Zinedine Zidane : What a tragic end to a legend !!

July 10th, Berlin : What a tragic end to a legend’s career !! Zidane playing his last match was thrown out of the match by a red card after he head butted Italian defender Marco Materazzi !!

It was intervention from the officials that led to Zidane’s red card and not a result of the protests from Italian players !! France coach Raymond Domenech confirmed that Zinedine Zidane ’s red card in the second half of extra time for head butting Italian Marco Materazzi came after intervention from the fourth official.

Italy clinched their fourth World Cup title 5-3 on penalties after the match finished 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes and 30 minutes of extra time.

Domenech said referee Horacio Elizondo only decided to send off Zidane, who was playing his 108th and final match for Les Bleus before retiring from football, after talking with the fourth official. “We had the fourth official saying it to the referee. The second official saw nothing. The fourth official tipped off the referee,” he said. “The referee was not on our side.” Domenech said he did not know what Materazzi had said to Zidane but he could not believe that the three-time world player of the year would react without reason. “I don’t know what Materazzi told Zidane.

“We had the match under control and it was sad that we had these two elements and we were down to 10 men,” he said.

All I know is that the man of the match is Materazzi not (Andrea) Pirlo. He scored a goal and had Zidane sent off,” said Domenech. “I think Materazzi is involved. Something must have happened I don’t thing he would react out of the blue.” The red card to Zidane was the pivotal moment of the match, Domenech added. “Zidane being sent off was a key element of the game because in extra time Italy was waiting for the penalty shootout,” he said, adding that losing Patrick Vieira at the start of the second half also affected the result.

Zidane the man who led the French team to the finals with his genius gameplay could not even attend the final ceremony. Time will tell if history will bestow on Zidane the same honours as other soccer greats like Beckenbaeur or Pele !! For Italians it was a great day and for most of the world .. it was a sad day … sad not because the French lost but because we witnessed how a great end to such a phenomenal career was shattered in a few seconds !!

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