I was never impressed by the way Zidane handled his infamous send off at the 2006 World Cup.
In the aftermath of the head-butt to Marco Materazzi, it was bizarre to listen to people defend such a violent action in the face of routine verbal provocation.
Whoever was giving Zidane advice was not wise. Zidane should have apologized immediately and without excuses regardless of what was said. In a time when we talk about setting examples for kids the message sent by the FFF, Chirac and The Wizard was wrong.
Two years later he has. Zidane is a hero to millions. He is arguably France’s greatest soccer player ever. He is part of many charities and has built himself a wonderful soccer legacy. He damaged it by not standing up and taking responsibility for his actions.
It’s a shame because when you input his name on Google Images the bulk of the pics are of him head-butting. Had he nipped it in the bud, people would have forgiven and forgotten.
He can’t take back what he did but he deserves some measure of forgiveness now.
Nonetheless, this is a case of better late than never. Good for Zidane.
2 Comments
September 21, 2008 at 4:59 pm
The book published this week about Zidane is not an authorized biography,if that is what you are referring to.
September 21, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Hello Annie,
Yes, it is in reference to journalist Besma Lahouri’s unauthorized book which also alleges doping issues with Zidane during his time at Juventus. Indeed, there was speculation that the French team in 2006 was possibly using dope but this has not been proven as far as we can tell.
It should have been mentioned in the post. So, it’s according to Lahouri - who has followed Zidane’s career closely from what we can tell.
It was also a book that had its manuscript stolen.
We’ll be watching this closer moving forward.
Thanks.
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