Exhilarating end of World Cup '06
I was among the approximately 1 billion viewers who tuned into the World Cup Final (presented by Adidas of course not Landscapes by George) between France and Italy. Weeks before I had written that these 2 sides should go home mainly because they were aged players. Typically writing off an aging squad is fairly accurate. Costa Rica and perhaps Croatia were in those categories although I had them go through to knock out. Pity me for knocking the French and the Italians. They definitely proved that things do get better with age (that is if you were good before). The French and Italians were at for 90 minutes and 30 minutes of overtime. The French squad looked good going into the overtime period with the score deadlocked at a goal apiece. The Italians were clearly tired but France failed to connect with the back of the net- Buffon remained impenetrable. Then came the head butt that sent France's chances down the tubes. It was an unlikely move for the usually sedate Zindane. It was...