Italy Advances to the World Cup Final

[Brian]

2-0 over Germany with 2 goals in the last 2 minutes.

And tomorrow, Portugal takes on France. They're a dark horse, but I'm pulling for the Iberians to advance.

[Alan]

If you had asked me who would win at the start of the tournament I would definitely have said Portugal. But, I think France may just edge it now.

[Brian]

I certainly never thought that either would get to the final round of four, but the way that France is playing, they probably have the best chance at knocking off Italy.

[Ben]

But you never know with the Italians, they are very good at pulling something out of the bag in the last minute... like last night, and against Australia. I suspect the French will win tonight, should be another great game!

[Brian]

But you never know with the Italians, they are very good at pulling something out of the bag in the last minute... like last night, and against Australia. I suspect the French will win tonight, should be another great game!

Definitely will be a good game. It's amazing. I've not suspected the Portuguese to win any game that I've watched, and yet they pull each game out somehow.

My wife's mantra has been, "Please, anybody but the French."

[Ben]

My wife's mantra has been, "Please, anybody but the French."

Something that I couldn't get away with saying right now - I am spending the rest of the week in the Uk at my parent's house as my sister gets married on Saturday... to a Frenchman!!!
Actually I am kind of supporting the French as I have huge admiration for Zizou after his years at Real Madrid. And being a bit of an Arsenal fan makes Henry a favourite as well :)

[Jimmy]

At this point I support two teams - Australia, and anyone who plays Italy...............:'(

[ValenciaSon]

So will it be Portugal and Italy in the final?

I hear the 2010 world cup will be in South Africa. What do you think of that choice?

[Alan]

Now that England are out, I don't care :P

Well, I actually wanted to see Germany and Spain do well. I like seeing the home nation winning and obviously I like Spain. I don't want France to win because they've just been so poor that they don't deserve it. I reckon Italy will win it. And I don't want Portugal to win, because then England will just have their excuses for not getting further :)

Re South Africa, it's about time Africa held a World Cup.

[Marbella]

Actually I am kind of supporting the French as I have huge admiration for Zizou after his years at Real Madrid. And being a bit of an Arsenal fan makes Henry a favourite as well :)

I didn't like the way the French played against Spain but against Brazil they played beautifully and I hope we see them in the final against Italy. I saw Zidane in training on the TV a few years ago. Okay, it was training so the tackles weren't made with that much conviction but he dribbled the ball around 6 other players, flicked the ball up in the air with his heels and headed it past the keeper into the net. His Real Madrid team-mates just stood laughing and applauding him. It was so special and it shows the respect other players have for him. I went to the Bernabeu and saw him play a couple of years ago and he was the star of the game. The best player I've ever seen in 30+ years of going to matches.

There is a great video here (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5676105829573422649&q=zidane), Ronaldinho vs Zidane set to funky music:) !

[Brian]

Ok, so France beats Portugal 1-0. I still think that Italy is on too much of a mission to be defeated. Anybody think that France can overturn them?

[Marbella]

Ok, so France beats Portugal 1-0. I still think that Italy is on too much of a mission to be defeated. Anybody think that France can overturn them?

Me!

[ValenciaSon]

Mistake, sorry.

[Marbella]

I think this is a great story (http://www.guardian.co.uk/smoking/Story/0,,1814777,00.html). Zidane having a crafty cigarette before a world cup game! I rate him even higher now.:)

[Brian]

I think this is a great story (http://www.guardian.co.uk/smoking/Story/0,,1814777,00.html). Zidane having a crafty cigarette before a world cup game! I rate him even higher now.:)

Zidane went from cigarette-butts to head-butts. Not the best way to end your World Cup career.

It was a very well-played match. It looked like Italy had absolutely no steam in the end, and were very much on their heels from the last 15 minutes of regulation until the end.

Congrats to Italy!

[Brian]

Apparently Zidane was just retaliating for Materazzi's pinching him on the breast.

http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/139257/0/zidane/expulsado/mundial/

[Ben]

Honestly, these French, any excuse for a riot (http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2006/07/10/videos/1152522384.html)....

[Marbella]

Play the game here (http://tonaz.altervista.org/zidane.html)
:)

[Brian]

Play the game here (http://tonaz.altervista.org/zidane.html)
:)

That is truly funny. Oh my.

[richardksa]

Call that a riot? British football fans could teach them a thing or two!! (or perhaps not!)

Marbella, your link says I am not authorised to enter it.:mad:

[greytop]

Marbella, your link says I am not authorised to enter it.:mad:

Traffico temporaneamente bloccato

Il traffico verso questo sito web è stato temporaneamente bloccato perchè è stata superata la quota mensile assegnata all'account tonaz pari a 10 GBytes, il sito sarà nuovamente accessibile a partire dal primo giorno del prossimo mese.



Looks like a lot of people trying to access the same link! Try again 1st August.

[guapo]

lots of speculation in the Italian papers on what Materazzi actually said to Zidane to get him so worked up. My favourite was "Come and play at Inter", but you probably have to understand something about Italian football and Inter Milan to get the joke :-)

[Ben]

Traffico temporaneamente bloccato

Il traffico verso questo sito web è stato temporaneamente bloccato perchè è stata superata la quota mensile assegnata all'account tonaz pari a 10 GBytes, il sito sarà nuovamente accessibile a partire dal primo giorno del prossimo mese.



Looks like a lot of people trying to access the same link! Try again 1st August.

Try here: http://www.corriere.it/Media/Foto/2006/07_Luglio/10/zidane.swf

[ValenciaSon]

I'm done head butting. Where do I pick up my adidas "Golden Ball"?:rolleyes:

[Brian]

"I held his shirt .. for only a few seconds, he turned toward me and scoffed at me, looking at me with super arrogance, up and down: 'if you really want my shirt, you can have it later.' (Zidane said) It's true, I shot back with an insult," the paper quoted Materazzi as saying.

Asked whether he had insulted Zidane's sister or mother, Materazzi said, it was an "insult of the kind you will hear dozens of times and that just slips out on the ground."

"I certainly didn't call him a terrorist; I am ignorant, I don't even know what an Islamic terrorist is; my only terrorist is her," he said pointing to his 10-month-old daughter who was sleeping next to him on the plane that took the Italian team back to Italy.

Link (http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/8011_1741091,00160126.htm)

[ValenciaSon]

Will we ever know the complete story? I doubt it. It is great fodder for paparazzi rags like the National Enquirer. I'm sure they will get some milage out of what did Materazzi actually say to Zidane. I wished that Zidane only used his head figuratively;)

[Brian]

My favorite line from the interview was this one:

"my only terrorist is her," he said pointing to his 10-month-old daughter who was sleeping next to him on the plane that took the Italian team back to Italy.

I'm quite certain that worse things have been said on the pitch, so it's hard to really put the blame on Materazzi.

[richardksa]

Some things we say innocently in our culture are "killing words" in the Islamic culture. Less than a month ago I witnessed a violent attack on a Scot in Saudi Arabia for a wise-crack all of us would have smiled at. (Long, but very unpleasent story.)

[Brian]

This cartoon, titled "Beavis and Headbutt" appeared in the newspaper last Sunday. ;D

http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/store/add.php?iid=14123

[ValenciaSon]

I'm jealous because I didn't come up with that one!:mad:

[ValenciaSon]

So Zinadine is the only player now who is suspended during his retirement. Boy, that FIFA sure is rough!:rolleyes:

[greytop]

So Zinadine is the only player now who is suspended during his retirement. Boy, that FIFA sure is rough!:rolleyes:
Maybe they are. How many times has he "retired" now?