Re: Italy wins!!!
Date: July 10, 2006 12:26
Yes... I can't get over it! There is an article from yesterday which said: "in any case, Zidane will have gone out in style", referring to his brilliant world cup. Well, he found the only possible way to stain his exit.
Can't imagine how bad he felt. That head-kick was not even a sneaky gesture, "nobody will see me" kind of thing, it was open, in front of all cameras, it had no purpose like gaining a penalty or anything, it was pure temporary loss of reason, the kind of things which, 5 minutes afterward, have you wondering "what have I done? What have I done?" and, although it's too late, you keep on wondering for ever.
Zidane is a correct man, a good man, with a strange temper. And sometimes, some sort of very short sense of street justice returns to him. In 2000, he hit that german player who had been attacking him for the whole game, and got sent off in such shame that his club and sponsors asked him to make a public apology, which went as follows:
"I know what I did is inacceptable and against the spirit of the sport, I apologize to my sponsors, my club, my fans, the children of the world..."
- (journalist) And do you apologize to the german player?
"No."
Well, that's Zidane. Because he's so shy and silent, and not too good with words, I think nobody quite grasps the complexities of his personality.
Another example: once, he said about immigrant's integration, that his parents educated him very well, and told him that he would have to work twice as hard and be twice as respectful. Everybody applauded to this - I was shocked: why in hell should he be twice as respectful as anyone? He said it naïvely, but it surely shows the incredible pressure on a man who (contrary to Thuram for instance, very outspoken) never ever allowed his frustrations to come out and was, in my view, a victim of his public image, the "good immigrant" public image.
I have huge tenderness for Zidane, and I take the headbutt with all the rest. And also some strange feeling I always had, that he is, heroe and all, in a position with which he was never at ease.