Well, the 2006 FIFA World Cup has come and gone. This year I have followed the tournament closer than ever.
It definitely was not any fun watching the U.S. get trounced. This was supposed to be the year that they played better and went deep into the tournament, but they failed to even make it out of the first round. It’s really not terribly surprising when you realize how much apathy there is regarding soccer in the US. When I go to a sports store and there is literally one small section of World Cup gear, that’s kind of sad. Understandable I suppose, but you would think that the world’s largest sporting even would get better treatment than that. But I digress…
I was definitely pulling for Brazil, mostly because I recognize many of their players and I know what a great level of talent they have, but even they didn’t perform they way I thought they would. France beat them pretty handily in the quarterfinals, and that was that.
For political reasons, I’m not a huge fan of France. I’m sure they’re great people and all, but it’s not my favorite country. However, I was pulling for them in the final yesterday, mostly due to Zinedine Zidane, one of the world’s greatest players, who was retiring after the game. I didn’t see much of the game, but I did get to see Zidane pull a really bone-headed move. In the second over time period, with not much time left until penalty kicks, something must have happened, because Zidane did a 180 and threw a vicious head butt into one of Italy’s players. The main ref didn’t see the play, but the sideline ref did, and Zidane received the red card – automatic dismissal from the match. Had Zidane made it to penalty kicks, we might have seen a different end result, but the world will never know.
It’s a little sad to know that this international event won’t be around for another 4 years, but now that I know some more players, hopefully I’ll be able to catch some of the Euro club games while I wait for 2010 in South Africa.