L'Italia sul mondo! L'Italia sono i campioni del mondo! L'Italia sono i vincitori di Coppa del Mondo di 2006!
what a game.. it won't be remembered for its football but for sheer drama it had plenty of that from kickoff to the last minute of extra time.. two hours of football theatre settled by the ultimate climax in a penalty shootout.. in the end it was only inches that gave Italy the World Cup and not to France, as David Trezeguet's penalty rebounded off the cross bar and down in front of the goal line rather than behind it like Zinedine Zidane's in the first ten minutes of the game.. and unheralded Italian defender, Fabio Grosso was left to score Italy's most important goal in the 21st century..
it was the closing scene of a remarkable career but it was for his most unremarkable act that Zinedine "Zizou" Zidane will be remembered in his grand finale.. whatever Marco Materazzi, a villain-turned-hero himself in the match, said to Zizou in that brief but monumental moment in extra time, it still didn't warrant a headbutt even Jerry Collins would have been proud of.. a straight red card after consulting the linesman was deserved.. such behaviour was underserving in a final however big his star was.. thus, his walk of shame past the World Cup trophy at the entrance to the dressing rooms will live long in the history of this glorious tournament..
for Italy, it was a remarkable win in the most unlikely of circumstances.. unlikely coz their recent form in international tournaments had been poor, i.e. 2002 World Cup, Euro 2004, they were 13th in the world coming into this World Cup.. unlikely coz of the match-fixing saga in the Italian football league at present affecting the major clubs Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina.. in fact with the decision by the tribunal on whether to relegate those clubs from the top tier of the Italian calcio, one would think playing football was not exactly the easiest thing to do when your future isn't as assured as it seems. Man of the tournament, Fabio Cannavaro, and man of the match, Andrea Pirlo, amongst those who may need to move from their respective clubs, Juventus and Milan should both be relegated, with their clubs likely to have to reduce their highly-paid player roll..
so a remarkable win for the Azzurri. as for France, they did well to defy the critics and reach the final..
so another World Cup comes to its conclusion.. and as usual the conclusion is "happily ever after" as it should always be.. another 4 more years till the next tournament in South Africa.. meanwhile it's back to catch up with some sleep.. and classes.. and possibly my last semester for a while..
anyway leave u with this:
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