When push came to shove and even head butt in the World Cup final on July 9, 2006, Italy and defender Marco Materazzi managed to keep their heads under pressure, while France’s legendary captain Zinedine Zidane lost his.
By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor
BERLIN, Germany – When push came to shove and even head butt in the World Cup final on July 9, 2006, Italy and defender Marco Materazzi managed to keep their heads under pressure, while France’s legendary captain Zinedine Zidane lost his.
The Italians showed some resiliency and grace, overcoming a one-goal deficit and then exorcising ghosts of penalty kicks past. They converted all five of their penalties to earn their fourth world championship, recording a dramatic, 5-3 shootout win after playing to a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes of regulation and extra time.
Zidane never did see the waning moments as he was forced to leave his final game in disgrace after being awarded a red-card for head-butting Materazzi in the 110th minute.
The Italians added to their Cup accomplishments, after winning 1934, 1938 and 1982. Only five-time champion Brazil has won more time.
“It’s an indescribable feeling,” midfielder Andrea Pirlo said. “It hasn’t sunk in yet.”
Perhaps it will Tuesday when an Italian tribunal could rule on the match-rigging scandal trial that could demote Italian Serie A clubs Juventus, A.C. Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio to lower divisions. Thirteen of the Italians’ World Cup players play for one of those four teams.
“If the scandal hadn’t happened I think we wouldn’t have won the World Cup,” midfielder Gennaro Gattuso said. “It has given us more strength. This squad showed great heart.”
The Italians will have at least one day to savor their triumph.
They began their German journey sandwiching 2-0 wins over Ghana and the Czech Republic around a wild 1-1 tie with the U.S. They survived a 1-0 second-round win over Australia with a late penalty (after Materazzi was red-carded) before rolling over Ukraine, 3-0, in the quarterfinals, and stunning host Germany, 2-0, with two late goals in the semifinals.
“Maybe it wasn’t pretty, but we were hard to beat,” Gattuso said.
Italy’s victory was the second time one of the 18 WC finals were decided by penalties.
The Italians were eliminated by penalties in three of the last four World Cups, losing to Germany at Italia ’90, to Brazil at the USA ‘94 finale and by the host French in 1998.
“We had fear of the penalties,” Gattuso said. “Our history was not great, so that was the fear.”
This time the Italians left no question, converting their five opportunities. Pirlo, Materazzi, Daniele De Rossi, Alessandro Del Piero converted their attempts before Fabio Grosso fired home his attempt to the right of goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.
Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon didn’t make a save. After Sylvain Wiltord scored, David Trezeguet, who had recorded the golden goal in France’s 2-1 comeback win over Italy in the Euro 2000 final, hit the crossbar before Eric Abidal and Willy Sagnol put in their tries.
Minutes after the final whistle, the Italians raised coach Marcello Lippi on a chair in the penalty area, singing and dancing around him. The win gave Lippi a rare double — a Champions League title when he coached Juventus and a World Cup crown.
“I’ve won many championships,” he said, “but a joy so big I have never felt.”
Minutes after receiving the FIFA World Cup trophy, captain Fabio Cannavaro kissed it, holding it triumphantly over his head before taking a victory lap. Materazzi placed a green, white and red hat — Italy’s colors — on it.
It was an appropriate gesture because the 33-year-old Materazzi, who has only 33 international appearances, compared to Zidane’s 108, wound up in the middle of every important play before a sellout crowd of 66,000 at Olympic Stadium.
His foul on midfielder Florent Malouda set up Zidane’s seventh-minute penalty kick. The French received a major break in the eighth minute when referee Horacio Elizondo awarded them a penalty kick, although replays showed that Materazzi barely clipped Malouda, who did enough of a job to convince the game official he should call a penalty.
A minute later, Zidane stepped up and chipped a right-footed shot over goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon that hit the crossbar and landed a foot into the goal for his third goal of the tournament. It was the first goal the Italians surrendered from the opposition in the seven-game tournament other than the own goal they scored in the 1-1 first-round draw with the U.S.
Materazzi got an opportunity for some retribution in the 19th minute. French defender Eric Abidal knocked the ball over the goal line for a corner kick. At first it appeared Mauro Camoranesi was going to take the corner but Pirlo took his place.
Pirlo kicked an in-swinger into the penalty area that Materazzi rose high into the air over French midfielder Patrick Vieira and headed a six-yarder past Barthez for his second goal of the competition. It was the first time both teams had scored in a World Cup final since the 1986 championship game, when Diego Maradona and Argentina outlasted Germany, 3-2.
Then came the Zidane incident with 10 minutes remaining in the second extra time. Away from the flow of play, the two players appeared to have words. Zidane started to walk away, stopped, turned and head-butted Materazzi in the chest.
It took two minutes before game officials sorted things out. Both coaches claimed that the fourth and fifth officials, used video replay to determine what transpired. After consulting with his colleagues, referee Horacio Elizondo showed Zidane the red. Traditionally, controversial plays such as yellow and red card offenses and even some injuries, are not shown on the big screens at World Cup matches because FIFA does not want to incite the crowd.
The red card is believed to have been the first such time game officials have used replay to determine the outcome of a ruling.
A stunned Zidane then walked off the field, his head down. He walked past French coach Raymond Domenech and ironically, past the same World Cup trophy he held so proudly some eight years ago when France won its first and only World Cup in St-Denis, France.
“It’s a sad way to end his career like this,” Domenech said.
Indeed, it was.
“There a moments, when you take blows … I’m not saying I’m excusing it but I can understand. It is a shame, a totally useless gesture. We regret it and he also regrets it.
“We can say that Zidane being sent off was the killing moment of the game. Especially in extra time, the Italian team was obviously waiting for the penalty shootout.”
Next: 2010