Final
Italy 1, France 1
Italy won the World Cup final on penalties on Sunday after a dramatic final destined to be remembered for the sensational sending off for French captain Zinedine Zidane in his farewell match.
PHOTO: EPA
For only the second time in the history of the tournament, the sport's greatest prize was settled by spot-kicks after the teams had finished extra-time deadlocked at 1-1.
Italy defender Fabio Grosso rifled home the Azzurri's winning penalty to clinch a 5-3 victory in the shootout after France substitute David Trezeguet had missed his side's second spot-kick.
It was the first time Italy had won a penalty shootout in four attempts and it handed Marcello Lippi's men a fourth World Cup crown to set alongside victories in 1934, 1938 and 1982.
PHOTO: AFP
An emotional Lippi paid tribute to his players after the victory.
"I just want to say thank you to them. They gave absolutely everything they had. It is just a fantastic feeling, it is something that you can only get in this job," he said.
"It is so much more than winning the Champions League or winning the Championship. It means we are world champions," Lippi said.
PHOTO: EPA
Italy skipper Fabio Cannavaro said the win would ease the pain of wide-ranging match-fixing scandals that have dragged his country's soccer-playing reputation through the mud in recent months.
"Italy have wanted this for a long time and, coming after everything that has happened in the past few months, it was really needed," Cannavaro said.
"Its a fantastic feeling. My son asked to sleep in my bed last night, but I told him he could share it with me and the trophy soon," he said.
But Italy's success in the penalty denouement seemed almost incidental to the amazing scenes in the second-half of extra time when Zidane was sent off for a moment of off-the-ball madness in the 109th minute.
Having played majestically throughout, Zidane blew his cool and unleashed a vicious head butt into the chest of Marco Materazzi that sent the Italy defender crashing to the turf.
Devastated France coach Raymond Domenech said the Italians had targeted Zidane for rough treatment and had harsh words for Materazzi.
But Italian defender Gianluca Zambrotta could not resist a dig.
"It was a spiteful gesture. I wasn't surprised, because he did that when he played for Juventus," Zambrotta said.
Domenech, meanwhile, said he could not take any satisfaction from the fact that France outplayed Italy for long periods.
"I am deeply disappointed. On the merits of the match we deserved it. Only victory is beautiful and we missed out. We can say it wasn't too bad, but it is the Italians who are the world champions. They played for the penalties because that was the only option for them," Domenech said.
Zidane's head butt was missed by referee Horacio Elizondo, but Italy keeper Gianluigi Buffon remonstrated furiously with the linesman and the official called over the man-in-the-middle.
After a lengthy consultation, Elizondo raced over to the middle and stunned Zidane by brandishing red.
Deafening whistles and jeers rang around the Olympic Stadium from disgusted fans who had not had the benefit of a television replay that vindicated Elizondo's decision entirely.
While Zidane appeared to be subjected to some verbal abuse from Materazzi moments before the incident, his attack on the Italian center-half had left Elizondo with no choice.
Zidane trooped off and down the tunnel in disgust, for a disastrous, but entirely self-inflicted end to one of the greatest careers soccer has seen, spanning 12 years and 108 caps.
The match had gone to extra-time after a pulsating 90 minutes of regulation time had finished locked 1-1, Materazzi's headed equalizer canceling out Zidane's early penalty.
With Italy and France boasting the two meanest defenses in the competition going into the match, a tightly contested encounter had been expected.
But to the delight of a 69,000-capacity crowd, both teams produced an open match of the highest quality.
France striker Thierry Henry was at his scintillating best throughout, surging relentlessly at the Italian defense in a marvelous individual performance and doing his best to upstage Zidane in his final match.
That Henry was unable to find the decisive breakthrough during a second half dominated by France was down to a doughty defensive performance by Cannavaro, winning his 100th cap.
France had taken the lead in dramatic circumstances, when Materazzi was adjudged to have clipped Florent Malouda in the box with the game minutes old. Italy protested but Elizondo pointed to the spot.
More drama followed with the spot-kick when Zidane opted to dink his shot down the middle over Buffon.
The midfield maestro's audacious effort crashed back down off the bar -- and just over the line to give France a 1-0 lead with only seven minutes gone.
Italy responded magnificently, however, and were soon on level terms.
Andrea Pirlo floated in a corner and Materazzi made amends for his part in the penalty drama by outjumping Patrick Vieira to bury his header on 19 minutes.
The equalizer was just reward for a positive first-half performance from Italy, where Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo effectively controlled the game from central midfield.
Lightning almost struck twice nine minutes later when Materazzi again outjumped the French defense from an outswinging Pirlo corner. The Inter Milan center-back's header was goalbound but Elizondo had spotted a foul.
With fullbacks Fabio Grosso and Gianluca Zambrotta looking dangerous going forward, the Italians continued to stretch France out wide.
On 35 minutes Thuram came to the rescue once again, getting in a last ditch tackle on Luca Toni as the Italian striker darted into the area.
France's defending from the subsequent corner was again shambolic, and they were given a huge let off when an unmarked Toni hit the bar with a header.
Yet having dominated the opening 45 minutes, Italy retreated in the second half as a rejuvenated France upped the tempo, with Henry and Franck Ribery menacing throughout.
Suddenly it was Italy on the back foot. Wonderful interplay from Henry and Ribery saw the ball swept to Zidane who released Malouda in the area.
A desperate cover tackle from Zambrotta brought the Lyon player crashing down, but legitimate French appeals for a penalty were rejected by Elizondo.
Italy had a Luca Toni goal disallowed after 62 minutes while at the other end Henry beat Cannavaro with a sublime piece of skill only to see Buffon save.
Extra-time saw France go closest to breaking the deadlock when Zidane saw his glancing header palmed over the bar by Buffon.
But Zidane ensured he finished his career in disgrace as the minutes wound down and Italy held their nerve to claim the shootout drama.
France captain Zinedine Zidane, sent off for head-butting Marco Materazzi late in Sunday's World Cup final loss to Italy, won the Golden Ball award for the tournament's best player.
The results were released yesterday morning in Berlin by FIFA.
Zidane polled 2,012 points in the vote by journalists covering the tournament, beating Italians Fabio Cannavaro (1,977 points) and Andrea Pirlo (715 points) in the ballot.
Italy coach Marcello Lippi said yesterday that he wanted to remain in his job.
Earlier yesterday, most Italian newspapers, including Corriere della Sera, Il Messaggero and La Repubblica, reported that Lippi had announced his intention to step down, however.
"I have never said I will stop. But I have a meeting tomorrow [Tuesday] with the Italian Football Federation, so we will see," Lippi said at the final Italy press conference before the team left Germany to return to a rapturous welcome in Rome.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS