The 2006 World Cup in Germany is over!
The World Cup final between Italy and France was a pretty unforgettable one. Both teams gave their all and it was great to watch, even if the commentator claims it wasn't one of the best matches ever played. In any case, I doubt anyone will forget Zidane's headbutt and consequent sending off. Yes, Zidane is a human being and he is prone to making mistakes, but he's also a professional and one with plenty of experience at that. Sure, he has headbutted before, but hello, it's the last match of his entire career. Whatever Materazzi might have said or done, he should've just held it in for another 10 minutes. And it's not unexpected that other players are childish and say really evil or mean things...a true professional takes it in his stride and knows that the opponent is just trying to agitate him. And in any case, he should have realised how much his team depended on him. He's France's playmaker. In fact, France's undoing was really that they depend too much on Zidane. Once you shut Zidane out, you more or less stand a pretty good chance against the French. Just like when Argentina took Crespo and Riquelme off, I knew they would have problems. Now which coach substitutes BOTH the top goalscorer and the playmaker and still expects to win?
Now, not that France was useless. I mean Henry did show a lot of creativity and determination...I was actually quite impressed with him, even though I am not a France fan. At least he didn't keep getting caught offside, as he usually does, like during the match against Brazil. However, Buffon was just too good. If had been up to the goalkeepers, Italy would've won...Barthez just looked like a pale shadow of the player he was in 1998. Then, I was super impressed with him...he made totally amazing saves...saves I will never forget...but, the Barthez of 2006 is 8 years older and no longer the sprightly youth of 1998. Both actually didn't save anything during the penalties...and actually jumped in the wrong direction every single time...but hey, penalties are Ricardo's territory. Ricardo is excellent at guessing where the goals are heading. If you've watched him, you'll realise that it is impossible to trick him. Even for the goals he conceded, he was spot-on in guessing their direction. Unfortunately, he is a little shorter than most goalkeepers, if not, he probably might've gotten to them in time. That said, those goals also had enough power behind them and weren't like those weird half-hearted kicks that some of the Argentinians tried to pass off as penalty kicks against Germany.
Anyway, it was damn tough yesterday...everyone else in the place where I watched it seemed to be fans of the French team...everyone was cursing when Italy got a chance and cheering when France got awarded that penalty. Haha, I guess those of you who have been reading my blog will know that I hate matches that are decided on a sole penalty, which is how France beat Portugal in the semis. And I definitely didn't want the World Cup to be won by one single penalty...even if Italy had be awarded a penalty and had managed to convert it, I would've liked them to score another goal to prove that they really deserved to be ahead. That's why I was thrilled to say the least when Materazzi redeemed himself by heading in Italy's equaliser. Well, at least he redeemed himself after being the cause of the penalty and then nearly creating an own goal barely minutes later. If that shot had gone in, Materazzi should've gone and hanged himself...thankfully, it didn't and he managed to make up for it by scoring that goal. Ok, he really misbehaved when it came to Zidane...but as mentioned before, Zidane should've known better. I do pity Zidane, but he could've chosen to act more professionally.
In the first half, the Italians controlled the pace of the match...it was exciting to watch and yes, I stick by my view that the Italians are pretty good at counterattacking. They are fast and can close up the gaps pretty quickly. However, during the second half, the extra time against Germany seemed to have taken its toll on the Italian team and they were basically losing possession of the ball as soon as they managed to win it from the French. But I guess although Italy certainly wasn't the better team in the second half or during extra time, they held on together as a team much better than France did. They didn't play particularly well and Pirlo, who had seen many great moments in the first half, including that corner which Materazzi headed in, suddenly seemed to have gone into hiding during the second half. Totti was also practically absent during the match, apart from a couple of free-kicks and corners. What a pity...and Camoranesi, whom I detested during the match against Germany, actually did a pretty good job yesterday and so did Cannavaro. Cannavaro did his job quietly but effectively.
The way Italy played yesterday practically mirrored the way the Germans played against them during the semis. They were inspired during the first half, lost steam during the second and during extra time, but the difference was that they managed to hold on. I know a lot of Germans supported the French team...but I don't know, logically, it makes more sense to support the Italians. I mean, would you rather lose to the world champions or a team that's not good enough to beat the world champions? I'd rather lose to the best than to some half-past six team. Ok, but I suppose the Germans wanted revenge. Still...that would mean that they were beaten by a not so good team. In any case, I am glad Italy won...even if no one I know seems to like Italy at all. Good thing I didn't wear my Italy tank top out last night. But in any case, I shall be quietly happy. If Germany and Portugal had gotten into the final and France and Italy had played the 3rd/4th placing, I would've wanted Italy to thrash France anyway.
And sigh...this all means that the World Cup is over...another long wait before Germany gets another shot at winning the World Cup. Personally, I have no idea what to do with myself. For the past month, I've always come home and turned on the TV to watch some match...now, I have no idea what to watch anymore. Blah. Withdrawal symptoms. I don't care...I am going to try and get tickets to EURO 2008 in Austria/Switzerland...I just have to watch a match live in the stadium.
