Zidane deserves better

Zinedine Zidane has apologised for headbutting Marco Matterazzi in the World Cup final—but did we need it?

I didn't. I'd rather an apology from all the players guilty of diving during the tournament. That was a bigger disgrace. Some remorse for several hairstyles wouldn't go a stray either. And while we’re at it, that weird dancing that some teams do when they win—could leave that at home as well.

But I digress. Amongst the "two cents" commentators and lynch mob media, everyone is forgetting how great an ambassador Zidane has been for the game. He's a soccer icon, above and beyond every player who ran that pitch Sunday. He plays the game with a control and vision rarely seen. His timing, touch and most importantly, his decision making, are almost flawless when it comes to football. It's easy to forget this when you're in the peanut gallery.


Don't we owe him the benefit of the doubt here?

Violence should never be condoned but surely the verbal abuse lobbed at France's No.10 was violent itself. Zidane made his decision, which OK, ranks up there with Iron Mike's "ear snack attack" and Ron Artest's "paper cup retaliation". But let's be reasonable. We don't have to agree with it, yet can we at least acknowledge that the man deserved better than Matterazzi's irreverance? I mean come on, everytime you Google the poor bloke now, you're going to find that headbutt shot. Is that really fair?

This is France's great captain after all, the three-time FIFA player of the year and the best we've seen in the last two decades. For those petty enough to recall Zidane's red card tally, or call him a "monster", how about considering his goal tally. Think about his splendid passing. Study his sublime balance. Replay all of his last minute heroics. Revel in his teamwork. He's a football genius and nothing will change that.

Zidane was fairly awarded the Golden Ball, the best player of the World Cup, and it’d be a travesty to strip him of it. Nobody's perfect and sometimes temperatures peak. But national heroes, like grandparents, surely deserve more respect than they're often shown.