Tue, Jul 11, 2006 page20

• Zidane sees red and head-butts his way into the history books

  • By Jules Quartly / STAFF REPORTER
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  Zinedine Zidane bowed out of international soccer with a head butt, adding an exclamation mark to his extraordinary career.

  Though the Frenchman will be castigated for his action, it was a fittingly dramatic curtain call for one of the world's best ever players.

  "A Zidane" is even now probably being entered in the Socceranto dictionary as: "A head butt to the chest. Named after the French star who famously decked his opponent in extra time of the 2006 World Cup final."

  Will people remember Marco Materazzi? Possibly. But though he scored the goal for Italy and got Zidane red carded, this will be recalled as the Frenchman's final -- if only for the sending off.

  It was an extraordinary moment and one that instantly became part of the world's psyche as it beamed to 2 billion people. But Zidane also scored France's penalty and was arguably the key player of the two sides during the match. Certainly you would have bet on him to do better than David Trezeguet in the penalty kicks.

  France manager Raymond Domenech admitted as much when he was quoted after the match as saying: "We missed Zidane a lot in the last 10 minutes. His absence weighed heavily on the match."

  "Yes, we can say that Zidane being sent off was the killing moment of the game. Especially in extra time -- the Italian team were obviously waiting for the penalty shootout," he said.

  It will inevitably be said that Zidane lost the final for the French and perhaps he did, but without him they would never have won in 1998 or gone so far this time.

  Also, if it was not for a fantastic save from Gianluigi Buffon minutes before the end of the first half of extra time, we would be talking about Zidane's heading skills for a different reason.

  The Frenchman rose majestically to a cross from Willy Sagnol and the ball seemed to rocket toward goal. But Buffon just tipped the ball over the bar.

  Only the two players involved will know exactly what caused Zidane to blow his top soon after. It looked like Materazzi may have tweaked his breast in a brief clinch. Then, according to Zizou's teammates, the Azzurri defender made a racial slur.

  As the 34-year-old played with Juventus before 2001, it's likely that he would have understood whatever badmouthing was going on.

  Certainly it was a premeditated act from Zidane. He was pissed off, he clearly made a decision, loped ahead of Materazzi, faced him and then nutted him.

  The interesting point is the referee never saw it. Nor did most of the 69,000 fans in the Berlin Olympiastadion, who were in the dark about why the mercurial Frenchman had been sent off.

  A similar incident happened in the match between Portugal and the Netherlands when Luis Figo seemed to headbutt Mark van Bommel. This was neither seen by the referee or acted on. Figo was not even disciplined.

  But on this occasion, the French manager told the Scotsman, Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo (who sent off England's Wayne Rooney) took the unprecedented step of asking a fourth official to examine video footage of the incident before making his decision.

  "The referee saw nothing, the assistant referee saw nothing and then we have the fourth official seeing the video replay and telling the referee," Domenech was quoted as saying.

  If this is the case it is odd since it would be the first time ever that a player has been sent off in the World Cup based on video evidence.

  Also, FIFA president Sepp Blatter had said at an earlier stage that video evidence to make a decision was not an option. He said it was not "an ideal solution" and ruled it out.

  The official FIFA line, according to spokesman Andreas Herren, is that the line official saw the incident and he told the referee over the communications system.

  Whatever the facts of the case, Zidane was sent off after becoming only the fourth man to score three goals in World Cup finals (after Geoff Hurst, Pele and Paul Breitner).

  He was at the center of this World Cup, and to those who say the headbutting will be an indelible stain on his record, I say think again.

  It's not the first time he has shown his tough side. Zidane was the first Frenchman to be sent off in a World Cup, 1998, and he was also given a five-match suspension for headbutting in a Champions League match.

  To take another example, Maradona was sent packing from the World Cup in the US after being caught doping. But he will be remembered more for his incredible skills and performances on the field than anything else.

  Though Zidane was guilty, my feeling is that it's even sadder that gamesmanship from the Italians won the day.

  Ironically, the dramatic way Zidane chose to leave the soccer stage may burnish the legend rather than detract from it because the incident will be repeated forever on video.

  Like Eric Cantona of Manchester United, who was sent off for a flying drop kick on a rival fan, the incident will burnish his reputation as a tough man. And we love them.
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