Midway through extra-time in the football World Cup final Zinedine Zidane rose majestically to head a pass designed to earn France the coveted trophy, but Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon arched high to fist the ball over the bar and preserve the 1-1 scoreline.
What subsequently passed through Zidane's mind in the dying moments of a career that had taken him from the back streets of Marseille to the glamorous European club giants Juventus and Real Madrid is anyone's guess.
Confounding the pessimists, in the course of the tournament he had gradually recaptured the form that propelled France to their 1998 World Cup triumph, but after Buffon's save he must have known his final chance for glory on the game's ultimate stage had all but vanished.
Certainly something snapped 10 minutes before the final whistle at the Berlin Olympic stadium. After a brief altercation, the French captain suddenly head-butted Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the chest and was sent from the field. His demoralised team then succumbed 5-3 in the penalty shoot-out.
Zidane's abrupt fall from grace mirrored the light and shade of a troubled sporting year.
What are your sporting controversies of the year? Tell us!
Zinedine Zidane gestures after head-butting Marco Materazzi during the World Cup 2006 final, July 9.
Photograph: John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: Football Fiesta: Full coverage
Advertisement
