I was disappointed, though not surprised, to see that French midfielder Zinedine Zidane announced his retirement from international soccer. I started following the sport in 1994, so I just missed the exploits of sublime players like Van Basten, Guillit and Platini. Diego Maradona was a bloated, drug-addicted shell of his former greatness. Simply put, Zidane is the best player I've ever watched. He was not the fastest player or the purest goal scorer with the hardest shot. But he was a magician. When he ran, he could twist his body in bizarre ways and the ball just stuck to his foot. His passing and vision were truly inspirational.
His retirement makes sense. France's old-guard, which won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European championship, is, well, old. At least by the standards of international soccer. For the most part, France has not found younger players to match the former quality of the Zidanes, Laurent Blancs and Lizarazus. France exited disappointingly early of the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004.
Still, it's worth noting Zidane's impact on France. Since the beginning of his international career 10 years ago, Les Bleus only lost 2 competitive matches with Zizou in the lineup.
If there's one player I would still pay a lot of money to see in person, it's Zidane. I'm not sure there's any player in the world today who's as beautiful to watch.
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In one of the great upsets in Olympic history, Iraq's soccer team shocked heavily favored Portugal by 4-2 yesterday. That Iraq even qualified for the Olympics was a surprise. The country was devastated following the American invasion and the Iraqis had to play all of their "home" qualifying games in Jordan. Fans were hoping that Iraq might win one game, but hardly anyone expected them to win this particular game. Portugal is one of the favorites to bring home the gold medal, with fantastic young players like Luis Boa Morte and Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo. They were hungry, following the senior national team's loss in the Euro 2004 final to, ironically, Greece.
But the Iraqis were not to be denied, despite an early own goal. What's even more impressive is the scoreline. Most major upsets tend to be 1-0 or even 2-0. Huge underdogs rarely score 4 goals. Bravo Iraq!
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I was a little saddened to read of the imminent demise of the St. John's Maple Leafs of the American Hockey League. The American Hockey League affiliate will depart Newfoundland's capital after next season and will relocate to Canada's largest city. It was done for economic reasons. The parent club wanted the affiliate closer to Toronto and it will now be in the same city, if not the same arena. Also, St. John's situation became untenable when all the other AHL teams left Atlantic Canada (Cape Breton; Saint John, NB, Halifax, Charlottetown).
Still, I'm a little sorry to see them go. I have fond memories of the Adirondack Red Wings' classic 1992 Calder Cup finals against the Baby Leafs. It was one of the best series I ever watched, with some brilliant hockey. Future Toronto goalie Felix Potvin dueled with former Toronto netminder Allan Bester. Each game, one of them was fantastic. Potvin stole Game 6 in Adirondack with a magnificent 50 save performance; Bester answered in Game 7 with 47 of his own.
I'll always remember being in the Civic Center's Heritage Hall with a few hundred fellow Wings fans watching Game 7 from St. John's Memorial Stadium. It was one of my most memorable experiences as a sports fan, especially when Gary Shuchuk scored on a breakaway with 2 minutes remaining to seal Adirondack's fourth, and final, Calder Cup.
Even on the radio, the Memorial Stadium sounded deafening. I'm sure the AHL will be poorer for the loss of St. John's.
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