Monthly Archives: July 2006

As France returns home disgraced and Italy prepares to find out how many of its clubs will be found guilty of a match-fixing scandal, Puma may turn out to the biggest winner of all after yesterday’s World Cup final. The German sports goods firm sponsored a World Cup winner for the first time as its […]

France captain Zinedine Zidane won the adidas Golden Ball award as the best player of the World Cup despite being sent off for headbutting Marc Materazzi during yesterday’s final. The results were released today by FIFA. Zidane edged Italy’s captain, Fabio Cannavaro, for the award, earning 2,012 points compared to Cannavaro’s 1,977. Italian midfielder Andrea […]

The French team returned home to Paris Monday to a considerably muted response from what some might have expected. Only about 100 fans, most of them children, awaited the teams’ landing at Charles de Gaulle. Following the sending off of their hero Zinedine Zidane, French spirits were understandably low. The scheduled parade down the Champs […]

Bemused is the best word to describe the media’s reaction to yesterday’s World Cup final. Zidane is in the headlines again, but for all the wrong reasons this time. And oh yeah, Italy won the World Cup. But everywhere that seems to be an afterthought as pundits across the globe search for reasons why Zidane […]

The Age says the Socceroos have now leapt in front of Australia’s world champion cricket team as the country’s top sporting brand. After a fantastic run at the finals that ended in controversial last-minute penalty agony to Champions Italy, experts across Australia are hailing a new era for soccer in the land Down Under, predicting […]

Throughout this tournament, the Italian soccer scandal has loomed over every match played by the national team. Even as they hoist the World Cup trophy today, this could be the last good moment for Italian soccer for a very long time indeed, especially if a court finds four of its top clubs guilty of match-fixing […]

The third place game clearly meant more to the Germans than the negative Portuguese, who despite flashes of Cristiano Ronaldo and 10 dazzling minutes from Luis Figo, never looked that interested. In many ways, it was a standard third place game, delivering 4 goals (the World Cup average), an openness of play (by the Germans […]

So Zidane’s career ended in disgrace. And maybe we deserve it, too, for the pedestal we placed him on. After the media spent all week lifting the man beyond demi-god status, he came crashing down to earth in a moment of madness reminiscent to that other self-destructing French geniusyou know, Eric Cantona, the man who’s […]

Reuters has an interesting report about bookmakers’ unimpressive record in their tournament predictions. As much as the favorites always seem to do well at the World Cup, the final is seldom between the top two favorites prior to the tournament’s start. France began the tournament as 14-1 outsiders to win before dropping to 25-1 after […]

AP columnist Nancy Armour says after watching World Cup 2006 she’s convinced whining, crying and diving are acceptable behavior in soccer. It’s been said by pundits before: “Players ought to forget about wrangling new contracts from bigger, better teams and focus instead on their true calling: Hollywood.” Every World Cup there’s a multitude of variations […]

The Guardian ponders whether we owe the re-emergence of Zinedine Zidane to the Spanish media for taunting the old master ahead of Spain’s second round clash with France. “Spain’s sporting press has always worn its power like a badge of honour, but even by its standards this was something else — this was playing God.” […]

David Hirshey, a well-known New York editor and former soccer reporter and match official, gives an honest account of his own experiences refereeing at the highest level. When calling a match for the U.S. women’s national team, Hirshey admits to blowing several offsides calls, and being called out for it by Tiffaney Milbrett, one of […]

Sports Illustrated columnist Bill Syken says MLS was the biggest loser at this World Cup. Case in point: New York Red Bulls’ Youri Djorkaeff appearing in the stands of the France-Brazil quarterfinal after taking a leave of absence from the team for “personal reasons.” That’s embarrassing for both the team and the league — Djorkaeff […]