Guus Bosman

We just watched the World Cup 2006 final. Yesterday's game was great, today's was even better. Yesterday we saw Germany beating Portugal with 3-1 in a beautiful game, and today's game was -except for Zidane's last action in international soccer- a great game to watch.

Zidane had announced he was retiring after this game, and I thought he played very well today. Scoring the first goal, making many plays, almost scoring a second and staying in the game after a shoulder injury -- I thought he was well on his way to make a great final performance.

Sadly, he lost his temper in extra time and made gave a Materazzi a headbutt in the stomach, and was rightly sent off the field by referee Elizondo for this nasty foul. It was a disgraceful end of his career, and perhaps also of the game: the shock of losing the experienced captain, just after Henry was replaced, may have proven too much for the French team.

Italy ultimately won on penalty kicks -- I was supporting France, and thought that they were playing better than Italy but that's how the game is sometimes. This has been a great World Cup to watch, and we're looking forward to the 2008 Euro Cup.