Letters to the Editor
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Penalty kicks, no. Corners, yes.
Ok, I'm not the biggest soccer fan. But when looking at overtime procedures for various sports, I like college football best: Alternating posessions from the 20.
The current soccer situation is crazy, but if they did alternating corner kicks (or maybe 3 corners/per team), that would improve things. When the ball left the box, the attempt would be over.
The goal of overtime should be to test the *team*, but in an abbreviated fashion to figure out which team is best. Corner kicks would do that in a real game situation without all the time wasted at mid-field.
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The head-butt
The Italian press is reporting unconfirmed reports that Materazzi had been razzing Zidane by calling him a terrorist. Given how Algerians are treated in France, his reaction is understandable. Probably not forgivable, given the situation, but understandable.
The other subplot that was missed in the anglophone press is that Materazzi is, from the Italian fans' point of view, the most reviled national team regular. If you had walked down any street in Italy before yesterday and asked a random sampling of people which player should never be allowed to play on the national team under any circumstances, the answer would have almost certainly been Materazzi. He has always had a penchant for making critical mistakes in big situations--bad fouls, errant passes, own-goals--and his red card takedown earlier in the tournament had only served to confirm his reputation for stupidity. Now he is the hero, having scored the tying goal and successfully goaded Zidane into losing his temper. Pretty amusing overall.
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I like soccer, sort of, but these penalty kicks ruin the game for me
The use of penalty kicks in soccer is simply a ridiculous method for deciding a sporting contest. In my mind, it deprives the outcome of the legitimacy that a championship deserves. Also, the awarding of penalty kicks during the match is absurd. You basically give a team a goal for almost no contact, which is what occurred yesterday and for Italy against Australia. A sudden death format would be fantastic and the fact that players get tired would actually lead to defensive lapses making it probable that a goal would be scored at some reasonable point in time. these are all things that make soccer less popular in the US.
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Small correction
This wasn't Zidane's last game, it was his last international game. He is still going to be playing club football for the next couple of years, and he was rumored to playing in the MLS (though that seems very improbable).
My reaction is I found the whole thing pretty amusing. I was hoping for France to win, and the whole headbutting incident would have been really amusing if France had actually WON. But, at this point, it seems just sad, considering they lost by a missed PK that Zidane probably would have made (and what about that great opportunity he had to put a header in the back of the goal in OT!). This is always my feelings on heros: sometimes I rather just see them fade away than turn themselves into spectacles when trying to build on their legacy.
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Why not Corner Kicks rather than penalty kicks?
Does anyone know if the soccer Gods have ever considered deciding a game by corner kicks rather than penalty kicks? Keep shooting corner kicks until someone scores. At least the entire teams would be involved.
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Not only are PKs a bad way to break ties...
...they're often troublesome when they occur during the course of a game as well. A referee awarding a penalty is basically giving a free goal, especially since the coach can designate anyone he wants to take the shot regardless of who was fouled. Given how enormously valuable every goal is in soccer and especially the World Cup, that's an enormous price to pay for what have been some calls that have been even questionable fouls. France's last two goals in the tournament were on penalties; can you really say those fouls cost them a certain goal?
I am not the most soccer-savvy person, but my suggestion (if you must have penalties) is to move the spot back, perhaps to the top of the arc or beyond. That would give the keeper a split-second longer to react and eliminate the ridiculous guessing (at this point he might as well not be there at all). The free-throw analogy is apt; so if you're going to have one during the game, perhaps it should only be worth half as much as a regular goal. (Now, I don't expect that one to happen, I'm just being speculative.)
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No exscuse for Zidane
TIME magazine published a column on the World Cup final just hours after it finished, and the column basically blamed Materazzi for Zidane's head butt. This is absurd, and French coach Raymond Domenech should stop making such excuses for the legendary Zidane.
First, everyone should admit they don't know what was said by Materazzi (or by Zidane, for that matter). So, there's no story there until there's a story there.
Second, "Trash talk" is found in every sport, and often it is without reservations. There is no justification for racism or remarks about one's religion or sexual orientation. But let us not feign ignorance here: If you've ever played a team sport, you know such things are said on the field, ice, court, whatever.
Third, the World Cup final is the most important single game in all of sports, no matter how many pretensions there are in American sports to represent "the world championship" of this or that. So, for Zidane to lose his cool, whatever was said, was stupid, selfish, and inexcusable. Make your retort after the match, while you are hoisting the World Cup.
Materazzi may be disliked in Italy, he may have said something untoward, and Zidane may have a clutch of honorable reasons for responding the way he did, but Zidane is still the sole reason he was ejected from that match. Instead of lurking about in enigmatic silence, Zidane should have issued an apology to his teammates and his country immediately following the match.
That he was tossed from the match for a stupid infraction, and that he did not apologize to anyone afterward, speaks volumes of the man's egotistical approach to the game and life.