Mabrook Zidane
Monday, July 10, 2006
First of all, let me start by saying that I have absolutely zero-interest in football and I know nothing about it. I didn’t watch any of the world cup matches, not even the final match! Actually, I can’t recall that I ever fully watched a football match. Sometimes I watched for minutes, and other times I queried about the result out of curiosity, but honestly I never had an interest in any football match or league. During the world cup’s final match, I was far away from the event playing guitar with a friend who shares my zero football enthusiasm :)
This post is not about football, I told you I know nothing about it. This post is about an incidence that took place there on the green field, an incidence that someone reacted to with great courage, proving the world that dignity is much more important than a stupid cup :)
Although I know nothing about football, I couldn’t but stay in touch with the world cup updates. News are just everywhere and everybody is talking about the heating matches. I couldn’t but stay in touch …
As I said, I didn’t watch the match. But I did see a video playback for the incidence that shocked the millions. As I watched the video, I knew exactly what he was thinking at every second of his last minute on the field … Zidane.
If you think that Zidane did what he did because of a word, check the news and think again! :)
Many of you can’t tell, but I can … I can tell the difference between someone who reacts emotionally to a verbal offense and someone who thinks sensibly and acts courageously to defend something that matters to him more than the world cup in his final match. Rumors say that Materazzi uttered a racist note, or cursed Zidane’s mom, but Zidane never told anybody what was it! To him, it was more important to keep his red line, at all costs, sacrificing everything in his last stand, than to explain himself and brag about it to the media. He remained calm, and content … I couldn’t be any more impressed …
Although I do like Italy and I believe their performance was superb in this world cup, Italy’s win against France was a void one. All you Italy fans out there: Haven't any of you played Eight-ball billiard before?
How happy would you feel to win if your opponent mistakenly pocketed the black ball during the first few strokes of the game? Does it feel as good as having a long round and winning by pocketing all the balls yourself? … I don’t think so.
It’s the same as playing against France with Zidane out.
This is not to stay that Italy didn’t deserve the cup, but it’s also not to say that they deserved it. The correct answer is: we didn’t know :)It’s so unfortunate that what happened to Zidane was stupidly interpreted by many. I thought of writing this post to provide a rare neutral point of view on the subject as I neither root for France, nor for Italy.
Zidane won the Golden Ball award for the World Cup 2006 Best Player (Link). People of France and the journalists whose votes gave him the award still think of him as a champion, and so do I.
Now that the world cup is over, my congratulations go to Italy and all of its fans. Italy is a great team and did amazing in this world cup, but truth be told: they never defeated Zidane. Zinedine Zidane came out of his final match with something much more precious than the world cup …
Note: this post is not meant to be a thread for football rants; comments discussing the football aspects related to the incidence or the world cup are not welcomed and will be eagerly removed.
12 Response(s) to "Mabrook Zidane"
Devil's Mind said:
Impressing way to look at it... I agree to a great extent!
ma3en said:
Zidane was a player feared by all, not only because of his personal skills, but mostly because of his ability to move the whole team on his own, eleven players with one mind, zidane's, brazil and France were equals, that is if brazil weren’t better, but it's zidane who made the difference, Italy realized that, they might have used immorality in order to neutralize him, but they couldn’t neutralize his name and state as the best player in the world cup tournament.
Glory for Zidane ;)
Lubna said:
you people are funny.. I can't see how a mistake can/ should be corrected by another!
I'd consider it your own personal opinion, and a typical arab perspective.
Black [X] Truder said:
No Lubna, it's you who has a "very" arab perspective!
What Zidane did was not a mistake, it was a courageous respond to a serious assault. How much courage you think it took him to give away the world cup just to respond to someone who's crossed the line?
Watch the video again, see how it wasn't just about verbal, and see how Zidane walked slowly and calmly before he hit that bastard. The way he walked infront of him shows that Zidane didn't act out of rage! It was clear from the video that he thought about it, he knew it would cost him the world cup, but he gave it away because to him it didn't mean anything besides his dignity.
