10 Wednesday 19th July, 2006 Zidane getting his retaliation in contract. first? Zidane is beginning to Jacques Segeula of advertis- emerge from this episode with ing group Havas: "This isn't Tyson's bite his reputation not only intact, going to harm him. This childish but also enhanced. The last vil- gesture gives a more human lain to enjoy such a good press image of the hero. It brings the clearly worst was Robin Hood. icon closer to the people." Considering his act of folly handicapped his team as effec- THE CASE FOR MATERAZZI of the worst, tively as tying their legs togeth- Ladies and Gentlemen of the er, France has cast Zizou in the jury, Zidane's act against role of Prodigal Son. Materazzi is not an isolated inci- poll indicates dent. This is a man with previous THE CASE FOR ZIDANE form. Defence for Zidane would Zidane's defence is to portray like to call the following wit- Mr Materazzi as the villain, an nesses: agent provocateur who skilfully The French People: A poll exploited a known flaw in conducted by Le Parisien news- Zidane's character, his short fuse. paper showed that 62% had for- You will recall Zidane's dis- given Zidane, and thought that missal in the 1998 World Cup he had been provoked into when he stamped on Saudi action. Arabia captain Fuad Amin and Former teammate Bixente he also received a five-match ban Lizarazu: "It is good that he for headbutting an opponent spoke of provocation and I while playing in Italy for Mike Tyson think you have to punish both Juventus. He is not a goodie- players, the agitator as well as deux-chaussures. It turns out the actions of the reactor." Let us call those who testify Zinedine Zidane late in overtime dur- Alain Giresse, (one third of against Zidane. ing Sunday's World Cup final the famous "Three Giuseppe Materazzi could've been worse, at least accord- Musketeers" French mid- (father): "Marco had to endure a ing to a poll conducted on SFGate. field): "We know he is someone provocation. This sort of thing For instance, he could have taken a very humble, who is calm but has happened to him in the last bite out of his foe. has a fiery side. two years. He has taken a lot in Beginning Wednesday, the SFGate "He has to be good, humble, the last two years, and people poll asked which of the following on- smiley and handsome - perfect will testify to the things he has field incidents was the most outra- basically. We ask footballers to had to suffer." geous. In chronological order: have every quality in the world." Claudio Vigorelli -- Giants pitcher Juan Marichal French minister of youth (Materazzi's agent): "I've hits Dodgers catcher John Roseboro and sports Jean-Francois known Marco for a long time and with a bat. Lamour: "Zidane said sorry, I don't think he is capable of pro- -- Ohio State football coach Woody particularly to children, teach- voking a player, he is a good boy." Hayes clobbers a Clemson player. ers, volunteers who work every Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi -- Orioles second baseman Roberto day to provide opportunities for Buffon: "I saw the incident after- Alomar spits in an umpire's face. the young." wards on TV. -- Mike Tyson bites off a piece of Former France manager "It was an ugly reaction but in Evander Holyfield's ear. Michel Hidalgo: "He was football sometimes these things -- Zinedine Zidane head-butts touching, dignified and human can happen. However, this is not Marco Materazzi in the World Cup in the television interview. We the first time Zidane has done final. have made him into a god, we something like this." And the winner was: Mike Tyson. have canonized him but above Italy teammate Alessandro Of 935 voters as of Thursday all he is a man, and a man is Del Piero: "I don't know what night, Tyson's attack earned 77 per- fragile and breakable. happened but it could be cent of the votes. The rest (rounded "He isn't the god of football, Materazzi was provoked." off): Marichal 10 percent, Hayes 6 or Zorro." Quite right Michel, French right-wing newspa- percent, Alomar and Zidane 4 per- Zorro wore a mask. per Minute: "Goodbye lout." cent each. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Ladies and Gentlemen of the (San Francisco Chronicle) Jury, nobody is more attuned to jury.We present the evidence. public opinion as marketing Is Zinedine Zidane guilty of and public relations people, and an act of violence that has no while one or two of Kate Moss's place on a football field no matter Joint security companies dropped her like a what the provocation? hot brick, all of Zidane's spon- Or is he simply a human effort needed for sors have backed him to the hilt. being, who erred on being As far as they are concerned, pushed to the limit by provoca- cricket World Cup the king has come down from tion? What of Marco Materazzi? Zidane the mountain, and like the rest Is he a cunning, calculating cad by Colin James of us, he sweats, swears and has who played on Zidane's sensibili- human foibles. ties like a Jimi Hendrix guitar Security officials for next year's Zidane has been Adidas's solo? cricket World Cup aim to adopt a - victim or villain? ambassador for 10 years and Or was he the recipient of a common approach in handling safety they say "He can stay as long as stoved-in sternum, courtesy of a and protection issues from a two-day ll rise in the people's is the guilty party, and who is perhaps surprisingly for some- he wishes." touchy, arrogant dilettante who meeting which started on Monday. court of football fairness the victim. one who was the victim of a Insurance company Generali blew his stack at little more than Regional police commissioners Ato hear the case of You will hear evidence from vicious assault, support for France are happy with Zidane, a playground taunt. and their designated security officers Zidane v Materazzi. both sides. There is an impres- Materazzi is thin. and to show that a little notoriety Ladies and Gentlemen of the met with the International Cricket Ladies and Gentlemen of the sive array of character witness- Does that mark out the real never did anyone any harm, jury, you decide. Council and heads of the local organ- jury, your task is to decide who es forming behind Zidane, while villain, or is it more a case of France Telecom has renewed his (Accra Mail) izing committees of the nine coun- tries hosting matches. Chris Dehring, the World Cup managing director and chief execu- Strauss defends tive officer, wen to Germany to timing of We won't be observe the FIFA World Cup, and said there were similarities with the declaration challenges faced in the Caribbean. ''The same problems we faced they Acting England captain faced,'' Dehring said on Monday. Andrew Strauss defended his able to rely on ''The scale of relativity is that the decision to delay a declara- football World Cup to Germany is a tion until more than half an smaller task to the cricket World Cup hour into the final day of the to the Caribbean.'' drawn first Test against Prince But he was heartened by how far Pakistan at Lord's on Monday. stars – the region's preparations had Strauss decided to contin- The absence of some of their hands up," he said. advanced for the March-April tourna- ue batting for 34 minutes on South Africa's senior players "We won't be able to rely on ment. Monday before declaring from the tour of Sri Lanka our stars to get us out of trou- ''Months ago, the international England's second innings at means the tour has become a ble, and it might make us all 296 for eight, leaving media was focusing on our venues tour of opportunity for players come alive when we realise that and saying we weren't able to do that Pakistan an unlikely victory on the fringes of the national it is up to us." Graeme Smith in time but they are now starting to target of 380 from 80 overs. team. and Jacques Kallis are both talk about operation issues because Pakistan made no effort to That was the view expressed recovering from surgery to cor- the venues are being built and they go for the runs after losing by national coach Mickey rect injuries and Shaun Pollock are seeing concrete and steel coming two early wickets and play Arthur on Monday,on the eve of will miss the first Test so that out of the ground on time and on was called off with the visi- South Africa's departure for a he can be at the birth of his sec- tors 214 for four with eight Colombo for a two-Test series ond child. schedule,'' Dehring said. overs still to bowl. against Sri Lanka and a trian- The slip cordon will be Antigua and Barbuda police com- Strauss said Pakistan had gular one-day series also affected by the absence of missioner Delano Christopher said a fine batting line-up who had involving India. Smith and Kallis, but Arthur the region must work as a team and batted well on Monday. Arthur conceded that the told journalists at the High give a clear indication to internation- "All credit to those guys," tour was likely to be very Performance Centre in al visitors that the Caribbean will be he told SkySports.