Zinédine Zidane - The Human Defibrillator

"Human Defibrillator" - That was the way I heard one announcer describe it on TV tonight. I would have expected to be posting a brief entry about the new world champions, but instead, I am in a state of disbelief just like every other football fan. If you missed the last overtime of the Italy vs. France game, you missed a piece of history. In general, a World Cup final is history in the making anyway. But with the game being the last appearance of one of the sport's greatest athlete's of all time, the game had added weight. With minutes left though, Zidane appeared to temporarily lose his sanity, lined up the Italian Marco Materazzi, charged him like a bull, and completely annihilated him.

The action resulted in Zidane ending his career with a downcast walk past the biggest achievement the sport has to offer. What an emotional and shocking experience. Personally, I was disappointed, angry, proud (not sure why...some sort of "that Italian had it coming and man did he get him good!" reaction), empathetic, sad, depressed, confused. It was simply crazy. I have a ton of respect for Zidane as a player and it remains. I think the dust needs to settle before I figure out how I truly feel about this one. Obviously it was a huge mistake. Don't get me wrong.

The game itself was great. Exciting to watch and dominated by the French. Anyone who tells you otherwise is an Italian.

Congrats to the Azzuri though. Their defense was pretty solid. Their captain Cannavaro was superb and is one of the few Italians I thought shined in the game. He had an excellent tournament and he deserves this moment pictured below.