I don't think that any other player in the world would have done that!
Lubna said:
I do agree with you, he took a decision that was based on thinking, and not on a quick response. I also agree that it required guts to give up "staying in the field" -with all the positive temptations around- , to not ignore the insult.
What I don't, wouldn't and shouldn't agree on, is the fact that his response to the assumed insult was a courageous act. I don't agree that people should make fights or should insult or hit in order to defend their stolen rights.
If he didn't care about staying in, he could've been more courageous and faced and argued with Matterrazi, or for a worst case scenario; he could've simply quit the game, if the referee or the italian players were a replica of the germen and their referee in the argentina vs germany game. That’s when he should be considered a dignified man.
Black [X] Truder said:
None of us praised Zidane for his martial arts skills you know, we only admired the great courage this player had to do what he did. And whether you agree or not: it was definitely a courageous act of Zidane. It is out of question.
Regarding hitting other players (which again I say we weren't talking about) I totally agree that it is wrong in spite of any reasons. However, insulting a player who has no choice but to move on is way too worse and unmoral, isn’t it? Personally, I think that Zidane’s hit was the least to be done in reply to Materazzi‘s mean and obvious assault, or what you call an “assumed” insult.
If you don't agree on insulting others even for the sake of defending stolen rights, what do you think of insulting others without a reason?
Considering the other actions that you listed that Zidane could've taken instead of hitting Materazzi, all of them make no sense. Having a friendly conversation over an insult during the match is nonsense, also quitting the game will be the most stupid thing Zidane could have done: he would be giving away the world cup and not responding to Materazzi at the same time!
I really think it should be the Italian team members who hit Materazzi because he ruined their game, and deprived his team from a well-deserved victory. If not for his stupid act the game could have taken another course: maybe Italy could have scored in those last ten minutes (Ofcourse they could), entertained the millions, and earned their victory against Zidane.
Lubna said:
It was a brutal act of fury. No excuses to the act should be given. Whether you agree or not, i don't care, i believe in what i just said, and i don't care what the others think.
Lubna said:
"brutal act.... "
it's quoted from: http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/photos/index.html?i=2&d=1
Black [X] Truder said:
Your link proves nothing. Words and expressions used by someone represent a personal opinion, and being published in a news paper or a web site does not give them any more credibility. Only the facts contribute here.
I believe Zidane’s act is justified as a reply to what Materazzi did. If you look around you can see situations where the only solution to a problem is a problem. Take the execution of killers by law forces as an example. You can’t say killing somebody is unjustified disregarding the circumstances! Here: killing an individual is justified because it will terminate a serious threat to the lives of others.
Looking at Zidane’s act as a brutal act, and not looking at the environmental circumstances surrounding the incidence will lead to poor situation analysis. I am only trying to be objective here. Feel free to think what you want, I too don’t care for what others say, but I do care for what the facts say.
Lubna said:
see another misinterpretation! i didn't put the link to show you what these ppl said, i just quoted the three words from their link,, inno mish men rasi... bas no other meaning...
it's facts for you... not for me w i'm sick of it... ciao
Luai said:
Do you support honor killings then? Some of those sick perpetratrs say that the crime is protecting their honor and dignity.
Black [X] Truder said:
No Luai I do not support honor killings. On contrary, I find them totally stupid and meaningless. I may not be in position to discuss what suitable alternative solutions would be, but honor killing definitely does not do anybody any good, and no they do not protect anybody’s honor or dignity.
You can’t compare it to the execution of criminals, which –though terminating one’s life- ends a threat to the lives of others.
I aimed at giving an example where acts are justified despite their nature. I didn’t mean to say that every hit or murder is justified, ofcourse not!
Always be fair and objective. Look at the reasons and consequences before you judge the act :)
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