FOOTBALL: BITS AND PIECES OF NEWS

First off, captain Fabio Cannavaro will be given questions asked by you if what you posted in the comment zone is interesting and curious enough to be selected to be published in his official website. Go to the link now and try your luck!

GOAL.com

Hamann going to Manchester City while Jimmy Hasselbaink goes to Charlton.

Karel Poborsky has retired from international football! Klinsmann retires too as Germany coach! I was surprised but I guess all those travellings to and fro USA-Germany must be very inconvenient for him. Lippi follows Klinsmann's decision and does the same!

So, Real Madrid will try their luck in addition to C.Ronaldo, Cesc, Robben, Kaka, on Cannavaro, Zambrotta and Emerson. I wonder how many of this 7 will actually arrive under the new president. With some of them non-EU players coming (if they do), there will be some exits too from Madrid. I for one have no objections of any of them but C.Ronaldo. As you know, I am not a fan of him since when he first appeared in Manchester United. He had already start to playacting and dive so fakely I already hate him at the spot! I was amazed people only start to see his 'true' skills and colours now. Haha! Now, almost everyone in England hates him and blames him for the exit.

By the way, here are some updates regarding Zidane's headbutt from two articles in GOAL.com while we wait for him to speak to the public about the incident very soon.

First article:

We've heard Marco admit he insulted Zizou for being "arrogant," but go on to deny calling him a "terroriost" or casting aspersions about his parentage or ethnicity.

We've also heard mutterings from Zidane - well, via his agent anyway - that what Materazzi said was "very serious."

Materazzi's protestations of innocence may be just a little too vehement. After all, if he didn't mention terrorism or religion, Zidane's mother or his cultural heritage, what did he find to insult? We'll probably never know, because although Zidane's agent reckons the midfielder will reveal all in the next few days, we can be sure Materazzi will deny it. Unless it was: "You'd look good in an Inter shirt."

In the meantime, we can only speculate, though some are undertaking serious research in a bid to uncover the facts.

For example, that guardian of the truth, the BBC, has called in specialis insultologists to help. And rather confusingly, it has broadcast two different versions.

BBC Radio Five Live asked for help from a deaf lip reader, Jessica Rees, who read the words phonetically to an Italian translator.

She deciphered the insult as being, "You're the son of a terrorist whore." That translation has also been carried by many national newspapers in Britain today.

But the BBC's Ten O'Clock News also asked experts to study TV footage of the incident, and they described this scenario:

Materazzi's first word to Zidane was "no;" his second and third were, "calm down".

Then it got personal, as Materazzi allegedly accused Zidane of being a "liar," and wished "an ugly death to you and your family." This on the day that the Frenchman's mother had been taken ill and admitted to hospital.

That pleasantry was supposedly followed by an invitation to "Go f*** yourself".


Second article:

An Italian lip-reader has claimed to have deciphered the words Marco Materazzi said to Zinédine Zidane that provoked the French star into headbutting the Italian defender in Sunday’s World Cup final.

There have been various rumours circulating about what was said, with Materazzi denying calling Zidane ‘a dirty terrorist’.

According to the BBC, Materazzi said, "I wish an ugly death to you and all your family," and then told Zidane to "go f*** yourself".

The red card meant a sad end to the career of Zidane who retired from football after the game.