Mountain of light

So the World Cup is over and Italy won. What a match to cap an amazing tournament. It would have been no fun if the finals had happened without any drama. All the matches have had their share of drama with the fans adding more spice to it. Just when you thought that the final would be a tame end, Zidane decided to head butt the Italian defender. The only other head butt I saw in the tournament was in the Portugal Vs Netherlands match, where Luis Figo head butted a Dutch player (I forget who) and got away with it. I think Zidane probably thought he could get away with it too.

 

I wonder what made Zidane head butt Materazzi. I mean what could Materazzi have said that Zidane may not have heard hundreds of times before on and off the football pitch. In most countries, if you are an immigrant you have your share of racist slurs. I think that Zidane was trying to make a point and a no better stage than the World cup and that too in Germany that has had more than its share of racial abuses. Also he was the tallest player in stature in between both sides and he is already being compared to Pele and Maradona. Maybe he was trying to say that he would not take any more of the nonsense. I hope that he would one day come out with his side of the story.  I know there is a story. I just know it.  But I think the reason we want to hear it is different from the reason why he wants to tell it.

 

On a separate note, with the world cup being over I am having withdrawal symptoms. It is something else to sit in front of the telly every evening with some chilled beer and scream my lungs out at every goal. So what if India is not playing, so what if we are ranked below the armpits of Africa! This game belongs to me as much it does to Zidane, it gives me as much pleasure watching the game, as I am sure it does to someone playing it. I cannot agree with Svami Vivekananda more when he says:

“ You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of Bhagwat Gita”