Ok, now that the beautiful month-long World Cup dream is over, it's time to hit the books. Two exams tomorrow. :(
The World Cup final between Italy and France was a pretty unforgettable one. Both teams gave their all and it was great to watch, even if the commentator claims it wasn't one of the best matches ever played. In any case, I doubt anyone will forget Zidane's headbutt and consequent sending off. Yes, Zidane is a human being and he is prone to making mistakes, but he's also a professional and one with plenty of experience at that. Sure, he has headbutted before, but hello, it's the last match of his entire career. Whatever Materazzi might have said or done, he should've just held it in for another 10 minutes. And it's not unexpected that other players are childish and say really evil or mean things...a true professional takes it in his stride and knows that the opponent is just trying to agitate him. And in any case, he should have realised how much his team depended on him. He's France's playmaker. In fact, France's undoing was really that they depend too much on Zidane. Once you shut Zidane out, you more or less stand a pretty good chance against the French. Just like when Argentina took Crespo and Riquelme off, I knew they would have problems. Now which coach substitutes BOTH the top goalscorer and the playmaker and still expects to win?
Now, not that France was useless. I mean Henry did show a lot of creativity and determination...I was actually quite impressed with him, even though I am not a France fan. At least he didn't keep getting caught offside, as he usually does, like during the match against Brazil. However, Buffon was just too good. If had been up to the goalkeepers, Italy would've won...Barthez just looked like a pale shadow of the player he was in 1998. Then, I was super impressed with him...he made totally amazing saves...saves I will never forget...but, the Barthez of 2006 is 8 years older and no longer the sprightly youth of 1998. Both actually didn't save anything during the penalties...and actually jumped in the wrong direction every single time...but hey, penalties are Ricardo's territory. Ricardo is excellent at guessing where the goals are heading. If you've watched him, you'll realise that it is impossible to trick him. Even for the goals he conceded, he was spot-on in guessing their direction. Unfortunately, he is a little shorter than most goalkeepers, if not, he probably might've gotten to them in time. That said, those goals also had enough power behind them and weren't like those weird half-hearted kicks that some of the Argentinians tried to pass off as penalty kicks against Germany.
Anyway, it was damn tough yesterday...everyone else in the place where I watched it seemed to be fans of the French team...everyone was cursing when Italy got a chance and cheering when France got awarded that penalty. Haha, I guess those of you who have been reading my blog will know that I hate matches that are decided on a sole penalty, which is how France beat Portugal in the semis. And I definitely didn't want the World Cup to be won by one single penalty...even if Italy had be awarded a penalty and had managed to convert it, I would've liked them to score another goal to prove that they really deserved to be ahead. That's why I was thrilled to say the least when Materazzi redeemed himself by heading in Italy's equaliser. Well, at least he redeemed himself after being the cause of the penalty and then nearly creating an own goal barely minutes later. If that shot had gone in, Materazzi should've gone and hanged himself...thankfully, it didn't and he managed to make up for it by scoring that goal. Ok, he really misbehaved when it came to Zidane...but as mentioned before, Zidane should've known better. I do pity Zidane, but he could've chosen to act more professionally.
In the first half, the Italians controlled the pace of the match...it was exciting to watch and yes, I stick by my view that the Italians are pretty good at counterattacking. They are fast and can close up the gaps pretty quickly. However, during the second half, the extra time against Germany seemed to have taken its toll on the Italian team and they were basically losing possession of the ball as soon as they managed to win it from the French. But I guess although Italy certainly wasn't the better team in the second half or during extra time, they held on together as a team much better than France did. They didn't play particularly well and Pirlo, who had seen many great moments in the first half, including that corner which Materazzi headed in, suddenly seemed to have gone into hiding during the second half. Totti was also practically absent during the match, apart from a couple of free-kicks and corners. What a pity...and Camoranesi, whom I detested during the match against Germany, actually did a pretty good job yesterday and so did Cannavaro. Cannavaro did his job quietly but effectively.
The way Italy played yesterday practically mirrored the way the Germans played against them during the semis. They were inspired during the first half, lost steam during the second and during extra time, but the difference was that they managed to hold on. I know a lot of Germans supported the French team...but I don't know, logically, it makes more sense to support the Italians. I mean, would you rather lose to the world champions or a team that's not good enough to beat the world champions? I'd rather lose to the best than to some half-past six team. Ok, but I suppose the Germans wanted revenge. Still...that would mean that they were beaten by a not so good team. In any case, I am glad Italy won...even if no one I know seems to like Italy at all. Good thing I didn't wear my Italy tank top out last night. But in any case, I shall be quietly happy. If Germany and Portugal had gotten into the final and France and Italy had played the 3rd/4th placing, I would've wanted Italy to thrash France anyway.
And sigh...this all means that the World Cup is over...another long wait before Germany gets another shot at winning the World Cup. Personally, I have no idea what to do with myself. For the past month, I've always come home and turned on the TV to watch some match...now, I have no idea what to watch anymore. Blah. Withdrawal symptoms. I don't care...I am going to try and get tickets to EURO 2008 in Austria/Switzerland...I just have to watch a match live in the stadium.
Ok, now that the beautiful month-long World Cup dream is over, it's time to hit the books. Two exams tomorrow. :(
posted by Samantha @ 8:47 am
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