Au Revoir, Zidane.

In what will be remembered as one of the most dramatic World Cup finals in history, the Italians came away with the victory winning 5-3 in penalty kicks.

The story behind the story, however, involves France's aged superstar, Zinedine Zidane, who inexplicably headbutted Italy's Marco Materazzi square in the chest in the second overtime period. Zidane, arguably a top ten player of all-time, was sent into retirement early after one of the most bizarre moments in sports history. He was given the red card and ordered to leave the field. It was almost surreal seeing France's darling sell his team down the river in crunch time.

For the length of the entire game and the bulk of the overtime period, France outplayed Italy in nearly every facet of the game. They controlled the ball and put themselves in great positions to score throughout the game. In the end, however, fatigue sent two of France's top players to the bench late in overtime. This meant that France went into the shootout without three of its best players.

In the end, Italy buried all five of its penalty kicks on their way to winning their fourth World Cup--the second most behind Brazil's five.

Unfortunately for the Italians, their victory will most likely be overshadowed by Zidane's brutish antics. Zidane ended his career like no other superstar before him. Not only did he fail his teammates, his fans, and his country, but he tarnished his legacy as a player. He will be remembered for the rest of his life for this incident.

The script was set for the triumphant return of Zidane and the frogs to the top of the sports world. Remember that it was Zidane who led the French to the World Cup title in 1998. This was to be his curtain call, his finest hour. In the end, Zidane may become Bill Buckner writ-large.

Zut alors.