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Italy win World Cup against France in penalties

Chuck PenfoldJuly 10, 2006

Red card ends Zinedine Zidane's career ten minutes early

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Italy's team captain Fabio Cannavaro holds aloft the World Cup trophy after the final of the soccer World Cup between Italy and France in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Sunday, July 9, 2006.Image: AP

A month of soccer of the highest international class drew to a close on Sunday evening with Italy winning the 2006 World Cup here in Germany. They needed a penalty shoot-out to beat their European rivals France in the final, played in front of a capacity crowd of 69,000 spectators at Berlin’s Olympic
Stadium.

Fabio Grosso scored Italy’s fifth penalty to give la squadra
azzura soccer’s biggest prize for the first time since 1982.


Neither goalkeeper managed to stop a single penalty in this particular shoot-out, but it all came a cropper for les bleus when French striker David Trezeguet, who plays for Italian side Juventus, fired his spot kick on to the bar.

WM 2006 Finale Italien Frankreich Jubel Italien
Italy's players react after wining the World Cup in a penalty shootout, beating France 5-3, after a 1-1 draw through 120 minutes in the final of the soccer World Cup.Image: AP

After it was all over, French coach Raymond Domenech was clearly disappointed.

“We didn’t lose,” he said. “It’s never a defeat when you go to penalties, it means you’ve played to a tie. We didn’t perform as well in the shoot-out as we could have, but this can happen at the World Cup.”

The penalty shoot-out came after the two teams had finished level at 1-1 after extra time in what was a dramatic encounter.

One of the central figures was a French star who was playing in his last game. The French captain, Zinedine Zidane gave France an early lead, in the 7th minute of play, by scoring from the penalty spot. The nonchalant chip, that hit the bar and bounced behind the goal line, put Zidane in the record books. It made him the fourth player to score three goals in World Cup final matches. He of course had headed two goals in France’s triumphant 1998 final.

The penalty call, that led to it, though, was controversial. Florent Malouda had driven into the box and went down after a challenge from Marco Materazzi.

The replays, though, showed that there had been very little contact. Italy equalised after 19 minutes when Materazzi rose magnificently above Patrick Vieira to head home an Andrea Pirlo corner from the right.

Following the match, the Italian coach, Marcelo Lippi, alluded to why Italy didn’t let their heads go down after going down by a goal.

“I’d like to thank all of these fantastic players,” he said. “They’ve all got incredible character, and they play every game with a lot of heart.”

Despite a number of chances, neither team was able to score through the remaining 71 minutes of regular time and half an hour of extra time.

After the teams went to extra time, France seemed more likely to decide it. At least until 10 minutes from the end that is.

WM 2006 Finale Italien Frankreich Rot für Zidane
Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo gives a red card to France's Zinedine Zidane.Image: AP

That’s when Zidane blew a fuse, and in his best impression of a ram, he felled Italian defender Marco Materazzi
with a head butt to the chest. The referee and the linesman seemed to miss the incident. But it appears that the 4th official saw it on the video replay. The news was relayed to Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo. He ended the French captain's career ten minutes prematurely with a deserved red card.