Grizzly Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Seems to me there is something deeper behind these commercials and jokes about the Materazzi incident. Materazzi to release headbutt joke book ROME (AFP) - After the French hit song, the jokes, videos games and adverts, there is now a new face to the most infamous headbutt of all time. Italian defender Marco Materazzi is to publish a book containing 249 phrases he might have said to France captain Zinedine Zidane to invoke the now-retired midfielder's wrath. The book is called "What I really said to Zidane," and Materazzi has been writing about it in a column on Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport's website. "As you will see, dear reader, I found it funny to explore the absurdity of the whole affair," said Materazzi. The book is 100 pages long and contains 249 phrases, mostly ridiculous ones, among which his actual retort to Zidane is included. Zidane disgraced himself in his final match before retirement by reacting to a Materazzi taunt by thudding his forehead into the big Italian defender's chest, just minutes before the end of the World Cup final, which Italy went on to win on penalties. Zidane was red-carded for his actions and a song written in homage to the headbutt the day after the final shot straight to the top of the French charts. A few examples of the "witty" phrases contained in the book are as follows: - "Hey! Where exactly is the sternum?" - "Zinedine, what are you up to? You haven't lost yet....and you've already shaved your head!" According to Gazzetta, Materazzi will donate proceeds from the book to children's charity Unicef. It is due to go on sale for around 10 euros (12.60 dollars) in the coming days and features a picture of the headbutt on its front cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massive Attack Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 The only person involved in the situation with no pride or honour is Zidane. 2006 World Football's Ass of the Year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Pretty pathetic on the part of Materazzi. Why doesn't he focus on playing football so that one day he might be remembered for something besides getting head-butted by a world-class player? Doesn't exactly send the right message to kids out there either? I mean in superior parts of Europe (ie the north-west), nobody will give this book a second look. But in the birth nation of dodgey football, it will probably get memorized by every young footballer coming through the ranks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massive Attack Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Materazzi should be commended for making comedy out of an absurd situation. Plus the proceeds of the book are going to charity. I will always have respect for people who can look at the lighter side of life. All you Zidane fanboys should be embarassed for the way you treat the situation. Zidane is an embarassment to the sport for the way he acted during the game and afterwords. End of story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted October 9, 2006 Author Share Posted October 9, 2006 I am certainly no "Zidane fanboy" and agree that of the two involved in the incident his behaviour was the worse of the two. However, at least Zidane has not made any commercials or written any joke books about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 If the victim (Materazzi) of this incident choose to have a laugh of this whole incident I have no problem with it and he's giving the money to the UNICEF. I would've prefer him to give the money to an organization in charge of supporting victims of criminal act but UNiCEF is a good choice.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massive Attack Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly I am certainly no "Zidane fanboy" and agree that of the two involved in the incident his behaviour was the worse of the two. However, at least Zidane has not made any commercials or written any joke books about it. Then your simply a pompous ass, like Zidane. Stop trying to hide your hatred to all things Italian and just come out and admit it. It would be so much easier that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly I am certainly no "Zidane fanboy" and agree that of the two involved in the incident his behaviour was the worse of the two. However, at least Zidane has not made any commercials or written any joke books about it. There's something you don't sem to understand: Zidane was the agressor, it wouldn't look good from Zidane's part to have a laugh with a coward play like that. PLay that contributed to his team defeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack Materazzi should be commended for making comedy out of an absurd situation. Plus the proceeds of the book are going to charity. I will always have respect for people who can look at the lighter side of life. I assure you Materazzi didn't come-up with the idea. Any action that brings this incident back into the limelight is far from commendable. Let's move on and hope for better football tournaments in the near future. [|)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted October 9, 2006 Author Share Posted October 9, 2006 quote:There's something you don't sem to understand: Zidane was the agressor, it wouldn't look good from Zidane's part to have a laugh with a coward play like that. PLay that contributed to his team defeat. I do understand Zidane was the aggressor. This action was very stupid and selfish and hurt his team. The coward, however, was Materrazzi not Zidane. It wasn't Zidane falling down and rolling on the field and not defending himself and his honour. Great performance from a guy who considers himself a tough guy. quote:Then your simply a pompous ass, like Zidane. Stop trying to hide your hatred to all things Italian and just come out and admit it. It would be so much easier that way. This is just a totally stupid comment not worthy of a response. You just can't take or accept any criticism of anything Italian and respond to such with cries of racism (oh Italians are just so