The dark side of ZZ hands Italy the title
When Zinedine Zidane stepped up and nonchalantly chipped his penalty over Gianluigi Buffon, he seemed destined to write the perfect ending to his glorious career. The World Cup final is the most high-pressured match in sport, played in front of a global audience of 2.5 billion. Yet here was the greatest player since Diego Maradona shrugging off the pressure, showing supreme confidence in his own ability and delivering. The message was clear, “I am at the top of my game“. Gennaro Gattuso, who when asked before the game how he was going to prepare to mark Zidane, responded, “Pray“, must have been worried. The doors to footballing immortality beckoned. Zidane was on the path to usurping the great Johan Cruyff and becoming the third member of the Holy Trinity of football - Maradona, Pele and now Zizou.
Fast forward 102 minutes. The score was 1-1 but France were in control. Zidane was the conductor of France’s orchestra. Italy were hanging on. They had dominated the first half and deservedly equalised through Materazzi. They should have been ahead but Toni’s header hit the bar. Gattuso had kept ZZ subdued, but the difficulty of marking him had taken its toll. He had broken free from Gattuso’s shackles in the second half and his influence had grown.
Then, in a moment of madness everything changed. There was a verbal exchange with Materazzi, a smile, and suddenly Zizou turned and headbutted Materazzi in the chest. The inevitable red card followed. This is was not the first time Zidane had lost his temper and succumbed to an an act of violence. At France 1998, he was sent off for a stamp on Saudi Arabia’s Fuad Amin and missed the next 2 matches. In 2000, while playing for Juventus against Hamburg, he was sent off for headbutting Jochen Kientz. The difference was that on both those occasions he had time to redeem himself and remind us of his wonderful quality as a player. He isnpired France to victory in the final of 1998 with two goals. In the Champions League, the abiding memory is of his athletic volley against Leverkusen in 2002 which gave Real Madrid the title. This time there would be no time for redemption - Zidane walked off the pitch and out of football. The glorious ending became a tragic one.
Without their leader, confidence drained from the French side. They seemed as shocked as football fans around the globe were. Defeat was inevitable. Fabio Grosso stepped up to complete his fine tournament and hammered the ball past the hapless Barthez in the penalty shootout. Italy were champions for the fourth time. They had not reached the heights of their semi-final performance and looked drained, but they did enough and deserved their victory for the manner in which they had won over football fans by moving away from catenaccio playing the attacking football that their talented forward line craved.
This morning Zidane was controversially given the Golden Ball, awarded to the torunament’s MVP. Fabio Cannavaro was probably a more deserving winner. He lead his team all the way, whereas Zidane let his down at the crucial moment.
In time, as the furore over his dismissal subsides, the most vivid memories of ZZ will be of his silky touch, his unrivalled skill and his ability to control a game. It has happened before: Maradona, despite his “hand of God” is remembered as a footballing genius. For what he has achieved through his career Zidane deserves his place in the pantheon of football greats as the defining player of his generation. I for one would elevate him above Cruyff as the third best player the world has seen. But today, my memory of Zidane the player is tinged. Why is genius always flawed?
