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FIFA 2006: The 5 most bizarre incidents
Arjun sen takes a look at the the five most bizarre incidents in the FIFA 2006 World Cup.
1 | The Portugal-Holland match: It was a free-for-all. Russian referee Valentin Ivanov was in a very giving mood and dished out 20 cards in the match -- 16 yellows and 4 reds. At one point, the referee, it seemed, would book a player for just about anything — playing included. The match ended in a 9-a-side farce and as far as the small matter of the result was concerned, the game was decided by a first-half rasping drive by Portuguese midfielder Maniche.
2 | The Peter Crouch volley… or rather, an attempt at one: Peter Crouch very famously said before the World Cup that if he scored, he would do his trademark ‘robot jig’ irrespective of his very evident two left feet. What Crouch apparently forgot was the fact that to do the dance, he actually had to score! Though he managed a one-off, for most, he was awful. Unfortunately, Crouch had such a poor World Cup that it would be hard to point out his worst moment. Then again, there was that attempt to stylishly volley home a David Beckham cross when he had the time to control the ball, take a drink and then shoot. The outcome of that volley? The ball ended up in the corner flag rather than the net. Thank God for small mercies….at least we didn’t have to see Crouch dancing!!
3 | The melee after Germany’s win against Argentina: After the Germans beat Argentina in a pulsating quarterfinal, the South Americans didn’t take it too well. Actually, they nearly took the Germans apart. What had started out as a ‘Time To Make Friends’, soon disintegrated into a ‘Time To Break Opposition Heads’ The Argentines lashed out at the German players and what followed was an attempt by the Argentines at making sure that no German player was in a position to play the Italians in the semis. In a revelation, the Italian mafia has pleaded its innocence in the whole incident.
4 | Graham Poll and the art of keeping count: The English honestly need to go back to school. The players don’t seem to realise that to win a match, they need to score a higher number of goals than their opposition and their referees, well they can’t add one and one to get two. In the match between Croatia and Australia, English referee Graham Poll showed a Croatian player three yellow cards before realising that it was time to show the red. The English FA have set up a crash course in elementary math for the refs.
5 | Daniele De Rossi’s elbow: First Maradona’s ‘hand’ came into the limelight, then David Beckham’s right foot gained prominence, now it’s the time of Italian midfielder Daniele De Rossi’s elbow to have it’s moment in the sun. It’s not known whether De Rossi had an avid interest in WWE while growing up but if he genuinely did, he did all his wrestling heroes proud with that vicious elbow, or, in WWE jargon a ‘clothesline’ on American forward Brian McBride With the ball nowhere in sight and McBride all but winning the aerial duel, De Rossi suddenly decided ‘if I can’t get the ball, at least I’ll get the man’. Last heard, De Rossi had been asked by the WWE to endorse the brand.
