watch Zidane that many admit to watching Real Madrid play in the last few years just to watch Zidane. How do we describe the way Zidane plays?

People have called him an acrobat on display in a football field. To me, he doesn’t seem like a footballer playing with a ball. He seems like a swimmer swimming past the pantheon of tacklers and defenders. If that seems extreme, you will at least agree that he doesn’t seem to be running at all. Is he sliding? Is the football field smoother for Zidane than it is for mortal footballers around him? We do tend to romanticise when great teams or players play!

Also, when great players play, it looks utterly simple. When you watch Roger Federer playing tennis or Sachin Tendulkar bat or Tiger Woods hit a golf ball, tough feats in tough sports seem like child’s play. With Zidane, the simplicity in execution looks apparent. However, the result - an out of nowhere pass or a chance or even a goal, is so shockingly unexpected, we are usually left open mouthed in plain admiration. You don’t even have to be a football expert to savour the brilliance on display.

Zidane was all over Brazil a few days back. We love to compare in sports. So, now, people are asking the Ronaldinho vs Zidane question. I am a huge Ronaldinho fan but this wasn’t to be his world cup. More than fans of a specific player or team, we are fans of the beautiful game. So, we find ourselves rooting for Zidane and in that, also France. It is said that great men transcend nationalities and are world citizens. Great teams and players also do. Team loyalties and individual player devotions don’t matter any more.

I had written on resisting evils earlier. Rio Ferdinand has asked UEFA to stop the lip service and act. Racism was shown to Eto’o months ago and the South African team during their tour to Australia recently. There have been so so many incidents even if we chalk out only incidents from post January 2005. Wasn’t it only a year ago when Ashley Cole and Shuan Wright-Phillips were abused by Spanish supporters in a friendly in Madrid? It is time sport starts acting. Football excites as few sports can and it is in this excitement that inherent biases surface from the deep core.

Zidane is seen here with a T-shirt which calls to stamp out racism:

Racism is a crime. There is no place for it.

Update: FIFA has decided to take real actions to stamp out racism. Definitely a positive move.