just like that

To begin with, I was never a great fan of football. Only after landing in Planet-I last year, I have begun to follow it (though the word 'follow' might be a bit disrespectful to the true fans). Nevertheless, over the last one month, I was surprised to see the amount of support and passion that some of my friends had for their teams and for the game. Many discussions in the mess and hostels revolved around football. I was really wondering whether India had suddenly made football their popular sport. Anyways, in terms of watching the games, it was great fun as all the important matches were shown in the auditorium big screen. It is a great experience when 100 people around you 'ooh' and 'aah' the hits and misses.

Getting down to the tournament itself, I had pledged my support to France long back. It goes back to 1998(when I started watching football for the first time) when they won the cup with a splendid Zidane show in the final. Anyways, coming into this World cup, few supporters would have expected them to make it big. And the initial signs were disappointing. The way they were playing, it seemed that they wouldn't even make it to the second round. Anyways, the match against Spain turned the World cup upside down. Suddenly, I got all interested in the World cup although Brazil was up next. And when they actually stopped the South American team's brilliant run in the competition, I was almost sure it was time for 1998 again. The final was always going to be difficult despite a below-par performance being enough against Portugal.

And what a final it was...A sixth minute penalty and time for Zidane to show his genius. To have the audacity to take such a shot in an World cup final - too good (Though my football guru, Shameel, believes he was plain lucky). The powerful header from the Italian in the nineteenth minute set up things nicely. Italy dominated till half-time but France came back brilliantly in the second half and looked all set to take the Cup. But the fact that they couldn't convert their dominance in to goals meant the inevitable - extra time. and boy, did it have some drama! Ribery and Henry get substituted. Zidane's brilliant header saved by an equally brilliant Buffon was easily the defining moment of the match. That save stood between Zinedine Zidane and a fairy-tale farewell for one of the greatest players. Minutes later, Zidane head-butts Materazzi and promptly gets what he deserves - A red card. Whatever the reason, whatever Materazzi might have said or done (http://antithesis98.blogspot.com/2006/07/why-did-zidane-to-it-because-materazzi.html) that was unacceptable. As far as Iam concerned, you don't become a great player by your on-field play alone; it is as much, if not more important to have proper on-field behavior and be a role model for others (Shameel still says ' He is Zzzzzzzidane, he is allowed to do it').

Getting back to the game, France still played well with ten men in the dying minutes although it was all but heading for the penalties. The very look on Barthez's face before the penalties didn't inspire me. He strangely didn't seem very confident to me. Buffon, on the other hand, was all charged up and motivating. Whether it made a difference in the end, we would never know. At least, Trezeguet didn't give us an chance.

Italy won the world cup and France my heart (unfortunately, people seem to pay more attention to the former :) ). Congrats Italy! Well played France! I will be rooting for you next time around as well.