Word: materazzi
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...count me among those who are wagging their finger at French soccer star Zinédine Zidane for his ferocious head butt to the chest of Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the waning minutes of overtime of the World Cup final. Zidane, known as Zizou to the fans who worship him, later explained that he erupted after having to endure one insult too many--not to mention a game's worth of off-the-ball rough stuff--from a fullback who has been called l'animale in Italy...
...surprisingly, for many of the same ghetto residents he calls "my people," Zidane's head-butt of Marco Materazzi was a source of pride rather than shame. Kids on the streets of France's banlieue told reporters that defending his honor was more important than the World Cup. Indeed, Zidane's mother may have been speaking for more than just her family when she told a British newspaper, "Our whole family is deeply saddened that Zinedine's career should end with a red card but at least he has his honor. Some things are bigger than football...
...Zidane the transgression in deference to his more heroic profile both on and off the pitch, some pundits are bound to insist Zidane's final on-field act will forever compromise what would have been a legendary status. Earlier media analyses of what had preceded the bust-up depicted Materazzi's comments as Islamophobic or racist in nature - with one suggesting the Italian had called Zidane a "(expletive) Arab, Muslim terrorist...
...revelation that Materazzi had, instead, got Zidane's goat with the kind of insults commonly used in sandlots, playgrounds and professional arenas around the world to bait rivals will doubtless strike many observers as undeserving of the Frenchman's dramatic, self-defeating reaction - especially at such a crucial time for his team and soon-to-be-terminated career. Especially given Zidane's comments earlier in the interview acknowledging neither he nor his teammates had experienced any problems with the Italians or Materazzi prior to the exchange that ended with Zizou's expulsion...
...grabbed my jersey and I told him to stop," Zidane, 34, explained. "I told him if he wanted my jersey, I'd give it to him after the match." There would be no after for Zidane, however, once the insults he says Materazzi directed toward his mother and sister worked their dark magic. "He said it once, and I walked away. But you hear it a second time, a third time... I'm a man, and I reacted to them. Those words were harder than acts...