On BBC’s Bias:
The BBC lacked insight and awareness of continental football when dealing with the World-Cup. As did ITV by the way. Luckily the BBC had Leonardo and Desailly to give us much more balanced view on the game. Obviously, they have played in different countries and had the ability to judge different systems, players etc… I enjoyed M. O’Neil and I. Wright but much more for the comical value of the duo. T.Venables and Gullit at ITV tried to rescue what was at time atrocious punditry but couldn’t really save the ship from sinking.

On England:
I am a big fan of Franck Lampard and to see him being lambasted around chat rooms is painful, but he knows that by his high standard he has performed below anything I have seen from him in the last two years. A big let down, sure. Yes, the English players were not only over-hyped, but failed to perform when it mattered and showed a certain lack of erm…bottle in key moments. The big money players have to deliver in the money time and they didn’t: Three miss-kicked penalties…On that evidence, it should tell you that something wasn’t together in the mental and psychological department. I have heard that France and Italy for example had blocked all intrusion from the press and family before reaching the second round, where they were allowed a day of rest and visit before going back into siege/bunker mood.
We now know who went to the finals.

The whole WAGS business/phenomenon was a real joke as well. Having your WAG making front page of the papers partying till dawn is not ideal preparation. A back to basics policy is required here. A real one that is! As for Mr Mc Laren, hopefully he will establish a more strict and austere regime, where players will think about football first and not about partying at Beckingham before the W-Cup. I hate to do that, because I really wished England would reach the semis. They did not and it is now soooo easy to throw bricks at them. But sometimes, they seem to present us with the right stick to beat them with …

Enough!

Team of the Tournament
I will agree with the proposed line-up and complaint about the Makelele omission. I would not put Viera in the first eleven, but the second. Makelele has played the whole tournament and has been a stalwart at the heart of France midfield. I can only be frightened at the sight of a defense made of Cannavaro and Thuram. Those two were truly the best performers at the final in my opinion.

Best 11
Buffon- Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Thuram, Lamm - C Ronaldo, Ballack, Makelele, Zidane- Henry, Klose
Materazzi
Just have a look at this authentic DIARY of a Dirty player:
No comment.

Zidane
Best player of the tournament? I don’t know…We will never know to be honest. Yes against Spain and Brazil he was walking on water. What is the legacy left by a man who suffered racial abuse on such a day and could not keep his cool? You may need to suffer racial abuse yourself to understand what went through his head. Some lip-readers helped us decipher what was said:
Z: “Ordinanza de tirare il costume!!”
(Stop pulling my shirt)

M: “Taciti, enculo, hai solamente cio che merite…”
(Shut-up wanker you only get what you deserve)

Z: “si e cio…”
(Yeah right…)

M: “meritate tutti ciò, voi gli enculato di musulmani, sporchi terroristici”
(That’s all you deserve, you muslim arse-holes! Bloody terrorists! )

Make up your own mind. Others publications are already handling the matter now. The war on terror was also present on the pitch somehow….
Going back to the football, ZZ was less efficient against Portugal who found a way to isolate him, however in the final he scored that incredible penalty a la ‘Panenka’ and in the second half of the final he was pulling the strings in midfield. Overall, the tournament has been poor in offensive bravado and his sight brought all the lovers of the ‘beautiful game’ together. Italy could have played Del Pierro…to give us a clash between two ‘fuoriclasse’ (exceptional players) but all Italy wanted was to reach the penalties…sad.

Footie & Politics
Well, we have seen everything. From the non-event: Iran was expected to have its president arrested or summoned to court. To the non-threat from Germans, Dutch, eastern Europeans and English hooligans: Fantastic!
To the amazing efficiency of German organization: Germany probably had one of the best organizations ever seen, although I was told that Japan’s in 2002 was excellent too. And positive results for the economy too from what I have gathered. A. Merkel ridding the ‘Klinsi’ horse and jumping on the feel-good bandwagon, linking herself as Chirac did in 98 in France to a successful World-Cup campaign: re-election beckon…Who’s to bet against her now?

The Italians are still master at the dark art of ‘combinazione’. (Corruption, bribery,…) You would have thought that after the pre-1982 World-Cup season which saw Paolo Rossi among others being suspended for a year, that they would have learnt their lesson. Obviously not. I was still glad to see their president in Englsih talk about the country’s pride in victory… They face another ordeal in their own courts now. Call me cynical, but I will be surprised if anyone’s of substance get indicted. They will be remembered though, for their amazing performance in the semis against Germany. Probably the game of the tournament with France vs Brasil…

Ach Zidaaaane….