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We miss you, Zizou!

If he didn't regret, I'd be deeply worried about his mental health. It probably cost him the World Up.

ooooo shocking....

that statement ought to sell a few more books...

kopper- i stand by the fact that he wouldve taken a pk in place of someone who's not name Trezeguet..... sorry but Trez'e'gol is normally dead on balls accurate, and would have still missed the goal (we can throw around all the "what-ifs" but it wouldnt change what happened).... i feel worse for poor trezeguet who road the bench all WC and expected to shine on his first touch of 2006...

I dont know otergod. You cant discredit the pyschological blow and the added pressure of losing your captin and best penalty taker. It's all shoulda woulda's but the shootout may have been differnt. Then again you could say the same thing if the manager had simply sent them out in a differnt order.

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 08:35 AM ET  09.18 by Otergod

ooooo shocking....that statement ought to sell a few more books...

Agreed. Shocker!

LMAO.

I know I'll buy the book...but then again I've got a man-crush on Zizou...going back to '98.
I'm sure I'll start another debate but he was the greatest player of the mid-90's to well - the headbutt. World Cup winner, CL winner, Euro winner...the guy has done it all.

Don't worry - I'm not biased or anything.

Who does not have a man crush on Zizou! Anyone who loves soccer should remember the 06' WC and how he was clearly the best player on the pitch. I still watch his games and would have loved to seen him end his career with the World Cup in his hands. One of the greats of all time...Zizou

Rojas...don't forget the game against Spain in 06 WC...(lucky enough to be in the stands) and against Brazil...he showed Brazil how to play like a Brazilian...he tore them up.

Absoluetly...it sends chills up my spine to see him control the mid so gracefully. His passes were superb and I remember hearing the spanish commentators and they were in absolute awe of him. He made it seem effortless like he was strolling thru the clouds. Have never seen a performance like his thru so many matches at such a high level. Messi comes to mind recently but he busts his butt thru out the match. Zizou just made it seem like he was a puppet master and controlled every match. Clearly the best player of the tournament.....

Otergod, you may be right--probably are about the kickers. But I'd argue that it's much more complex than that. As MSFC said, there are all the psychological elements, the change in the flow of the game, the extra energy that has to be expended by the other players when already spent, etc.

these are professional players we are talking about, not highschool state runner-ups....

losing zizou in the 1st half would have been one thing, but to lose him at the end of the 1st overtime is another.... Trezeguet is a solid shooter and finisher, but he's was riding the pine for the entire WC just to sub Henry off at the beg. of the 2nd overtime (if memory serves me correct).... i would think riding the pine caused more psychological problems for Trezeguet, not to mention being the 5th in the lineup... i just dont buy the "losing your captain" reasoning...

As an Italian-American... very much a supporter of the Azzurri... I must say, I don't regret it. Haha... but seriously, I think I like him more for doing it. I'm not a big fan of the French team other than a handful of players over the year. Zizou, Thierry Henry.... and most importantly, Eric Cantona. Anyone that drop-kicks a fan in the stands is a great player in my books. I love that he did that. No BS here. Coolest thing.

Otergod, I'd argue that professional players are subject to many of the same emotional responses to things as anyone else. They even say so. That's why we see stupid red cards, etc. We see adults in all walks of life overreact to all kinds of things. In a way, doesn't the incident at the heart of this posting suggest so? And consider the circumstance.

That said, I agree completely with most of your comments about Trezeguet.

kopper- why is it then that when teams see a red card they tend to play better..?? if they were so psychologically demoralized wouldnt they fail ....?? just look at the US in WC06... went down a man against Italy for the greater part of the game, in fact we lost two men, even though they lost 1 as well.... but with 9 players on the field we saw more attacking soccer by the US then the entire WC... and against a powerhouse at that...

i think red cards dont demoralize teams and players, but rather forces them to focus and try harder.... i think the only people that get demoralized by Reds are fans....

There are some funny videos out there that incorporate Zidane's infamous head butt on Materazzi. They make my laugh no matter how many times I've seen them. That headbutt was well deserved and he should have no feelings about it.

Otergod, I didn't say it couldn't happen that way, such as the US-Italy game you cite. I've seen that many times. I've also seen times when teams fold for psychological reasons--red cards just one of them. My point is that it's very circumstantial and that they players aren't robots. In some ways I think we're saying the same thing but considering different possible outcomes.

i understand your point, and i would think it apply if this were the US or some other team that relies on 1 player to add the spark (ie. if we lost donovan in the middle of a game, we'd probably go into a defensive shell).... but this is france... while zidane is not replaceable, there are plenty of replacements.... a team full of big names and professionals know that when the **** hits the fan, you've got to step up....

i just dont think that if zidane were to remained in the game the outcome would have been the same...

Big question is: Does he regret it based on the negative effect on the French squad and outcome of the match, or does he regret the physical harm he might have caused Materrazzi?

Why no apology to Materazzi? Granted, Materazzi is a complete thug, but still, aside from being one of the greatest talents in the history of the game, I always understood that Zidane was a class act and gentleman to boot (every pun intended).

And I realize Materazzi provoked him, grabbing his jersey and saying something about Zidane's sister. Believe me, I'm not defending the dude.

Still, when you cross the line and get physical, seems to me the class thing to do would be apologize.