Merde! 
Why are English obscenities blocked out, but others aren’t? Hmm…
Scheiße, Scheiße, Scheiße! 
My sympathies are with you . . . whatever the reason for your angst . . . I think.
I thought this was a thread about bra size.
That’s not what I thought.
nope! I’m not gonna say it!
Bravissimo, Azzurris, say I. Much the better team throughout the tournament. France did manage to shut 'em down in the second half admittedly, but they could not breach the Italian defence in spite of their much-vaunted superstars. They only got the lead by dint of a softie penalty. No-one has scored against Italy in open play in the whole tournament (except for one own-goal). And Zinedine, you who above all others should know how to act like a grown man - do me a favour, pal! He managed single-handedly to sour the whole thing. He’d better have a good excuse tomorrow. 
I wonder what the other guy said… 
Slan,
D. 
Me too. He could have said something very nasty I suppose, about Zizou’s come-froms or something. But that sort of needle goes on all the time in sport, rightly or wrongly, and he above all others should know how to deal with it.
Just like Rooney.
Funny old game, innit?
Yeah but Zidane is the French captain and supposedly a grand old man of the beautiful game, unlike “Wayne the Nutter.” Anyhoo, no doubt we’ll get explanations in the fullness of time.
No, that would be cup, with a lower case “c”. 
I dunno, I thought he was being a gentleman by headbutting the guy in the chest, rather than the face
I mean, the way Euro Football fans often go violently rampaging, I suppose it’s all relative…
You have to admit though, it was quite the header
Loren
I live in a mostly Italian section of Montreal (ours was the only French flag hanging on the balcony for blocks around), and the mayhem yesterday afternoon was quite impressive! Screams, cheers, horns honking nonstop until midnight, people driving down the street playing the Italian National Anthem at full blast on their car stereos, fireworks.
A few photos from yesterday (taken by Kate McDonnell, Montreal’s premier blogger, or bloggeuse, as she calls herself):
Yeah, one can see the French have been practicing their headers pretty intensive.
But yes, Zidane was undoubtably provoked (verbally or even by being pinched, as reported in some media), but even so: It was probably the single most stupid thing I have ever seen a player do in football.
Not only getting send off for assaulting someone, which we see all too often, but 1) doing so in the very last match of one’s career, 2) doing so in a World Cup final, and 3) doing so mere minutes before the deciding penalty shootout, where one is bound to have a central role… Sigh. I am sure Zidane must have felt pretty depressed once his blood stopped boiling.
Too bad for the team I was rooting for, but at least the Italians showed us some excellent football as well.
Pinched?!? Ah, well, in that case Zidane should have run up and given the guy a flying tickle 
Loren
What I don’t understand is why people would connect sport with their national pride, In my opinion, it is not related at all - sports are sports and if you lost it doesn’t mean your country sucks or whatever. Also, it is not very wise to think your team would 100% win and then get upset.
But yeah, I understand what the frustration might be when you’ve built certain expectations.
It’s not really a cup.
Zinedine Zidane’s agent says the France captain headbutted Marco Materazzi in Sunday’s World Cup final because the Italian made a “very serious” comment.
Materazzi: “Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was an aristocrat, the heir of Comte Alphonse-Charles de Toulouse and last in line of a family that dated back a thousand years! Lautrec’s style is nearer drawing than painting and he is known for his impressionist images of Parisian night scenes!”
Zidane: “Sacre bleu!” Bam!
Materazzi: “Aieee!”
Once he got his breath back, Materazzi continued:
“Furthermore, the Cartesian coordinate system does not represent
the 4th and 5th dimensions as well as Plücker’s geometry!”
This enraged Zidane so much that he did not come out to receive
his medal.
I think Materazzi said to him “You don’t know Foucault, do you?” and Zizou misheard slightly…