Cross-posted at SoccerBlog.com.
Like many of SoccerBlog contributors and readers, I have this overriding sense of disappointment in this year's Cup. Zidane's offing in the Final perfectly encapsulated it for me; this sense of WTF?
What was he thinking? Why did he do it? What did Materazzi say? (Zidane, afterall, was putting distance between the two, when he turned around and slammed him.) There many things about this Cup that were/are inexplicable to me: the refs; the dives; the US MNT and the 3 Lions in general to name a few.
But, sad to say, my biggest disappointment was the Champion. I like Italy, but I simply have a hard time feeling much joy in their victory. I would have much rather seen the Germans hoist the Cup. Or the Argentinians for that matter. I don't believe the best team won.
My list of memories are all about the disappointments. To Christian's list, I would add "coaching." Ultimately, I felt the level of coaching was a huge disappointment (I would note my general exception of the four Dutch coaches and Klinsmann). Conservative formations; cronyism and excessive loyalty; a general lack of imagination seemed to be the common ingredient of the coaches. As a young player, I thought coaches were useless, but great coaches can unlock the talents of players and create a "team" out of a bunch of well paid prima donnas. There was little greatness evident on the sidelines this year.
UPDATE: Materazzi called Zizou a "terrorist"? Okay, Zidane is from Algeria, but I can't believe "nah, nah, you are a great, big, fat terrorist" set him off. Besides, Italians have more imagination then that.
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