And the Fifa 2006 champions are…Azurris!
30 days ago, I spelt out the teams that I thought would make into Semi-Finals. The teams were Brazil, Argentina, Italy and England. Today am glad the only country which made into the Semi-Finals from the list also lifted the world cup…:)
But man, what happened to Zidane? The man of his calibre, such class, on the finals of the world cup, with only 10 minutes away from the finish time can’t react in that manner. I am curious what Materazzi said. But whatever he said, Zidane, such a cool person he seems to be, should not have reacted like that. He just destroyed the hopes of millions of French fans…More than the person who missed out in the penalty shoot-out, I think France will remember Zidane as the person responsible for losing the world-cup. Sad end to such a glittering career…
Anyways, am happy for Azurris, for ITALY…and I just shared the celebration with a glass of Beer 
:)
Comment by EU — July 10, 2006, Monday @ 3:47 am
Yes man I was shocked to see such a strong reaction form him. I think he was marked a little too well and wass frustrated a bit.. and also Materazzi must have said sth really strong to make Zizou act like this..
Sad end.. but he still is the best !!
Comment by Anuj — July 10, 2006, Monday @ 9:15 am
Am also really happy that Italy won
, though I couldn’t see the match coz our TV decided not to co-operate. It was a different experience following the commentary on net though.
Comment by Ram — July 10, 2006, Monday @ 2:11 pm
Hi Bharani,
Iv been a strong supporter of Italy too… So its heartening to see them win atleast 1 cup. Thank god for that… After all the heart breaks of 94, 98, Euro 2000, 2002…. God….one can go on and on… But alls well that ends well…
Btw, I have touched upon the Zidane incident on my blog… Do visit and leave your comments…
And till the next world cup, i guess we are allowed to sing: We are the champions, my friends… We kept on fighting till the end…..
Comment by Naveen — July 10, 2006, Monday @ 3:13 pm
I was watching on a big screen in my campus… and did some video recording..
What a game…(5/5 in penalty and an equalizer..).. victory goes to the deserved…Zizou too deserved what he got… infact my team Portugal lost.. but i’m happy they gave their best…Sonia should also be happy….:-)
Comment by Murugesh — July 10, 2006, Monday @ 4:15 pm
The French guy in my class justified Zidane’s action.:)
Apparently, the man was called a terrorist…immigrant. Zidane, whose parents emigrated to France from Algeria has faced a lot of discrimination in his past. Perhaps, this was his outburst. Herez teh article:http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=ap-wcup-zidane&prov=ap&type=lgns
Have you ever wondered how would an Indian react if he was labelled a Paki in a high intense game…Emotions . !
Comment by Indianblogger — July 11, 2006, Tuesday @ 10:23 am
B, he is a professional. I am not saying that what Materazzi did was right. It is indeed a mean thing to do (discrimination comments)…but professionals need to have their emotions in check…that too when millions of hopes rest on their shoulder…if he is going to react like that each time, then he has a great weakness which people will exploit it each time…The article also says that Zidana is known to overreact..
anyways…thanks for the link..now I know what Materazzi might have said…:)
though what zidane did was inexcusable, My heart goes for Zidane…
Comment by :Administrator — July 11, 2006, Tuesday @ 2:13 pm
look at the Wester Media and Muslim Media reacting to this…each one trying exploit and convey all kinds of irrelavent messages…not related to football…
Comment by Jeeva — July 11, 2006, Tuesday @ 8:33 pm
the implications of what Zidane did is larger than a 2 hour football game. If he was called racist comments..its a very serious thing to be noted. Football, Cricket or anyother game for that matter is after all a game..societal isues are larger than life..Do anyone here will justify Zidane should not have said anything coz a billion were watching it..and it was world cup..and let such nasty things go on. Some times may be you need to break the rules to alert the rule makers to take serious notice of things going on. I dare say nobody would have given a shit have Zidane not done anything and have only complianed… The outcome today is everybody is talking about the hidden dark side of things which look so beautiful from outside!!!!
Comment by pradeep — July 12, 2006, Wednesday @ 12:54 pm
I sometime wonder what people mean by a “Professional”? - A Robort programmed not to think and carry out orders? Don’t such things complicate the matter more in the long run. Burnouts…frustation…corporate guys can give more insight.
Comment by pradeep — July 12, 2006, Wednesday @ 1:00 pm
Pradeep,
Professional is someone who knows the tricks of the trade in and out. Someone who keeps out personal things from professional matters. Sledging or abusing is a common trap employed by opponents in any form of game. ‘Professionals’ are aware of such traps, and would ignore it.
You have brought out an interesting point here (Your first comment). Zidane’s incident in one of the world’s biggest stage might just pave way for elimination of racial abuses in sport. Let us see…
BTW, do we know each other? I know a person with the same name, that’s why
Comment by Administrator — July 12, 2006, Wednesday @ 1:54 pm
The following post by Vineeth pinpoints the core of the issue..
http://isb-mba.blogspot.com/2006/07/but-for-headbutt.html
“The moot point however remains what should have had the upper hand - professionalism or personal motivations…? These are the issues that test severely one’s value systems…and as such have no easy answers….”
Comment by Administrator — July 12, 2006, Wednesday @ 2:03 pm
Hi Bharani,
we have never met and i am not sure if connected by an extended circle of friendship. I wrote you once in reply to your “last post from ISB” (remember?).
I belong to developement sector and work in a consulting firm. My approach to this issue might be different. The way i am looking at ZZ episode is that- we are trying to stop or minimize the effect rather than acting on the cause. Its personal anyway, but don’t it imply to something much biger. If tommorow the golden ball award is snatched away from ZZ, FIFA sould also make a official statement saying..abusing and provoking each other is official (just check not to use racial abuses)…(Instance of two countries going to war due to a football match is there!!). With technological advancements checking even abuses is not a hard thing i guess (u must be knowing more).
anyway, the pure professional concept is also undergoing some change (to accomodate personal attributes to enhence bottomline)- hope you might have read it before…http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/10/magazines/fortune/rules.fortune/index.htm
tk cr
Comment by pradeep — July 13, 2006, Thursday @ 12:22 pm
Pradeep..I recollect now..
Your points are valid…I do hope something constructive comes out that…I will rest my case on Zidane here
Now my mind is more occupied about India and the sad happenings that happened in the last few days….
I have not read the link before…was interesting read.
Comment by Administrator — July 13, 2006, Thursday @ 11:15 pm