Category: Story

Nearly 12 million Americans watched on ABC as France beat Italy in the World Cup final on Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research, making the 2006 final the third most-watched final in U.S. soccer-viewing history. Spanish-language broadcaster Univision and its sister network Telefutura also received “monster ratings” for this year’s final, said the Hollywood Reporter. […]

“That’s going to be something that you’re going to see more in MLS, is some people bringing in some outside, international players…And I don’t think it’s just because they’re international, it’s because they’re bringing some unique skill.” So said David Alioto, the new executive vice president of what will be the second incarnation of the […]

Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News says there was something thoroughly American about Zinedine Zidane’s head-butt against Marco Materazzi in the World Cup final on Sunday afternoon. “With poetic timing, Zidane summoned his inner Mike Tyson, providing us all with a brutally and beautifully American moment at the climax of the galaxy’s most-watched […]

The Circus Maximus, ancient Rome’s vast stadium for chariot races, was the scene where hundreds of thousands of Italians gathered to greet an open-topped bus carrying their World Cup heroes. The mayor’s office estimated the crowd topped 600,000, with another hundred thousand or so accompanying the bus on its slow march from prime minister Romano […]

Marco Materazzi has admitted to insulting Zinedine Zidane prior to the head-butt that led to his sending off in Sunday’s World Cup final. Media speculation about what Materazzi said have ranged from steroid allegations to racism, but until now neither one of the pair has spoken publicly about the matter. Materazzi told Gazetto dello Sport, […]

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 […]