Italy deservs the cup they just won, remember thet they hit the cross bar,had a goal taken away and france's penalty was a joke.Buffon was unbelievable as usual,Zidane ended his career in the worst way possible,there's nothing you can say,Italy is the world champ fro the fourth time !

I think tony p summed the whole game up, well done!

ITALIA! ITALIA! ITALIA! ITALIA! ITALIA! ITALIA! ITALIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! screw you Zidane! you were just jealous cause you couldnt score with your head like Materazzi!
FORZA ITALIA!! 2006 COPPA MUNDO CAMPOIONI'S!!!

I think it was a very good final. It was my first World Cup Final and I loved the whole tournament. I had a day off of work the first game Germany played, started to watch it and didn't miss a game. I'm hooked and think I found my new love. And this is a great site as well. Keep up the great work.

Zinedine Zidane.............what a joke ITALIA!!!

The only joke is you and zidane,who learned how to play in italy with juventus.France's luck has run out,Italy is undefeated in 25 games,and the next game Italy plays they will have four stars on their shirt!!! the team you call a joke is CHASMPION OF THE WORLD MORON !

being half italian myself, i gotta say i'm a bit embarrassed by some of the italian supporter's comments. not to mention their spelling. italy didn't have a goal taken away. they were off-side. and the foul on france that led to the penalty kick was the correct call. there is such a thing as being a sore loser and a sore winner. what i'd like to know is what materrazi said to zidane to make him go off like that.

I guess you don't know much about soccer,the penalty was a gift as Materazzi never touched the diving player, the goal taken away was headed in by Toni who was behind the first Italian player and the first player did not interfere with the goalie, regardless remember that in 1990 Italy lost on penalties to argentina after playing and winning five games without giving up a goal,in 98 again the damn penalties with france,I don't even want to mention the penalties with the 94 final with Brazil,sore winner my foot,it's about time we got a break,and also remember the stree the players are under due to the scandal in Italy.

well what can i say it was a great game but i really think france should of won this because they played real real real good even with out their best players and they played better then italy , but what can i say that italy got lucky that a few of france great players were not in the game or got kicked off the field , but its ok case we all know france well get u in the next 4 years , but anyways great game love u france.... mona peace in the middle east

Italy. You rock. France...good game mates but obviously not good enough. I dare say, the foul on Zindane, that was a extremely rash thing to do, a very good call on the refs part. ITALY- WORLD CHAMPIONS FOR THE 4TH TIME. I LOVE YA!!!

Great game, sad ending. A sad ending to a fabulous career of zizou, but the show will go on. Congrantulations to Italy who did phenominal in their penality kicks, and played well this World up. Buffon and Cannavaro are real class acts, Lippi as well.
Referee did a good job, making the correct calls, especially in the heat of the game. PK, OFF-Sides no goal, Zizou headbutt, all the correct call. Well 2010 now we await for you, Maybe the USA will lift the prized jewel.

I love is italian command.

U loose today , u win tomorrow.. this is sport.. but For what happened to Zeidan, it is very sad and frustarating.. I hope we all remember the overall history of ahuman anad a player not just a moment of uncontrolled ' reaction' to somth that we dnt even know.. I will personally remember the man with good and bad things not only bad..

There are fair loosers and fair winners, but this seems not to go with many italian "fans".
I feel sorry for Zidane, he destroyed his own reputation. There has to be a reason for his headkick - but of course there is no excuse for it. And I feel sorry for the french team, because they played well yesterday and dominated italy for most of the match.
In my oppinion italy played only one really good (excellent) match - that against germany. But not always the better team wins the match or the tournament. Some weeks later no one will ask about that - so congratulations to italy.
P.S. I cant believe many people in italy asking for an act of grace in the corruption affair in italian soccer due to the win of the cup. This is ridiculous.

Zidane is one of the best players of all time and he has always been so calm about everything. So I can't imagine what Materazzi said to him. But I suppose Materazzi desreved what he got and my opinion of Zidane hasn't changed a bit.
I would've wanted France to win...oh well lets see what the future brings.

FORZA AZZURRI!!
No matter what you say, the Azzurri are the world champs for the forth time. They haven't lost since October of 2004, they played the fairest game out there and fought all the way to victory! And defense...Cavannaro...need I say more? And for France. They played good; we can't let Zindane's foulish act take away from the players who didn't play dirty. I look forward to defending our title in 2010!!
FORZA AZZURRI!

