Italia, Campioni Del Mondo

Unless you've been living a truly sheltered existence, you know by now that Italy captured the 2006 FIFA World Cup courtesy of a 5-3 penalty kick victory over France after both sides played to a 1-1 draw after regulation and extra time. I found the victory to be a rather unsatisfying one, since I feel like Italy did nothing to earn the championship beyond win a war of attrition. It took a highly questionable last-second penalty kick for the Azzuri to triumph over the Socceroos of Australia. In the quarterfinals, they met a pushover Ukraine team that had no business advancing that far in the tournament. It took a goal with two minutes left in extra time for the Italians to squeak by Germany. And against Les Bleus earlier today, Italy barely mustered any offense in the final 30 minutes of regulation and all of extra time.

But perhaps Italy's victory is a testament to its defense. In 690 minutes of playing time, Italy allowed two goals: an own goal against the U.S. and a penalty kick against France. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was unquestionably the top netminder of this World Cup and defender and captain Fabio Cannavaro has the inside track for the Golden Boot award. Since this World Cup was the lowest-scoring on a per game basis in history, perhaps it should come as no surprise that the team with the best defense ended up as World Cup champions.

Sadly, what this game will be remembered for is French captain Zinedine Zidane's meltdown in the 110th minute. After exchanging words with Marco Matterazi, Zidane inexplicably and inexcusably lowered his head and drilled Matterazi in the chest, knocking him to the ground. The foul occurred away from play and behind the referee, but after conferring with one of his linesmen, the referee properly awarded Zidane a straight red card and sent him off from the final game of his career. Before the incident, I had been pulling for France to win the game, allowing Zidane to go out on top. Indeed, Zidane had chances to be the Man of the Match, converting an early penalty shot with a cocky chip that hit the crossbar, and then nearly put France ahead in extra time, with a head-ball redirection of a cross that Buffon was barely able to knock over the crossbar. But then, Zidane's boneheaded (quite literally) moment of selfishness not only knocked him out of his final game but deprived his teammates of one of their top shooters for the imminent penalty kick tie-breaker.

After all the well-deserved grief that the referees took during the first round and the Round of 16, the officials were on top of their game during the rest of the playoffs. Aside from a questionable penalty kick early in the game (which seemed like a reasonable call in the flow of the game), Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo displayed a level of mastery, letting the players play where they could, disciplining them appropriately when it was truly called for, and utilizing the resources available to him (i.e. linesmen) in order to address misconduct that happened behind his back. While the commentators poked fun at the fact that the officiating crew received medals at the conclusion of the game, the World Cup is a competition for the referees as well, since playoff assignments are awarded on the basis of performance. Elizondo was selected to officiate the final because he was the best referee in the world, and such an accomplishment does warrant recognition.