Zizou’s lunatic antics
(photo above)The French fans at the Three Sisters pub celebrated wildly when Zidane put the first one in the goal. But his goatish behaviour got him thrown off and insulted by the middle fingers of a presumed Italian supporter (photo below). French fans were much more kind to his lunacy.
While no one denied the hooliganism of Zizou’s headbutt, the first images that came across the screen of French legend Zinedine Zidane throwing his head goatlike into the chest of Marco Matterazi was met with silence by the French fans and boos by the Italians at Edinburgh’s Three Sisters pub.
But after more than a hundred minutes of high drama in the World Cup final, by the time the headbutt was shown again on the big screen the resurging national pride of the French fans and the impressive spectacle of the act led to enthusiastic screams of ‘’Zizou!!’’ after every reshowing. I must say I was yelling along with them.
We all knew that it was foul play and complete insanity, but that didn’t stop us for cheering what was clearly a powerful blow. As if it had become a boxing match and the knock down was a victory. Unfortunately, with the red card came the real possibility of defeat, and a blackness over our hope. The red card was, as they say in Britain, gutting. So there was nothing left to do but cheer for the man.
But at the end, after the French put one penalty kick to the crossbar instead of the net, the Italians showed a kinder side of the passion that usually gets them into knife fights and mafia wars (photo below). I think the woman on the right is due out of the asylum next week.
And below, a happiness we hoped for the French.
Unfortunately we weren’t so happy and had to sop up our sadness in pints of cider and fake bacon chips (below). They look remarkably real, don’t they. Did we mention that every meal in Edinburgh seems to begin and end with bacon. Ahhhhh……
-posted by Thrashin Badger
Tags: Travel, Tag Index
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