2006worldcup

World Cup 2006 Final ended with Zidane's sent-off and Italy's win.

I am really disappointed to see Zidane's career end in such a dramatic manner. He was absolutely out of his mind when he headbutted Marco Materazzi. Verbal taunting is just part of the game. No matter how Materazzi provoked him, Zidane should have controlled his temper. Notably, Zidane has had a history of being sent off.

France had more chances in the game, and played better, but it just ran out of luck. In 1998, Zidane headed in 2 goals to help France beat Brazil. In 2006, Zidane's header was denied by Buffon in the overtime peroid(if he had headed it with a better angle, Buffon couldn't have made the save). Then Zidane's another header on Materazzi just took France out of the game.

Tags: 2006worldcup zidane

Finally, it comes down to the last two teams, France and Italy, to face off in the final of World Cup 2006 tomorrow.

History really repeat itself as Italy beat the host country Germany, and France beat Portugal on a penalty kick by Zinedine Zidane, just like what happened in Euro 2000.

So can France beat Italy again just like in Euro 2000?

My bet is that France can once again rely on Zidane to raise the trophy for the 2nd time. Zidane has been playing his best football in last 3-4 years since the knock-out stage began. The way he stuck the winning penalty kick against Portugal really showed his confidence. He must be really motivated to go out as a champion as he's retiring from both international and club level competition after the final tomorrow.

Tags: 2006worldcup

Finally, it's down to four teams to compete for World Cup 2006. Sadly, my beloved Brazil and Holland are already out of the competition.

Holland lost to Portugal in a brutal match. Portugal just deserved to win.

Brazil lost to France in the most unthinkable way - firing 8 shots with only 1 shot on goal. Zinedine Zidane was playing like a 24-year old man instead of 34-year old man. His performance against Brazil also validated him as the greatest player after Pele and Maradona.

I was sad to see England lose to Portugal on penalty kick. England just doesn't seem to be able to win in penalty kick.

Tags: 2006worldcup

Just as the 2006 World Cup is just right around the corner (starts on Fri, June 9th), San Francisco Chronicle has the article BAY AREA FANS' TAKE ON THE WORLD today.

Here's my take:

Favorite teams: Brazil and Holland

Brazil is such a heavy favorite because of its firepower upfront. I love Samba Soccer.

Holland has been a champion that's without a champion (they twice came very close in winning the world cup and came up just short in 1974 and 1978) in my mind. They play beautiful attacking soccer no matter what.

Tags: 2006worldcup soccer ronaldinho