Viva Italia Forza mia Coppa Mondo

It's a poetic end to Zidane's career -- unfortunate but in some way fitting. If he had managed to put his header a bit further from the keeper a few minutes earlier, Zidane would have been the undisputed hero. But he has always been a hothead -- recall he had to sit out a playoff game en route to France's 1998 World Cup victory after he was red-carded for deliberately stepping on a fallen opponent.
Given this history, I don't think the headbutt alters Zidane's place in soccer as one of the all-time greats.

please note that my comments are 100% for my Italy,the half italian and critic was dan, if you read correctly, you will see that I started the comments on this forum praising my Azzurri with pride.Regardless ITALY WORLD CHAMP FOR THE 4TH time!!!

Well, Germany 2006 is now over and it was a good final. There are certainly aspects I could do without, finishing on penalties and Zidane's foolish end to an otherwise brilliant international career. However, it was a very good match overall.

France had the better of possession and attacking play, but Italy looked dangerous and primed to score at any minute on corners or set pieces, which made it an even game overall.

The penalty kick for France: I will say that I disagree with the call. On replay, there was no contact that would warrant a penalty. It did happen quickly in a crowded space, so it was not an easy call, but I wouldn't have given it. That said, there was later a legitimate foul in the box that should have given France a penalty, but it went uncalled. In my mind, those two even out and France deserves a goal.

The goal called back for offsides was in fact the right call. Though Toni, was onsides, there were two other Italians in an offsides position when the ball was played in. The argument that they were not involved in the play does not apply here. They were both right behind Toni in the direct path of the ball. In this case, you have to give the offsides call, because there is no way to tell at the time who is involved in the play and who is not. The only way for that goal to hold up would have been if the two offsides players were coming back and taking themselves out of the play rather than continuing their run into the box. It was the correct call.

The Zidane incident: I was crushed to see Zidane go out in disgrace like that. I've been a huge fan of his for many years, and he is a fiery player, but not a stupid one. I have to wonder what was said or done out of the camera's eye that set him off. Regardless, there is no real excuse for losing your cool in that manner at such a critical time. It was an awful lapse in judgment, and something you hate to see mar the world cup final, but I'll second those who say he will be remembered for is career as a whole rather than this moment of indiscretion at the end.

HOW SWEET IT IS. HOW SWEET IT IS. ITALIA! ITALIA! WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS!! I've been saying all along. In any tournament, all you have to do is survive and advance. Opponents scored ONLY 1 GOAL (not counting own goal) and they didn't have Nesta for 4 games!!! Whatever anybody says, Italy played their hearts out every game. Every game they left everything on the pitch. I've been an Italia fan since 1990. I can truly say, as a fan, I am proud of this team. It's effort, desire, and sheer will. BRAVO AZZURRI!!

Heath, good post. I agree with your opinions on the game... No one could pin this match on the referee. NEither team could break through in the run of play and Italy was very dangerous on corners. I'm shocked about Zidane's lack of control in the final minutes. I don't care what Materazzi did to provoke it, that was inexcusable in the final minutes of the World cup final. It's a shame, b/c Zidane had a marvelous tournament and France wouldn't have been anywhere near the final without him.

It was surly an exciting final, very disapointing to see italy win, because i believe they didn't belong their in the first place. Though having said that, they did everything they needed to do and got the victory for their forth world cup title. So congrats to them. I thought the match was pretty good though-out, with neither team having a huge advantage. Though very disapointed to see it go into pk's, but after 120 minutes of play their isn't much more you can do. Zidane will be miss though, and his name will be mentioned with the greats of pele and maradonna, though he was a bit foolish in getting sent off. BUT THAT DOES NOT CHANGE WHAT HE DID HIS PREVIOUS 14 ODD YEARS!

Once again I am thrilled that the azzurri lifted the cup,but I hate the fact it was on penalties,as I stated before Italy did lose on penalties in1990,1994 & 1998,thus we were due. But I think that penalties are a bad way to decide a game,I know that the golden goal did not go over well,(but if you look at hockey with the sudden death overtime,where you win or lose on the ice)I might reconsider the golden goal,where the team with the most heart and will and at times luck can win fairly. God bless you all and Forza Italia always.

