Unsportsmanlike!

The just-concluded football World Cup had its share of class, artistry andheart-burn but Zinadine Zidane's head-butt will be the image that will lingerfor long in the minds of football fans.

Truly, it was a sad end to the career of one of the greatest players of themodern era. It sometimes defies logic how great stars can undo all the good workin the matter of a few seconds.

Before I discuss the Zidane episode, I must admit I was taken bysuprise by the hype and excitement that the World Cup generated in India.Although India was not in the fray, there were millions who followed the actionvery closely.

Many people have asked me if India can ever play in a World Cup. It will begreat if India can play at this level one day, but I don't see that day comingin the near future. We are lagging way behind and the only way we can achievethose standards is by proper planning. We have the talent and I do not agreethat we lack in speed, stamina and strength.

If we have to qualify for 2010 or 2014, we have to plan long term with theunder-23 as well as the different age groups like 16-18 and 15-16 with lots offoreign exposure by playing, training and watching matches abroad.

The All-India Football Federation should make it compulsory for the NFL teamsto have age group sides like it is the case in Goa. Regular tournaments forthese youngsters will bring the talent to the limelight.

If all the states conduct age group tournaments and leagues, it will be easyto attract young players to football. Youth development is the key and corporatehouses have to come forward in this endeavour. Only then will we achievesomething, not by investing in readymade players for the sake of instant resultsand trophies.

Coming back to the World Cup, it showed that big names and teams withsuperstar players counted for little as sides with lesser pedigree, who arecoached well and tactically sound, could give them a run for their money.

When the tournament started, everyone was talking about Brazil, England,Argentina, Czech Republic, and to some extent, Spain.

Italy were considered an outside bet as despite having several star players,their performances at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004 were nothing to writehome about.

France were considered over-age and most people thought that it had manyplayers who were past their sell-by date.

The tournament also showed that the ranking system used by FIFA before theWorld Cup was flawed. The USA and Czech Republic, ranked in the top five, wereeliminated at the group stage.

On the other hand, smaller teams like Australia, Ukraine, Ghana and IvoryCoast brought freshness to the competition.

After the group stages, Germany, Argentina, Spain and Brazil were the teamscatching the eye but the way France played against the Spaniards forced everyoneto stand up and take notice of this bunch of "old men" and"has-beens".

Credit must be given to coach Raymond Domenech as he craftily went aboutplotting the demise of the youthful Spanish armada. The great Zidane was also inhis element and played a stellar role in a deserved victory.

Another talking point of the World Cup was Wayne Rooney's red card in theEngland-Portugal match. Sven-Goran Eriksson's side was a major disappointment atthe World Cup but they held on grimly to force a shootout where their nervesgave way.

The biggest upset was yet to come as nobody thought that France could get thebetter of Brazil, who were eager to avenge the 1998 final defeat. Zidane was thehero again as he beat the Brazilians by his wizardry and vision. Thierry Henryand Patrick Vieira also had great games.

But it could not hide the fact that the defending champions weredisappointing. They were unable to trap properly and their passes were mostlyinaccurate. World Player of the Year Ronaldinho was a mere shadow of the manthat turned out for Barcelona.

The World Cup's all-time highest goal scorer Ronaldo looked heavy andlethargic. Age betrayed Cafu and Roberto Carlos and the coach did not have thecourage to give youngsters like Robinho and Cicinho more time on the pitch.

This meant that after 24 years, the semi-finals were all-European affairs.

The Germany-Italy semi-final was the best match of the tournament. It wasalmost like high speed chess. Both the teams fought tooth and nail but could notscore.

With the match seemingly destined for a penalty shootout and wary of Germanycoming out on top in these exchanges, coach Marcello Lippi went against thetraditional defensive Italian formation and played with four forwards duringextra-time. Surely, he was emboldened by his rock solid defence where custodianGianluigi Buffon and captain Fabio Cannavaro were giants.

Italy reaped the benefits as they scored twice in the last three minutes tobreak the hosts' hearts.

The match on July 9 will forever be overshadowed by the head-butt by Zidaneon Italian defender Marco Materazzi with 10 minutes left to go for the decisivepenalty shootout. The French playmaker, who had earlier given his team the leadby a penalty conversion, was pulling the strings effectively before he used hishead in a most unsportsmanlike manner.

With Vieira, Henry and Zidane out, Domenech's team was always going to besecond favourites in penalties and hence the French renaissance came up one stepshort.

Materazzi must have incited Zidane by using foul language but being aprofessional and playing the final, that too the last few minutes of hisglorious career, the Frenchman should have controlled his temper. He should nothave done what he did as he is the greatest of his generation.

It was a shame and one of the reasons France lost was because theirundisputed leader was not on the pitch in the final minutes.

But credit should be given to Italy as they conceded only two goals out ofwhich one was an own goal and the other a penalty. Lippi gave an opportunity toall his outfield players and the only ones to miss out were the two reservegoalkeepers. Nine different players were on the score sheet which meant thatItaly were deserving champions.

One of the disappointing features of the World Cup was the simulation andplay-acting resorted to by players to get an unfair advantage and persuade thereferee to give a yellow or red card to their opponents.

FIFA needs to check this disturbing trend in the same way as they have dealtwith rough tackles which prompted an all-time high number of cards this timeround.

PTI