Madness May Cost Zidane the World
Thursday 26th October 2000
While still blaming Hamburg for provoking him, Juventus star Zinedine Zidane
did, at least, apologise on Thursday for the head-butt on Jochen Kientz
which led to his red card during a stormy Champions' League showdown in
Turin. It is unlikely to end there, however.
As well as a lengthy ban courtesy of Uefa, and a fine imposed by his own
angry club officials, the French star was also coming to terms with the fact
that his 'moment of madness' could cost him a title he covets. Zidane was
heading the running for Fifa's World Player of the Year award, won last
season by Barcelona's Rivaldo, but a second red card in two Champions'
League games might change all that.
The 28-year-old, already winner of the Fifa accolade in 1998 after steering
the French to their first World Cup triumph, admitted his guilt on his
personal web site and said he deserved to be punished. Nobody seemed to
disagree, and the fact it was his ninth red card hardly pleads in the favour
of a player who's shown he has a nasty streak when provoked.
"I have to be punished because my gesture is not allowed but what I want is
for the attenuating circumstances to be taken into account," he said. "After
the first minute I got a violent knee in the back. My hip was hurt, I
couldn't run properly. It was deliberate, for sure. I took justice into my
own hands, which cost me the dismissal."
Zidane said football was in a sorry state when players could set out to
intimidate their opponents and not get punished.
"The Germans played dirty right from the start and the treatment inflicted
on me by Kientz particularly annoyed me. A player provokes you, looks to get
you sent off and it works - it disappoints me."
Juventus coach Carlo Ancelotti said Zidane had no excuse for his reaction.
"He has to understand that he's Zinedine Zidane, the best player in the
world, and that knocks of that kind come with his status."
The Turin club's director general Luciano Moggi said both Zidane and Edgar
Davids, who was also dismissed, will be fined by the club.
"They have to understand that what they did was unacceptable, that they put
the team in difficulty."
A Uefa spokesman said Zidane's case would probably be judged Friday.
"If the commission takes into account his recent past, the punishment could
be heavier than the standard one," he said. "He faces a lengthy ban."
Zidane's most famous dismissal came against Saudi Arabia in the 1998 World
Cup. That was his only sending off in national team colours, but he's seen
red five times since, three in Serie A. He was also sent off against
Deportivo La Coruna in last month's Champions League clash.
He was dismissed three times when playing for Bordeaux.
