World Cup Football Final - The French Connection

Although England were long gone from the tournament, I had to watch the final between France and Italy. I was (sort of) rooting for France because I thought it would it make a great weekend for them after winning the Womens' singles at Wimbledon. But in the final 10 minutes of Extra Time - with a 1 - 1 score - French team captain Zinadine Zidane did something quite extraordinary; he ran past the Italian Materazzi, then turned to face him and head-butted him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Neither player, incidentally, was in possession of the ball. Deservedly, Zidane got the Red Card and was sent off. From that point on I thought the French deserved to lose. They did - during a penalty shoot-out which decided the game in favour of the Italy. Zidane claims Materazzi made some offensive comment about him, but won't say what. Even if he did, was that the correct response, with the World Cup about to be decided, not to mention this was to be Zidane's last ever game, after a long and distinguished football career. What a way to end it.