Posted on 07/10/2006 7:32:00 PM PDT by SkyPilot
Our correspondent finds out what may have caused a great player to lose his head in such spectacular style
WITH his monkish mien backed by a sense of brooding menace, Zinédine Zidane has always been something of an enigma, so it is perhaps fitting that the final act of his career should be the source of such mystery. Just why did a man blessed with complete control of a football lose his head in such a violent manner at such a crucial moment, boring it into the chest of Marco Materazzi?
As L’Equipe summed up the moment of madness with a headline of “Regrets Éternels”, a day of endless questioning began. With many conflicting versions of events circling on the internet and in the world’s media, The Times enlisted the help of an expert lip reader, Jessica Rees, to determine the precise nature of the dialogue that caused Zidane to react in such a manner.
After an exhaustive study of the match video, and with the help of an Italian translator, Rees claimed that Materazzi called Zidane “the son of a terrorist whore” before adding “so just f*** off” for good measure, supporting the natural assumption that the Frenchman must have been grievously insulted.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Truth hurts?
Not to defend Zidane at all (he should have retaliated, but there were better times and ways to do it), but if the Italian called Zidane himself a 'terrorist', that's one thing. But he brought his mother into it. That's what we call "fighting words."
Big effin' deal. Your average playground basketball game has worse taunts.
Hey, the Iranian National Team could use a coach with motivational skills like Zidane's. ;)
I don't think Zidane has given a statement yet as to what words were exchanged. The "son of a terrorist whore" translation came from the lip reader.
Although it does appear that this was actually said, Zidane should've kept his head. Smack about your mom especially with her being ill and all that aside, you can't allow the players of another team to get into your head given the situation. Just beat them on the scoreboard.
I mean, did you EVER hear of MIchael Jordan kneeing someone in the crotch because they talked about his dad or Joe Montana ear-holing someone after a play because they made fun of his 80s mullet?
Nope.
How very soccer of him.
Taunting the person himself is one thing, talking about his mother like that, especially when she was ill, frankly deserved some kind of action, I wouldn't blame have blamed Zidane at all, had it not been such a violent retaliation. That being said, Zidane had to be tossed, there was no other way. But as they say, there are always two sides to every story, and it's usually only the retaliator that gets caught.
Yet they don't tell us in what language the alleged insult was hurled. Seems to be you know, the most damn critical piece of information here so others can independently verify the lip reading.
Italian, French, English?
aside all specualtion.. he fudged up big time... it's like Mike Tyson bitting off that ear..
Zidane walked right into their trap if the Italians truly believed they could make him lose his cool. The best response would have been for Zidane to put another one in the back of the net during overtime if he really wanted to anger his opponents.
~ Blue Jays ~
Since both players refused to comment on the incident, there are various allegations about what led to Zidane's violent outburst. His agent, Alain Migliaccio has claimed that a "very serious" comment by Materazzi provoked the attack.[7] Reportedly, the deaf forensic lip-reader Jessica Rees was employed to analyze the video sequences with the help of an Italian translator. According to these reports, Materazzi spoke in Italian - a language understood by Zidane due to his time spent with Juventus F.C. - and first told him: "Hold on, wait, that one's not for a nigger like you." As the players walked forward, Materazzi allegedly said: "We all know you are the son of a terrorist whore." Then, just before the headbutt, he was seen saying: "So just fuck off."
You can think less of him for losing his temper, but it's not fair to claim that he is crying victimhood.
You could bet if someone had the lack of class to talk badly about Jordan's dad, especially after his murder would have probably gotten a well-deserved ass kicking from Mike. The fact is nobody would have stooped to that level, even in the thuggish NBA.
See post #8.
Zidane calmly walked off the field, he knew he probably deserved what he got and didn't argue.
The difference is that they were playing REAL sports for grown-ups.
In hindsight, Zizou is probably telling himself that exact thing right now, but in the heat of the moment, he lost it.
The obvious question...what did Zidane say or do that would cause the Italian player to say such a thing?
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