2006 FIFA WORLD CUP GERMANY

The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th staging of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international association football world championship tournament. It was held from June 9 to July 9, 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Italy won its fourth world championship, defeating France 5-3 in a penalty shootout after extra time finished in a 1-1 draw. Germany defeated Portugal 3-1 to finish third.

Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six continents participated in the qualification process which began in December 2003. Thirty-two teams qualified from this process for the final tournament.

WORLD CUP FINAL

The final started with each side scoring within the first 20 minutes. Zinedine Zidane opened the scoring by converting a penalty spot kick, and Marco Materazzi levelled the scores from an Andrea Pirlo corner. Both teams had chances to score a winning goal: Luca Toni hit the crossbar for Italy; an Italian goal was disallowed as offside; France was not granted a second penalty in the 53rd minute when Florent Malouda was taken down in the box.

After the regulation 90 minutes, the score was level at 1-1, forcing extra time to be played. Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon made a potentially game saving save in extra time when he pushed a Zidane header over the crossbar. The extra time was goalless and a penalty shootout followed, which Italy won 5-3 as France's David Trézéguet has missed. It was the first all-European final since Italy won the 1982 FIFA World Cup, and the second final (1994 was first, with Italy's loss) to be decided on penalties.

Near the end of extra time, Zidane headbutted Materazzi in the chest in an off-the-ball incident after being verbally provoked. Referee Horacio Elizondo did not see the confrontation, but sent Zidane off based on the intervention of the fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo. The media initially speculated that Materazzi made racial slurs, though this was later denied by both players and FIFA. Zidane alleged that Materazzi insulted his mother and sister. Both players received fines and suspensions for their actions.

HOSTING THE WORLD CUP 2006

Although Germany failed to make the final as in 2002 the tournament was considered a success for them.[2] The stadiums and transportation systems were state-of-the-art, and the German people were lauded for their hospitality and enthusiasm. One big innovation, which South Africa has already declared it will emulate, were the Fan Fests where millions of people watched the World Cup matches in public viewing areas. Germany also experienced a sudden increase in patriotic spirit with unprecedented flag waving whenever the German team played.

UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF CARDS

In comparison to earlier World Cups, the tournament was notable for the number of yellow and red cards given out, breaking the record set by the 1990 World Cup. Players received a record-breaking 345 yellow cards and 28 red cards, with the round of 16 match between Portugal and the Netherlands accounting for 16 and 4, respectively, by itself. Portugal had two players suspended for each of the quarter-final and semi-final matches, respectively (they also had one player suspended and another injured for the third-place match). FIFA President Sepp Blatter has hinted that he may allow some rule changes for future tournaments so that earlier accumulated bookings will not force players to miss the final, should their teams make it that far.

The high number of yellow and red cards shown also prompted discussion about the referees. FIFA Officials and President Sepp Blatter received criticism for allegedly making rules too rigid and taking discretion away from referees.

The tournament also saw English referee Graham Poll give 3 yellow cards to one Croatian player in their match against Germany. It was the first time this had happened in a World Cup match, as Poll had forgotten to send off the player after the latter's second booking.

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See Also for Germany