I thought he was a real football hero. Guess I was wrong. Every team I have rooted for during this World Cup--USA, Netherlands, England, Germany, and finally France--has gone down almost as soon as I switched to supporting them. I have no good record of picking winners. Still, thanks to Zidane, I thought France was a safe bet. He seemed like a man on fire. I could have sworn that I saw a polished veteran who not only knew how to put the ball in the net when it matters, but whose stellar example had lifted his entire team to another level. Oh well, never mind. For the record, on some level I actually feel bad for Zidane. There's not much comparison, but in the most important soccer game I ever played--the Louisiana high school state championship in 1995--I was also red carded and thrown out of the game. (I still have the card with the date written on it taped on my wall.) What I did had none of the seeming malice of Zidane's headbutt; I simply ran into a guy and knocked him over in a weird combination of aggression and clumsiness. But it was equally stupid. And so I sat in the stands, incredibly distraught, hoping my team could hold on to its 1-0 lead. We did, and so my red card didn't really matter. By contrast, I'm convinced that France lost because Zidane, in his stupidity, was no longer on the field. They needed him, for a well placed penalty kick if nothing else. And that's something he's going to have to live with for the rest of his life.
P.S.: To see the headbutt, go here, video provided by the great new site Searchles, which you should totally check out....
