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the Italians were the biggest bunch of punks and fakers i have ever seen in any sport. they were laughable, really made the sport look bad i thought. as for that Zidane guy, it was dumb, at least what he did was an honest mistake with his heart on his sleeve, those italian guys who would call for a stretcher any chance they got to fake an injury.

Of course they would. Someone compiled a list of divers. USA was among the lowest with like 5 and Italy was among the worst. Funny Americans have this stigma about diving and don't do it. Whereas the Euro weenies ought to get Olympic medals in the sport they do it so much. Greg Louganis should have taken up soccer.

France and Argentina and England also dove all the time. It's just the culture of soccer in many countries -- if you get beat, catch the ref's attention (and hopefully his whistle) by acting as if you've been shot.

Follow-up:


Report: Zidane could be stripped of award

Associated Press

MILAN, Italy -- FIFA president Sepp Blatter says Zinedine Zidane could be stripped of his Golden Ball award for the best player at the World Cup due to violent conduct.
"The winner of the award is not decided by FIFA, but by an international commission of journalists," Blatter said in Wednesday's La Repubblica. "That said, FIFA's executive committee has the right, and the duty, to intervene when faced with behavior contrary to the ethic of the sport."

Zidane head-butted Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the chest after the two exchanged words on the field in extra time of Sunday's World Cup final. He was sent off and Italy won its fourth title on penalties.

FIFA's disciplinary committee opened an inquiry Tuesday into Zidane's behavior. Such inquiries are routine when a player receives a red card in an international match. World soccer's governing body has declined to say whether Materazzi's conduct also is being investigated.


Zidane was awarded the Golden Ball on Monday, ahead of Italy's Fabio Cannavaro and Andrea Pirlo. The ballot box was open until after the end of the final, making it unclear how many votes were cast before or after the incident.

Blatter said he was "very hurt" by Zidane's violent reaction and that "to see him act like that made me feel bad, for him and for fair play."

that would be a shame.......... still think he deserves the honor.....if someone said something derogatory about my mother i would take em out too......

ponyplayer wrote:

ponyplayer wrote:that would be a shame.......... still think he deserves the honor.....if someone said something derogatory about my mother i would take em out too.........

Couldn't disagree with you more. I'm a firm believer in talking (constantly) to get inside the other guy's head, but when he reacts like ZZ did (or in any other way that indicates he's thinking more about you than the game), then you already have won the battle. Yeah, it's uncool when someone brings family into the discussion, but when they do, chances are it's because they think that messing with your head is the only way they can compete with you.

In a case like that, ZZ has to realize that the guy is trying to get in his head -- there are some pretty awful things that get said in the heat of competition. He should have helped France win the game, and THEN handle whatever issues he had. Had he stayed on the field, France had a very good chance to win. Go score the winning goal, and if you feel compelled to then go knock out the guy who was talking trash, go for it. Stand over him and call him names if you have to. But only when there's no time left on the clock.

I think my momma taught me sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me. While that is not totally true, if you let someone's heckling of you throw you off your game, then they've won and you've lost. Of course in Slapshot when Paul Newman tells the Goalie his wife is a Lesbian, he gets the necessary reaction. Trash talking is unfortunately a part of sports. If you can't take it, don't play.

I do agree but then again that is taking trash talking to a all time low..........did not work very well for Tyson when he said he wanted to eat Lennox Lewis`s kids..........


can someone please delete two of my post as i seem not to be able to...

ponyplayer wrote:I do agree but then again that is taking trash talking to a all time low..........did not work very well for Tyson when he said he wanted to eat Lennox Lewis`s kids..........


can someone please delete two of my post as i seem not to be able to...

You can always go in and edit it and just erase everything.