Merci Zidane....

The Italians won. 5-3 on penalty shootouts.
Zizou was sent out of the game for butting his head at Materazzi
because the Italian apparently insulted Zizou. It broke my heart. Me
and some friends rented a room at Red Box in Greenbelt and stayed awake
watching the whole game. Zizou scored the first goal for France via a
penalty kick that went sailing past Buffon. Materazzi followed through
an answer from the Azzurris camp and the game dragged on to an
overtime. During the penalty shootouts, Trezeguet missed the net and
the ball bounced through the metal frame above the Italian goalkeeper,
and narrowly missed the goal by six inches (undoubtedly the longest six
inches of the cup). It was heartbreaking to watch Zizou, shoulders
crestfallen, walk past the Cup that he will never raise for the Les
Bleus. Until now, I feel so depressed, sad and angry..

Thank you Zizou for inspiring us with the skill,


the passion,the beauty of the game. Thank you for


the sparks of magic, the superb feints, the


incredible passes, the awesome goals.Thank you


Zizou for making us believe in ourselves again.


Thank you, not onlyfor being the best player of


your generation, but thank you for the wonderful


memories of fine football playing- the world's


greatest game.Thank you. Thank you. Thank you No.10.





===================================





Filipinos catch World Cup fever








BIG DEAL


By DAN MARIANO







The pay-per-view World Cup coverage gives the impression that
football aficionados in this country belong only to the elite. In fact,
the game also has substantial following in the grassroots.







With much of the planet gripped by the World Cup fever, even Filipinos
have shed some of their obsession with basketball. Growing numbers of
them have been following the matches, which reach a climax Sunday
(early Monday in Manila) in Germany. Many have even learned to stop
calling it "soccer."




"Football" is the only proper name for the beautiful game, which,
for aficionados like this writer, is the apex of athleticism. At least
one of the networks—RPN 9 on special arrangement with Solar—has been
airing delayed telecasts of the matches on free TV, which football fans
appreciate. It was television, after all, that turned basketball into
the number-one pastime in the Philippines.




Live telecasts of the matches are available only on satellite and
cable TV for which subscribers have to fork out a steep fee. Dream TV,
however, disappointed World Cup subscribers when it failed to air the
France-Portugal match live early Thursday.




Customers who paid P3,000 for the privilege to watch the world’s
greatest sporting event as it unfolded in Germany certainly deserve a
refund. They can only hope Dream TV does not let them down again on the
final match between France and Italy.




Solar has exclusive rights to the World Cup broadcasts in the
Philippines. Its all-access service transmits live coverage of the
matches in Germany to Dream TV and SkyCable, which have reported
"decent" subscription figures.




Pubs and restaurants, such as National Sports Grill, have installed
big screens for the live World Cup broadcasts, too; in the process,
they have been making brisk business well into the wee hours of the
morning. Even the predawn crowds at the Ateneo Blue Eagle gym, another
live telecast venue, have reportedly been large.




The pay-per-view World Cup coverage gives the impression that
football aficionados in this country belong only to the elite. In fact,
the game also has substantial following in the grassroots.




For years, military services have maintained football teams
composed mainly of soldier-athletes recruited from rural areas. In
Western Visayas and parts of Mindanao football is just as popular as
basketball, if not more so.




In Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo, for instance, there is even no basketball
court. The town plaza is a football field. Barotac Nuevo has, in fact,
produced the first full-blooded Filipino—Tony Araneta—to be recruited
by a top-tier European football club (Stuttgart).




Araneta’s brother, Pabs, vice-president of the Philippine Football
Federation, says Filipinos could become world-class football players if
only they are given the chance to develop their natural talent for the
game.




Pabs is grateful for whatever attention the Philippine media give
football. Like other devotees of the sport, he hopes that the interest
generated by the quadrennial FIFA World Cup will help make football
more popular in this country.








See you in 2010 in South Africa!