Momentary Lapse of Reason
It speaks to the magnitude of the event that yesterday a photo of Zinedine Zidane appeared on the front page of The National Post. I cannot remember ever seeing a photo of a soccer player on the front page of a national newspaper in Canada – not even Becks.
For me, the sad part is that, with so many casual North American soccer fans tuning into the World Cup final, this may have been their first and only glimpse of ZiZou. And that is a crying shame.
For people that follow the beautiful game, this momentary lapse of reason will not be their defining memory of Zidane. But for the millions of people who tune in just to be a part of one of the last great global social events that is the World Cup final, this is how they will remember one of the greatest players of this generation.
Zidane is a professional who has played in both Italy and Spain. No doubt he has had countless racist remarks and personal attacks hurled at him throughout his career. He should know how to handle it. He should have known better.
At the very least, you would expect someone of his stature to understand the sense of importance of the event – 10 minutes left of not only an overtime game in the biggest match in the world, but of a brilliant career. It shouldn’t have mattered what was said or done – in this moment, at this time and in this event, it shouldn’t have mattered to Zidane, the professional. He should have walked away. If he would have, then millions of people who had never heard of him before Sunday would instead be reading about the legacy of Zinedine Zidane.
