| 9 July 2006 |
| ITALY | 1-1 |
FRANCE |
| Materazzi 18 |
Zidane 6 (Pen) |
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In the 6th minute Malouda made the most of Materazzi's clumsy challenge to win a penalty. Zidane took one step forward then chipped the ball against the underside of the crossbar and fortunately for him and France it bounced over the line. Materazzi, who was clearly rattled, almost doubled France's lead with a poor header which had Buffon scrambling at his past. Italy began to take control and equalised when Materazzi punished abysmal marking in the French box to head in Pirlo's corner. From a throw-on Gattuso burst past two players before giving the ball to Totti, Totti rode a tackle from Vieira as he ran inside the box, Gattuso fed the ball to Toni and just as he shot Thuram slid in to clear. That was the one moment of magic Italy provided in the entire match. From the resulting corner Toni headed against the underside of the crossbar. At the start of the second half Henry gathered a loose ball, ran through Gattuso's tackle and darted between two defenders in the box but hit a weak shot with Buffon easily saved. Pirlo flashed a free kick just wide of Barthez's left post. A fabulous move in which the French strung together 11 passes ended with Ribery cutting inside Iaquinta and sliding a ball through to Malouda, who was flattened by Cannavaro's heavy tackle from behind on the edge of the box, Ribery gathered possession and a subtle feint took him clear of De Rossi but he dragged his shot wide of a post. Seconds later he made way for Trezeguet. Another wonderfully constructed move started with Gallas intercepting a Iaquinta pass and giving the ball to Zidane, who was deep in his own half. The ball was worked down the right through Zidane before he eventually passed out wide to Sagnol and ran into the box where he met the defenders cross with a fantastic header which was matched by Buffon's spectacular one handed save. Early in the second half Wiltord came on for Henry who appeared to be struggling with a minor knock. In an incident which will go down in World Cup infamy, Zidane was sent off for head-butting Materazzi in the chest after the two exchanged words when walking away from the Italy penalty area. This was similar to the Rooney mess in that the ref missed the incident but on the advice of one of the officials took action, well we assume that's what happened. In any case it was a deserved red card and a sad way for Zidane to bring an end to a glittering career. Despite their numerical advantage Italy couldn't put together any meaningful attacks and the game went to penalties but without Zidane, Henry and Vieira, who went off injured mid-way through the second half, the odds were in Italy's favour. Penalty Shoot-Out Pirlo hits the ball high straight down the middle, awful penalty but Barthez goes the wrong way Wiltord blasts the ball into the bottom right corner, perfect penalty Materazzi copies Wiltord by smashing the ball into the bottom right corner Trezeguet crashes the ball against the underside of the crossbar De Rossi. CRACKERJACK, top left corner, no chance for Barthez Abidal sends the ball left of centre at a perfect height for Buffon who once again dives early Del Piero. I sure as hell thought he'd miss but he didn't thanks largely to Barthez diving early Sagnol hits the ball with extreme prejudice, poor height, poor placement, poor goalkeeping, Buffon has been useless in this shoot-out Grosso. Championship point. Top right corner, unstoppable. Great penalty France were as good in the second half and extra-time as Italy were in the first. The game was played at a painfully slow pace. Toni dived more in 120 minutes than Cristiano Ronaldo has in his last three matches. Pirlo reverted to type i.e. kept giving the ball away, Totti was beyond useless and Cannavaro didn't look anywhere near as assured as he has done in previous matches. Good job Gattuso was off the charts, as he has been all tournament. IMO Malouda was France's best player. Nothing Materazzi said can excuse Zidane's headbutt. Zidane is no stranger to red cards. France were the better side on the day but in the 2002 European Championship final they came away with the silverware having been outplayed. What goes around, comes around. Italy survived the group of death, survived a cheap red card against Australia (and got the break of a last second penalty) before crushing Ukraine and beating an excellent Germany side in the game of the tournament. France peaked last week, with their excellent victories over Spain and Brazil. It would have sucked had they won the World Cup on the back of two dodgy penalties, they haven't scored in open play since beating Spain. Anyway two World Cups for one generation of players is beyond greedy. I enjoyed this tournament far more than the last World Cup, largely because the traditional powers made it to the knockout stages. Germany played the best football, Gattuso was the best player. England are edged out by Portugal as the worst team in the tournament. Both teams played negative football, Portugal showed more imagination, in bursts, but cannot be forgiven for their histrionics and I loath teams with second rate players that punch above their weight. Penalties are a stain on the face of humanity but nothing will change while the current, corrupt regime are in charge of the game. Let's hope by 2010 either Sepp Bladder is out of power or six foot under and someone who has actually played the bloody game at a high level is in charge i.e. Beckenbauer and not Bladder's stooge Platini. Congratulations to Italy supporters everywhere and thanks to everyone for reading. Stats will follow and enjoy your summer. Italy win 5-3 on penalties Attendance : 69,000 Red Card : Zidane 110 (France) Assists : Malouda (won pen), Pirlo (fk) |
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