It was a great tourament, with a great conclusion.....It was a long time in coming for Italy..........Bravo

ZIDANE GOT WHAT HE DESERVED. ZIADANE GOT WHAT HE DESERVED. ZIDANE GOT WHAT HE DESEREVED. YOU FRENCH FANS "STOP" EXCUSSING HIM. HE PHYSICALLY ABOUSED A PLAYER. AND GOT THE WHAT HE DESEREVED A RED CARD. THAT IS THE APPROPIATE ACTION TO TAKE WHEN THERE IS PHYSICAL ABUSE. NO MATTER WHAT WAS SAID. YOU HAVE TO KEEP YOUR COMPOSURE. SOME OF YOU FRENCH FANS FAIL TO SEE THE TRUUUUUUTH. ITALIA PLAYED FAIR & FRANCE DID NOT!

TONY P YOU NEED GLASSES NEXT TIME YOU WATCH A MATCH. THE CALLS BY THE REF IN FAVOR OF FRANCE DURING THIS WORLD CUP SERIOUS WERE FOR THE MOST PART WRONG. FRANCE WAS VERY LUCKY IN GETTING CALLS & FOULS IN THERE FAVOR. I SAW THE VIDEO TAPE. THE GOAL CALLED BACK BECAUSE OF BEING OFFSIDE WAS THE "WRONG CALL". HE WAS BEHIND ONE OF THE OPPONENTS. PLEASE REVIEW THE WORLD CUP TONY P SEE IT AGAIN A COUPLE OF TIMES AND YOU WILL SEE.

PS: GET A NEW PAIR OF GLASSES

Sorry Eli, you're wrong on that one. It really doesn't matter that Toni was onsides. Two other Italian players were offsides when the ball was played in, and you cannot make the argument that they were not involved in the play just because they did not contact the ball. They were in the direct path of the ball and made no attempt to take themselves out of the play, such as jogging back away from the goal. Being that close to the play where the ball could easily have dropped for any of three players, two of which were offsides, means they were involved in the play and therefor offsides.

I've been critical of the officiating in this World Cup, but that was the correct call.

this message is for ELI please note that the comments I wrote are on top and the name posted on the bottom,thus my comments are 100% for Italy and I stated that the goal from Toni was good so why don't you go buy new glasses or learn to read accordingly..FORZA Italia always PS on this forum people must realize that the person who posts the comment is mentioned on the bottom of post!!!!

I apologize Tony P. I didn't realize.

By the way in what language does the ref communicate with the players being that he is from a country that speaks spanish?

I'm not sure of how they communicate I know that having played muself there is hand motion that is understood from a ref,also italian,spanish & french are languages based on the latin language,thus somehow similar,as for what transpired with Zidane and Materazzi i'm sure it was said in italian as Zidane played in Italy for 5 years with Juventus,but going back to the ref communicating with players I believe the assigned ref must have some knowledge of words pertaining to the teams he is reffing. ciao

Come on can we say penaltie kicks, always inventing new words its not PK's its Penalties kicks.
Great job Italy, shame on you Zidane! what a shame.

Um, yeah, let's all call them "penalties kicks!" Hey, 'PKs' is just an abbreviation for "Penalty Kicks", not a new word... and abbreviations are used to save time or space, like in a short headline of a news story...like this one.

Abbreviations are new and fun! When you finish learning how to spell, check them out!

And don't bother telling us the sport isn't called "Soccer", b/c guess what, everyone around the world has a different way of saying that too!

Thanks for the English lession looser! Only someone who has something stuck up their butt, would write a post like that. If something like PK is bothering you so bad, than you have more problems and should seek further help. Maybe you should go major in english, that way you'll be able too help people correct their papers. But if you have something intelligent to say about "football" than this is the place to say it. But since you don't, stop wasting our time putting up pointless posts like that. In other words stop being an ignorant moron who thinks they're better than everybody because you spell out "penalty kicks"!

Italy_wins_cup_with_pks.. Outstanding :)

Italy_wins_cup_with_pks.. Ho-o-o-o-t :)

Italy_wins_cup_with_pks.. Smashing :)

Italy_wins_cup_with_pks.. Dandy :)

You couldn't pay me to inrgoe these posts!

You couldn't pay me to inrgoe these posts!

You couldn't pay me to inrgoe these posts!

Weeeee, what a quick and easy soultoin.