Zizou: our secret admiration for a flawed hero

Sir,
Pundits around the world have fallen over themselves to lament the disgrace of Zinedine Zidane’s extraordinary assault on Marco Materazzi.
Few indeed would have wished on a player so talented, so dignified, to end his career on such a note.

For Zizou is neither thug nor cheat, neither Wayne Rooney nor Christiano Ronaldo. When he went down in extra time with his arm almost torn out of its socket, he did not roll around theatrically, trying to get his opponent booked; he merely sat on the turf, pointing to his shoulder and even venturing a smile.

And when his breathtaking header was stunningly saved by Gianluigi Buffon just moments before that terrible incident, he went up to congratulate his former Juventus teammate on keeping out a ball that would surely have won France the World Cup and cemented Zidane’s place in history.
And yet behind the pious, politically correct condemnation, may I venture to suggest that to many of us, Zizou’s reputation has in a strange way been enhanced.

Of course we cannot condone such violence on the football pitch. But deep down, we feel a reassurance that Zizou is human like the rest of us. Have we not all not lost the rag at a particularly infuriating colleague, client or supplier?

And if, as is being suggested, the Italian defender had been goading him throughout the match, culminating with a vile torrent of racist and personal abuse, would we be wrong secretly to applaud such blinding retribution, just as we may deep down have approved Eric Cantona’s flying karate kick against a racist fan?

The commentators have to condemn such actions, and Zizou will have to apologise for the example he has set. But this is why football is so gripping. We love the game because its heros are flawed, like us; because it is a searing reflection of all the joys and tragedies of the human condition.

Michael Ioannou, Nicosia