Zidane undoubtedly lost France the match. His snapping like that is inexcusable in almost every circumstance. There is one possibility where Zidane may well have been merited in putting that biggot on his back. Sherif and Shakeer will back me up on this from Messick's Muslim Societies class, specifically the unit on Algeria in France.
As we all know, racial tensions run high in Europe, between Muslims (Arabs, Turks, Africans or Pakistanis depending on the country) and the indigenous white Europeans. Before the World Cup, FIFA made combating racism an underlying theme for the World Cup, and even threatened forfeiture of matches for teams whose players or fans engaged in racist acts. Zidane himself has been at the center of this issue for the last decade. Undoubtedly the best soccer player ever to play for France, Zidane is a marketing icon in France and Nike and others have used him to push the "New France" image of racial integration, including the motto for the '98 France squad that Zidane carried to WC championship, "black, blanc and beur" (black, white and arab). Zidane's image as a ghetto born Algerian son of immigrants has not been with the clenched fist or with a defiant Allahu-Akbar, but rather the image has been of the ghetto child becoming France, an integrated, accepting and championship-winning France.
And yet, at his finest hour, at the top of his game, having scored one goal, and almost won the game on a second, Zidane still could not escape the "dirty terrorist" accusation. FIFA Player of the Decade, unanimously considered the 3rd best player (and best midfielder) in history, Zidane was nothing more than a "dirty terrorist" sand nigger. So much for "black, blanc, beur", for the Nike campaigns, for the image and the effort. So much for the "New France".
It is well known that Zidane has been extremely careful in downplaying his Muslim-ness, his politics, even his heritage, in hope that he could just play soccer. And yet the 2006 tournament MVP, simply couldn't just play soccer and escape the baggage. On the field, it was there. His home (Europe) continued to reject him, even as he transcended his game, his country, his continent, to be the best soccer player Europe has ever produced. In a tournament supposedly being played to create mutually understanding and harmony, hearing remarks like those Materazzi is accused off undermines and delegitimizes the whole endeavor. If the 1998 Cup was the symbol of the victory of multiculturalism, the fact that racism and xenophobia are now more prevalent in both Europe and in international soccer is the demise of both Europe and soccer as a positive force. And with the demise of soccer as a positive force, Zidane seemed to quit playing it. Maybe the most telling moment of the game was not the instant when Zidane headbutted Materrazi, but the split second when he, walking up the field, turned his back on the ball, stopped playing soccer and squared up the racist Italian. Maybe Zidane didn't let his country down as much as the game, with its false promise of growing equality and acceptance, let Zidane down. And let all of Europe down. Maybe the game simply wasn't worth playing anymore.
Zidane has yet to speak, but has plans to do so soon. Such deliberation doesn't bode well for the possibility that Zidane simply snapped. Maybe more is at work. Maybe soccer failed him, and his people, despite his world class efforts. I'm not saying that this was his conscience thought process, but I'm certain that this failure of soccer, the World Cup, dominance, recognition and fame to grant that which he and millions of other French minorities have been denied must have played a role in the split second dismissal of soccer from the equation of Zizou's decision making.
