Of Super-heroes and Human Frailties
The World Cup has ended and all those who watched the match must be really shocked at the manner in which Zinedene Zidane was sacked for head butting an opponent.
It was a deliberate act, not something done immediately in reaction to a hard tackle but the replay showed the football maestro taking 3 or 4 steps before a strong head butt that floored the victim.
We may never know what transpired between the two men but it will go down as the one of the greatest fall from grace of a football super-hero.
Before the game with Italy that ended in the penalty shoot-out, we could see that the spirit of the French team was good and it was possible for them to win the World Cup for the second time.
Both teams were able to create scoring chances but neither was able to score the winning goal.
Perhaps we elevate our soccer heroes to too high a pedestal. We translate their prodigious talents into multi-million contracts and expect too much of them.
When things go wrong and the team loses, we should accept that football is only a game, albeit the beautiful game.
How do we relate the soccer stars with our own leaders? Our ministers are also human and sometimes we have to bear with their idiosyncrasies provided they take corrective measures when we make useful suggestions.
To Zidane I wish you Adieu and a happy retirement. I hope you will soon forget your moment of madness as you have contributed so much to soccer.
photo:http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/photos/index.html?i=102&d=1
posted by H J Angus @ 1:38 am
2 Comments:
Deliberate or not, Zidane's place in football history is assured. One mistake cannot take away a lifetime of remarkable achievements of this 'Franco-Arab'.
I rather think it was a moment when Zidane slipped back into his childhood rather than sheer madness.
Retaliating by "head-butting" is the sort of stuff often seen in playgrounds and kindies before the boys learnt that a good wallop with the knuckles can inflict a more painful lesson.
I find it amusing, a grown and dignified man like Zidane venting his anger in such a childish manner.
It beats seeing Materazzi floored with a bloody nose, doesn't it?
Classic move, and it'll probably go down in football history as Zidane's finest encore as a superb & gentlemanly sportsman. :-)
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