Sunday, July 09, 2006

FINAL: Italy v France


9 July 2006: Italy 2-1 France AET & PENS (Berlin)
Italy beat France 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out to win the World Cup after an absorbing 1-1 draw in Berlin. Fabio Grosso scored the winning penalty after France's David Trezeguet missed. Playing his last game before retiring, Zinedine Zidane's career ended in disgrace after he was sent off for crazily headbutting Marco Materazzi. Zidane had put France ahead early on with a coolly-taken chipped penalty, before Materazzi levelled with a header from an Andrea Pirlo corner. The result caps an incredible period for Italian football, with the domestic game embroiled in a corruption scandal similar to 1982 when they last won the World Cup. They have now won the competition four times, one fewer than Brazil, and it was the first time they managed to win a World Cup match on penalties after three failed attempts.



Zinedine Zidane's Penalty



Marco Materazzi


Zinedine Zidane Headbutt


Penalties


Celebrations



Celebrations with trophy


Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Materazzi, Grosso, Camoranesi (Del Piero 86), Pirlo, Gattuso, Perrotta (Iaquinta 61), Totti (De Rossi 61), Toni.
France: Barthez, Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Abidal, Ribery (Trezeguet 100), Vieira (Diarra 56), Makelele, Zidane (Sent off 110), Malouda, Henry (Wiltord 107).
Ref: Horacio Marcelo Elizondo (Argentina).
FIFA man of the match: Andrea Pirlo.


ONE YEAR ON AS CHAMPIONS: [HOME] - [PICTURE REVIEW] - [VIDEO REVIEW]

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