The audience is cheering. Something has taken place. Marco Materazzi has arrived on the scene. The match announcers are perplexed. They believe David Trezeguet had something to do with it, but this is all speculation. On the other side of the pitch were their eyes, as well as the eyes of hundreds of millions of people around the world. They were oblivious to it.
Gianluigi Buffon was the one who did it. He dashes over to the referees on the sideline, yelling and pointing fingers. The rest of the players have figured it out by now. Marcello Lippi must be confined on the sidelines. One man remains calm in the thick of it all. Zinedine Zidane simply looks ahead. Horacio Elizondo, the referee, approaches the French captain after speaking with his aides. A red card is brandished in the air. Zidane tries to explain that he was provoked with an arm around his shoulder. It’s all for naught.
Many people overlook the fact that Zidane was never intended to be in charge in the first place. The upset defeat by Greece in Portugal at Euro 2004 signaled the “end of a cycle” for him, and he decided to retire from international football. It wasn’t for him anymore. He issued a statement on his website on August 12, 2004. “I’ve given this decision a lot of thought. I believe you must say stop at some point… Some great players retired in 2000 and 2002, and other guys are doing it now, and I’m doing it now.”
Zidane would use the same website to declare his return over a year later. Rumors had circulated that he would do so, but he had publicly rejected it. When questioned for his reaction to the news by L’Equipe, Christophe Dugarry, Zidane’s former World Cup-winning teammate, told the paper not to carry the report because he believed the website had been hacked. Despite the fact that there had been no piracy, Zidane was back. “For the first time in my life, I have decided to break a promise that is extremely important to me,” he said in his statement. “I was quite serious when I decided to retire – today I am making the same decision, but in reverse.” The voice had piqued Zidane’s interest.
