davidti

Zinedine Zidane stat of the day:

He's been sent off 14 times in his career

I would have guessed maybe 4 or 5 before finding that out.

riccardo

How many for Materazzi?

I'll start you off with three whilst at Everton...

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davidti

14th April 2005 Inter v AC Milan

"UEFA also said yesterday that AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko will not be charged for an apparent head-butt on Inter defender Marco Materazzi."

Looks like the big Italian lump is the master of the wind-up.

ozz

All part of the game if you ask me.

I'm really struggling to work out what Materazzi could have said that was bad enough to make him react like that.

I've had all sorts of sledging on the Sunday league field. From questioning my parentage to opponents telling me how much my missus loved it up the arse from them on Saturday night. All of which is water off a duck's back.

Out striker used to get called a black cunt all the time. That and the usual nigger, jungle bunny et al. Not once did he kop - he just used to slam it in the onion bag as the ultimate fuck you.

I would have thought that Zidane had all the ability in the World to be able to use his skill to do exactly the same. Obviously not!

As an aside I witnessed Glenn MacGrath get some horrendous abuse in the Ashes last year, relating to the well being of his wife who had just contracted cancer for the second time. If anything is enough to drive a man to violence I would have thought that would be it - he just stared the offending piece of shit in the eye and dared him to say it again. The bloke said nothing.

riccardo

Where was that, ozz?



**EDIT** Sorry, I'm going to be very rude, and fuck off home immediately after asking you a question. Catch you later...

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ozz

If memory serves me right it was a one-dayer at Headingley. I was a bit boozy but was sober at the time that the idiot decided to abuse him. I couldn't believe my ears.

colo colo

In the German media it's been reported that a Brazilian (?don't ask me why?) lip reader has said that he called his sister a prostitute.

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Cormack

2003 - Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath chided West Indian batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan "so, what does Brian Lara's dick taste like?" Sarwan replied "I don't know, ask your wife." McGrath lost his temper and yelled "If you ever fucking mention my wife again, I will fucking rip your fucking throat out!"

Love McGrath to pieces because the game speaks for him. There's a line you cross and that's the end of it, though, and Sarwan managed it. Materazzi appears to have crossed it. If he has, ZZ should have took him with him.

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There is no Devil; just God when he drinks.

Cormack

Romance languages are very similar, CC, and there wouldn't be much difference between Italian, Portuguese and Spanish for that matter, especially in verbalisation.

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thegreat

Do you mean Sarwan crossed the line - if so why ?

If he cant take what he is dishing out then he shouldnt be doing/saying it in the first place

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Cormack

His exchange with Eddo Brandes shows he can take it back if it's in that spirit, thegreat, but if the Sarwan incident spiralled out of control like that then the context appears a lot more sinister, but yes, I'm making assumptions now.

Ozz shows how much McGrath has took elsewhere, though, so there must have been something extra-offensive in that, IMO.

Same with ZZ - given what he rose above in '01 to perform to the best of his abilities (and I thought he was tremendous that night) I don't think "smelly arse" would have caused that.

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1qa2ws

Is that what it's come to though? Sledging. I know it's been happening for years but surely it can stop at a player taking a shot at another player's abilities. Why do other matters need to be brought into things?

At least we've still got gentlemanly sports such as tennis, golf and snooker.

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Think differently.

Walter

Cormack, I'm with the Great in thinking that nothing Sarwan said in that encounter was outrageous given the context of what McGrath said (and on the basis that we have only the evidence we do of the incident). McGrath put it out, tough shit he copped it back and lost his head. The fact he was so admirably restrained when that knob shouted what he did at Headingley does not necessarily change that. I just don't think you can gauge temper so simplistically.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least to discover the Zidane blew his top over something less appalling than we might expect. Losing your temper is not a rational thing. That sounds like the bleeding obvious but it seems to have been forgotten. I wouldn't mind betting that some people guilty of road rage actually lose it during incidents of far less seriousness than others they encounter. I've got a friend with an occasionally scary hot-head and I'm always surprised that it is the daftest things that flick him.

Remember Zidane was probably very tense. His last international, a World Cup final, the possibility of penalties, he had already had to change his mind for one earlier in the game and only just converted, perhaps he was thinking of where he would put his next penalty, he had also fairly recently missed an opportunity to score, he was probably exhausted. He is also clearly a hot-head and no matter how much provocation he may have ignored, people like that are rarely free of the threat of losing it. Tired, tense, just the time to lose the self-control he might have restrained himself with. Of course I could be wrong. It might have been awful, but it is very difficult to imagine it could have been any worse than anything else he has been subjected to in his career. I just think we need to remember that being hot-tempered tends to be irrational so there is actually no need for the provocation to be directly proportional to the response.

blink

Speaking as one such, Walter, that is an excellent summing up of the condition.

davidti

I think context is everything in this matter.

As Walter says "Remember Zidane was probably very tense. His last international, a World Cup final, the possibility of penalties, he had already had to change his mind for one earlier in the game and only just converted, perhaps he was thinking of where he would put his next penalty, he had also fairly recently missed an opportunity to score, he was probably exhausted."

Given all that and his obvious mental exhaustion it's easy to see why he flipped. The same words to him on another occasion would have had no impact.

ozz

I just posted this on another thread

-----------------------------------------------

I have it on pretty good authority that Materazzi said words to the effect of:


"I hope Jean suffered"


To put this in context, Jean Varraud was Zidane's first trainer and Zidane considered him his second father. He died just before World Cup started, having endured a long battle against cancer.

You see Zidane looking at the sky many times during the WC particularly after he scores goals. It is in memory of Jean that he does this.


Not sure whether this changes things for anyone? What it does bring home to me is that, if true, Materazzi did overstep the mark severley. Personally I would probably have battered the cunt too! Although I still wish that Zidane had counted to ten, swallowed and made the fucker pay with a moment of inspiration to win it for the French.


As an aside, if and when this comes out into the public domain Materazzi will get absolutely slaughtered and rightly so. I give Zidane immense credit for not letting the media know immediately thus marring the Italian celebrations.

thegreat

Ozz whatever Matarazzi said does not give zidane the right to assault him.

If that happened anywhere else than on the pitch Zidane would be arrested.

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riccardo

...and then battered him with the trophy afterwards. 1000 match ban... oui, oui, comme tu veux...

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"My ASS, No blame!"

Cormack

And judging buy the context of the insult, the arrest would be mitigated by the counter arrest for incitement of racial hatred.

Either way, it'd have been ten-a-side.

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There is no Devil; just God when he drinks.

thegreat

only if it can be proved he said it

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___________


I'm a working man from Lancashire

And I want a Chippy Tea !!!!