Word: materazzi
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Dates: during 2006-2006
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SUSPENDED. Zinédine Zidane, 34, retired captain of France's soccer team; for three games, for head butting Italy's Marco Materazzi in the chest during the World Cup final in Berlin, which Italy won; by FIFA, soccer's governing body; in Zurich. Materazzi, who Zidane said provoked him repeatedly, was suspended for two games. Because Zidane retired immediately after the final, he agreed to perform community service for three days in lieu of his suspension...
...cheap shot seen round the world--French star Zinédine Zidane head-butted Marco Materazzi of Italy in the last minutes of the World Cup final. (Zidane says Materazzi insulted his mom and sister.) Most sports ban head-butting, but there have been extraordinary examples...
...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...
...Zizou has also been playing football during a time when dirty play has become acceptable. Defenders such as Materazzi are skillful in their own right, but they have also mastered the black arts that disfigure the game. The Italians are particularly good at it, as the Americans discovered during their 1-1 draw in Kaiserslautern, a game in which Brian McBride's face was slashed open by an Italian elbow...
...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...