Going off my last entry - there seems to be a lot of controversy over Zidane getting red carded off the field for his headbutt to [insert Italian guy here]. However, I think that the blame should not just be on Zidane for his expression of anger, but on the Italian player who obviously instigated it and then cried about it.
Perhaps it's because of the Italians' history of blatant fakery (ie. how they got the penalty kick against Australia, how the same player attempted the fake crying in 2002 against Korea but was caught for it and yellow-carded, how they attempt to fall over themselves and everyone else to get an advantage). And I don't know what was actually said, and probably never will. But in my gut, I suspect that this was all a ploy on the Italian side, to get inside the head of their captain, their best player - and remove him from play.
Yes, he should have had self-control. Clearly he was not mentally strong enough to just walk away and be the bigger man. But I don't think that it makes the guy crying on the ground because he provoked someone to headbutt him in the chest a hero. On the contrary - I think it makes him a coward.
I just don't think it's fair to solely condemn a man for his outward actions without understanding the cause. Who knows, perhaps the cause really was that petty and the Italian guy really was the victim. But somehow, I doubt it.
In any event, he got what he wanted. Italy won the World Cup. But it seems to me that it was through this cunning maneuver to take out the best opponent, and a bit of luck. Their goalie was excellent, to be sure. His save in overtime was ridiculous. Their defense was tight. But France played a better game, and Italy was barely hanging on as they looked tired the whole 2nd half onwards.
I mean, whatever - France has done its fair share of fake crying to get penalties as well, so they're no victims themselves. Just seems that there are 2 sides to every story...
No comments:
Post a Comment