persecuted and hated in Canada, poor Massive Attack). Pathetic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly I do understand Zidane was the aggressor. This action was very stupid and selfish and hurt his team. The coward, however, was Materrazzi not Zidane. It wasn't Zidane falling down and rolling on the field and not defending himself and his honour. Great performance from a guy who considers himself a tough guy. This is just a totally stupid comment not worthy of a response. You just can't take or accept any criticism of anything Italian and respond to such with cries of racism (oh Italians are just so persecuted and hated in Canada, poor Massive Attack). Pathetic. In this thread http://www.canadian-soccer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10478 you said that Materazzi disgraced Italy by doing what he did (still not sure he did something wrong after receiving the headbutt...), I'm also starting to believe that your having some anti-italian bias by reading your comments. Materazzi is playing the tough guy when he isn't, fair enough, but saying he disgraced Italy by going to the ground after receiving an headbutt in the chest is clearly showing your bias. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted October 9, 2006 Author Share Posted October 9, 2006 quote:Originally posted by loyola In this thread http://www.canadian-soccer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10478 you said that Materazzi disgraced Italy by doing what he did (still not sure he did something wrong after receiving the headbutt...), I'm also starting to believe that your having some anti-italian bias by reading your comments. Materazzi is playing the tough guy when he isn't, fair enough, but saying he disgraced Italy by going to the ground after receiving an headbutt in the chest is clearly showing your bias. Very good example of quoting out of context. You forgot to mention that in this thread I also stated that the Italian team played very well in the tournament and also played attractive soccer. I also make several very critical statements about the way most of the European teams played in particular Germany, France, Sweden, Holland and Portugal. I guess I must hate them as well. There were many examples of disgraceful conduct in this World Cup and it certainly was not confined to the Italian team or Materazzi and Zidane even if that was the most prominent example because it occurred in the final. Let's look at a similar example. What if Tie Domi insulted another player in the 7th game of a playoff series (I would say Stanley Cup final but it is the Leafs we are talking about here) and then turtled when the player started to fight him? The Leafs then score the series winning goal on the ensuing penalty. Turtling sometimes works but in my opinion is a very dishonest and dishonourable way to win. Then lets say Domi starts to play the hero and makes commercials and writes books about how he won the series for the Leafs. Maybe as a Sens fan I would get some heat for being critical of Domi for this but I doubt people would be accusing me of being racist and hating Toronto. What Materazzi did was turtle. He challenged Zidane and then turtled when attacked. Yes Zidane should not have attacked him but if you challenge someone you should stand up and take the consequences not turtle and act cowardly. Then to try and play the tough guy afterwards is doubly insulting. I don't see why you have a problem with the criticism when you yourself admit "Materazzi is playing the tough guy when he isn't". Whether or not this disgraces is Italy is a question of to what extent one feels sports teams represent their country. It may not be fair to the nation as a whole but one tends to see sports figures as representative of their nation when they win and also when they disgrace themselves. As to the question of why the Materazzi issue keeps coming up, do not blame me, it is Materazzi himself who constantly keeps bringing it back to attention when by this point it probably would be largely forgotten. It is one thing to act honourably, another thing to act dishonourably but then admit that what you did was wrong and another thing to act dishonourably and revel in your dishonour. We all know what Materazzi has chosen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 I'm quoting you here "This whole ad campaign is about Italian denial about how this player disgraced their team and the World Cup (and yes Zidane was equally disgraceful)." You're referring to the ZZ/Materazzi incident, not what when on after when you're saying that Materazzi was disgracefull in his conduct. Unless you're really naive you know that pretty much every teams in this WC had at least one player who was taunting the other team players, so if that's disgracefull to you every team disgraced themsleves in this WC. I'm against what Materazzi is doing after the WC, but I still don't understand how Matarezzi disgraced the italian team by going to the ground after that hit by ZZ??? It's a normal reaction to go the ground after being hit when you did not see it coming, and that's what happened there, Materazzi didn't have the time to protect himself, so he goes to the ground. Grizzly is saying: "Yes Zidane should not have attacked him but if you challenge someone you should stand up and take the consequences not turtle and act cowardly" OK, Materazzi insulted ZZ sister and he's a coward because he couldn't stay up after ZZ headbutt??? Are you kidding me??? Both of them were exchanging verbal insults, they weren't using violence before the headbutt, at that time Materazzi had no idea what was coming. You're talking like Materazzi punched ZZ and run away. It's ZZ who brought violence to this situation not Materazzi, so I still don't understand how can someone pretend that Materazzi was a coward in that incident??? or how Italy was disgraced by his act??