Röster världen runt om VM-finalen och Zidane
Frankrike förlorade. Var dåligt beteende av Zidane, Materazzi eller Italien orsak till det?
Negativ rubrik, jag vet. Om vi då bortser från att det kan ha varit bra spel från Italien såklart. Jag tyckte dock att det spelmässigt var en väldigt välspelad match, med fantastiskt mittfälts- och försvarsarbete från båda lagen. Men om man går på det negativa spåret, så pekar de flesta ut Zidane:
Men en minoritet länder sticker av, speciellt Australien:
Australiensarna har ju redan målat upp italienarna som fuskare efter den knappa förlusten de led mot dem, så de fortsätter på det temat. Och i Nya Zeeland verkar man ha samma synsätt:
Italian players rolled on the ground, feigned injury, passed balls 60 metres back to goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and saved their best performances for when they were dancing around the stadium with the World Cup trophy in their hands.
...Italians will long celebrate this success and its players will be accorded hero status for the rest of their lives.
The rest of the world will be forgiven for taking rather a different view of things.
Artikeln missar väl det faktum att Italien faktiskt också har ett förbaskat bra lag. Men Italien, med det rykte som de har, kämpar lite i uppförsbacke på grund av ryktet.
Även andra menar att Italiens sätt att spela är destruktivt, och har dessutom blivit stilbildande och förstör sporten. John Powers skriver i Boston Globe i artikeln A title, by kick or by trick:
You win by thwarting. You win by frustrating. You win by scoring one goal -- preferably off a set piece -- and then slamming the door and dead-bolting it.The Italians invented that game with their padlock catenaccio style and they still play it better than anyone. The difference now is that when they have to get a goal, they can get one. When they have to make a penalty kick -- or five of them -- they can do it. That's how they beat the Australians, with a penalty kick on the last play of regulation. That's how they beat the Germans, with two goals in the final three minutes.
And that's how they beat the French after falling behind, 1-0, on Zidane's penalty kick in the seventh minute. It took the Azzurri only 12 minutes to equalize, on a header by Materazzi off a corner by Andrea Pirlo. It was a classic bit of Italian trickery -- Materazzi wrapping an arm around Patrick Vieira's shoulder from behind and pulling him down just enough to get an open look at the goal.
The English may have invented this game (one of these years they'll actually get around to playing it), but the Italians know all of its tricks, all of its angles, all of its shadows. If Machiavelli was around today, he'd be a midfielder for the Azzurri.
Rätt mycket fördomar (eller korrekta iakttagelser?) om Italien som helhet som gett näring till den texten.
Nancy Armour från AP menar att spelkvalitén var dålig från båda lagen, och att man inte kan skylla det ena laget mer än det andra för det. Hon skriver i MSNBC:
The action on the field was equally ugly. France got its goal on what sure looked like a blown call. The game was only seven minutes old when France’s Florent Malouda ran between Fabio Cannavaro and Materazzi and promptly took a dive so obvious all it was missing was a splash of water.But the French were awarded a penalty kick, and Zidane converted it.
There was little offense in the game and, worse, even less creativity. It was the third game since the quarterfinals to go to a shootout, and the fourth overall.
Bland fotbollsfansen i Kolkata (Calcutta) i Indien verkar många mest vara förbaskade på att Frankrike slog ut Brasilien, och många är därför nöjda med att Italien vann:
But another half of Kolkata is rejoicing, not because they suddenly discovered an Italian connection but simply because Italy beat France, the conquerors of Brazil, Kolkata's first love.Och slutligen: Vad sade Materazzi? På flashback spekuleras det, men ännu inget svar. Det måste ju finnas folk som sett sekvensen som kan läsa på läppar! Man är ju trots allt lite nyfiken.
"I am happy that France has lost because France had defeated Brazil," said Brazil supporter Binod.