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« on: July 11, 2006, 12:30:00 PM »
Hell yea man, thank you too, good to know there are a few of us diehards around in the states. But all I gotta say is...
FORZA AZZURRI BABY!!!
I've been waiting since Baggio lifted his PK about 6 feet over the crossbar back in '94 to see the Azzurri get back to the finals. What an awesome game. 3 of us went back down to the North End with our Italia jerseys and it was just a zoo down there. Italians everywhere, walking in the middle of the streets, waving massive flags and singing their chants, and it was still 30 minutes before the game. We managed to find ourselves some room at a bar right off Hanover again, and it was absolutely packed. No better way to watch that game.
Then Zidane knocked home that PK in the 7th minute...I thought some of those guys were gonna rip the flatscreen right off the wall. Not a single French fan around, though...probably a wise move by them. At one point I really needed to take a piss, I had been holding it since the Italian national anthem, so I decided to book it to the bathroom real quick, but my buddy goes "Italy corner kick!!!" So I stayed. And then Materazzi put one in off his head. I think I would've lost sleep for the rest of the week if I had missed that goal. It was beautiful. I think the decibels in that place were on par with a low flying jet right over your head at that point.
I was really surprised at the Italian fans' reactions to Henry getting all but knocked out in the first couple minutes. I figured they would've been jeering him, as drunk as most of them were, but they were pretty classy about it. As the trainers were dousing him with ice water I heard a lot of comments like "It won't be as sweet a victory if Henry's not playing against us." Gotta give it up for soccer fans.
Italy had me worried towards the end, especially in overtime. They looked a bit flat-footed, and France was really taking it to them. Thankfully they were all visibly exhausted, and no one could really manage to get any solid shots on net. Except for Zidane's late header, which had to be one of the most beautiful saves of the cup, by Buffon or anybody for that matter. But Zidane, come on Zidane. I was heartbroken when he headbutted Materazzi. Zidane has long been up there with Maradonna, Keane, Figo, Maldini, and Klinsmann as my favorite players of all time. But the second he took Materazzi out, I had nothing for disgust for him. And man, if he had walked by that bar after the game, he would've been lynched. I don't know about all that "dirty terrorist" shit, all I know is that Zidane fucked up. To me, it'd be like Albert Pujols testing positive for HGH. Just really sad for the game. I guess the French papers really lit into him, especially when it came to all the kids watching the cup.
Anyways, the rest is history, the North End looked a bit like City Plaza (which they kept showing on the Boston telecast), which looked a bit like Rome. People were celebrating for hours. We went down to the south shore to hit the beach after the game and play a little beach soccer, and it just so happened there was a big group of Italians there celebrating, so we got a big game going. The Sox lost 6-5 in 19 innings that night, and we could've cared less. Man, I'm still excited about that win.
So maybe in 4 years the rumors will play out and Klinsmann (who I just discovered is my neighbor out in Malibu) will take over for Arena and march us back to the Quarterfinals. Peace! ::cheers::