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 I think Materazzi is to be commended for taking a humoristic tack on things. The guy has a sense of humour. It is the only way to get back at a pompously arrogant type who is notoriously humorless like Zidane. I like the idea as it makes fun of all the stupid speculation about what could have provoked Zidane, with all those fundamentally racist ideas about Algerian honour mixed in there (we do not require Muslims to behave like us as we do not expect them to have the same ethical standards as us, so we turn them into noble savages, driven by impulse and rage and incapable of reason and common sense: an old story that is fundamentally Western-centric and based on a concept of Arabs like Zidane that is, at heart, convinced of their inferiority). Let's try to judge everyone as people, and not according to expectations of race. As then we will have no choice to call Zidane what he was in that incident, a spineless imbecile. As for those criticizing Materazzi for the commercial side of things, you look at what Zidane was making for sponsorships for the last three seasons at Madrid and with France where he did absolutely nothing on the field, he conned his sponsors and his fans for years, just coasting and playing half-heartedly, lacking professionalism, and still raking in the sponsorship deal cash. Now THAT is making a mockery of money-making in football, not Materrazzi's little moment in the limelight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 It still amazes me that Zidane is the victim of this incident. That it was his final game, and he was provoked, blah blah blah. Mike Myers once said on Inside the Actors Studio, that nothing is so bad that it cannot be laughed at. Materazzi must have seen that. I commend him for poking fun, and for using this as a way to support a charity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly [brLet's look at a similar example. What if Tie Domi insulted another player in the 7th game of a playoff series (I would say Stanley Cup final but it is the Leafs we are talking about here) and then turtled when the player started to fight him? The Leafs then score the series winning goal on the ensuing penalty. Turtling sometimes works but in my opinion is a very dishonest and dishonourable way to win. Then lets say Domi starts to play the hero and makes commercials and writes books about how he won the series for the Leafs. Maybe as a Sens fan I would get some heat for being critical of Domi for this but I doubt people would be accusing me of being racist and hating Toronto. Of course, when Toronto plays the Senators it isn't black v white like when France plays Italy. A country that borders France and not one black player in their history that comes to mind? hmmm... [8)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
River City Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 Liverani played a few years back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoccMan Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 Materazzi, every team needs this kind of player if you want to win. He scored the tying goal on a great header in the final and also took one of the penalties in the shootout and scored. Say what you want about him, but sports at this level is about winning and Materazzi played a big part in Italy winning it's FOURTH WORLD CUP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 quote:Originally posted by River City Liverani played a few years back. Manfredini and Ferrari can also be added to that list. All of them quite recent, actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 quote:Originally posted by SoccMan Materazzi, every team needs this kind of player if you want to win. Ahh... get off it! He didn't even play half the time during the world cup. Barcelona doesn't have that kind of player and last time I checked they were doing okay. And of course, Inter Milan have won next-to-nothing in Materazzi's tenure there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 quote:Originally posted by amacpher Ahh... get off it! He didn't even play half the time during the world cup. Barcelona doesn't have that kind of player and last time I checked they were doing okay. And of course, Inter Milan have won next-to-nothing in Materazzi's tenure there. The guy scored the tying goal in the WC final and got the captain of the other team sent off in overtime by using a sister joke (how clever [:0]) that's how important he was on that day. Let's not forget that he also scored during the shootout and was responsable for Malouda diving in the box after 5 minutes and getting a PK for France.... Maybe he didn't even play half the time during the WC but he was a very present figure during the final. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 quote:Originally posted by loyola The guy scored the tying goal in the WC final and got the captain of the other team sent off in overtime by using a sister joke (how clever [:0]) that's how important he was on that day. Let's not forget that he also scored during the shootout and was responsable for Malouda diving in the box after 5 minutes and getting a PK for France.... Maybe he didn't even play half the time during the WC but he was a very present figure during the final. Agree with your last statement, but its nothing more than that. Overall, he's an average player. That's it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forza_Italia Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 he is an average player with a world cup medal which is more than I can say about most teams and players Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
River City Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Forza_Italia he is an average player with a world cup medal which is more than I can say about most teams and players So by your logic he's better than Cruyff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forza_Italia Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 quote:Originally posted by River City So by your logic he's better than Cruyff? No by all means he is not better than Cruyff, be he is certainly not average. Average players dont make a world cup winning team. they make the starting lineups in the main leagues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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