Posted on 07/10/2006 3:39:28 AM PDT by SkyPilot
PARIS (AFP) - First there was hope and expectation, then there was undiluted joy, a reality check, exasperation, despair and finally deflation - that was the Champs Elysees during the World Cup final.
What was supposed to be a great swansong for a player rightly lauded as the greatest of his generation, ended in disgrace for French star Zinedine Zidane.
And his hoards of loyal fans looked on in disbelief as they watched their talisman head-butt his way - the victim being Marco Materazzi - into an inglorious but dramatic retirement - more Eric Cantona than Zizou.
The wild party expected to go on late into the night never took off, the millions expected to emerge never did.
The only happy people, barring pockets of celebrating Italians, seemed to be those for whom the result bore little consequence to their reason for hitting the Champs - trouble.
Some dejected football fans wearing the blue shirts of 'Les Bleus' sat on the kerbside, many in tears, smoking cigarettes for the most part and looking fairly lonely and isolated.
People who had watched the final at home and trundled off to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs in search of the party found little to encourage them to stay and wandered like lost souls.
"The match was horrible and tense," lamented 24-year-old student Antoine Leclerc. "We were very expectant. There was a lot of noise throughout the match, people were singing the Marseillaise on their balconies.
"But at the end, no-one was speaking."
"Now there is just consternation," added another student, Alexandra Flick, 19. "I just want to know what was said to Zizou."
"We came here to see what it was like but there's nothing much happening," added Charlotte Leclerc, also 19.
They wandered a little way down the Champs towards Place de la Concorde, turned around and were soon making their way back home.
But while the true football fans found little to keep them from trudging back home, many on foot to distant Metro stations as that of the Champs-Elysees was closed, others were determined to make a night of it.
Crowds of blue shirted people headed one way while gangs of rowdy young men headed the other.
Youths waving flags - not French or Italian but Algerian and Turkish - ran around shouting and cheering.
A couple of groups of people drummed away making music, mostly it seemed to get their faces on television. Crews of cameramen and journalists quickly sparked high spirits and encouraged cheering happy faces.
But there was also a sinister side lurking in the shadows.
Other than around the Arc itself, the crowds were hardly heaving but young men loitered in darkened pockets of the Champs, just yards away from riot police.
Up by the Arc itself was the biggest police presence and it did not take long for the first baton charge to be launched.
Hundreds of young men, clearly angling for trouble, squeezed in and around the Arc. A flare was thrown into the crowd of people, the police braced themselves and the fleeing began, swiftly followed by a charge.
It was just the first of the night and only shortly before midnight. The only crumb of comfort for the police was the lack of numbers.
This was not 1998 revisited, nor even the earlier quarter-finals or semi-finals all over again. The numbers simply were not the same.
For all the disappointed football fans, there were just as many people who had found an excuse to come and do what they were really interested in: making noise and in some cases making trouble.
It was a feast of modern youth culture, crammed into one street in the heart of a bustling city.
During the 1998 World Cup, he prayed to Allah when the cameras were rolling.
He seems to have secularized himself, in accordance with the trend in France.
I've never so enjoyed not being able to sleep as I did yesterday. :)
There is no joy in Mudville. Mighty Casey has struck out.
HA HA! Good! You suck!
The French don't deserve any response more mature than that.
Zidane is a thug. The head butt was deliberate, brutal and nasty. The guy should have been handcuffed and hauled off of the field.
Zindane showed the difference between a skilled player and a great player. The head butt is now the defining moment of his career.
By the way just as a small aside Jeff Gordon won the race yesterday by spinning out Kenseth, The same guy who won a race earlier this year by spinning out Gordon.
Gordon got upset and wanted to fight when he was spun out but Kenseth took it in stride. Shows the characters of the different men.
He's just been awarded the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball Award!
Thank you Zidane (who is a Marsielle(sp?) France born muslim of Algerian muslims) ... for reminding us once again of what we should already know about muslims. When the R-O-P strikes it will be gratuitous and random. But strike they will ...
What I'd like to know is how come when Kenseth is in the lead or going for the lead someone wrecks the guy? Are they all just afraid of him? On some levels NASCAR sucks. They let the big stars get away with murder.
not quite... but it was placed there to provide the Germans with a small amount of shade back in '40.
Zidane is muslim; muslin is peaceful and non-violent religion.
It was the fault of that damn italian that bumped his chest into Zidane's head.
I bet that's what the spin doctors will shove down our throat.
Anyone hear anything?
So a country with a long history, culture, literature, civilization was disgraced by a North-African? Apparently, when you mix civilized and savage you get a savage who sometimes fools civilized people into thinking that he's civilized.
Zidane has not made any statements. An online british tabloid wrote that Materazzi called Zidane "terrorist" and he retaliated with his head.
Other european papers are saying they were not surprised; seems Zidane was a "hothead" while playing in Italy
I watched as much as I could stand, very boring. Some interesting items.
1. Saw a player go down writhing in pain and grabbing his ankle like it was broken. He's rolling on the ground for 5 min. so I figured he was out of the game for good. On replay, someone stepped on his foot (the horror). Trainer comes out and pours his beverege on the players ankle. Player returns to game. Wuss.
2. The headbutt was awesome. Expected a bench clearing brawl or at least retaliation from the victim. Nothing, zip, zero from the players. Zindane gets thrown out. How stupid is it to get thrown out of a world cup final when you are the team's best player. This is especially true when the game is tied, you are in overtime and will probably go to penalty kicks.
3. Does the goalie ever block a penalty kick? Whistle blows, goalie immediately commits by leaping left or right (usually just to the right), player kickes ball into net. Duh. Players only miss when trying to do something fancy or stupid. And what if everyone makes all the Pks? Do it again? Dumb way to end the game.
4. It's easy to understand why Americans don't get soccer. Boring (worse than baseball), no scoring, wussy rules, wussy players (with great endurance). The only saving grace was that France lost and the two players responsible will probably be burned alive when they get back.
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