FIFA World Cup 2006 Match Results

 Final Match Results 2006

The match came from Fabio Grosso. The second spot kick by David Trezeguet did not materialize into a goal. This was the first penalty shootout in the final since the 1994 World Cup. For Italy, it was the fourth World Cup crown. The Italian team had lifted the crown in 1934, 1938 and 1982. Also this was the first time that Italy won a penalty shoot-out in four attempts.

The last few minutes of the match were dramatic, when Zidane was sent off for a moment in the 109th minute. Zidane hit a headbutt into the chest of Marco Materazzi. Referee Elizondo missed the incident but Italy keeper Gianluigi Buffon protested furiously. After a lengthy conversation, Zidane was shown a red card. This is how Zidane bid farewell to his soccer career.

At the end of the match, the score was 1-1 and the match extended into extra-time. Andrea Pirlo, Marco Materazzi, Daniele De Rossi and Alessandro Del Piero scored for Italy. Goals for France came in from Sylvain Wiltord, Eric Abidal and Willy Sagnol.

Zidane scored the first goal of the match with a penalty shot. Materazzi equalized the score with a shot 2 minutes later. Gianluca Zambrotta and Sagnol were shown yellow cards. The match was an enthralling one for the crowd. Striker Thierry Henry was at his best.


GOLDEN SHOE AWARD
Germany striker, Miroslav Klose was awarded the Golden Shoe Award at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Finals. (The Golden Shoe Award is also known as the Golden Boot. The award was given for the first time in 1930).

He scored five goals in the tournament, two clear of eight players on three goals.

Miroslav Klose played in seven matches for a total duration of 582 minutes and averaged 0.7142857 goals per match. He scored twice against Costa Rica and Ecuador in the group matches. He also hit the equalizer against Argentina in the quarterfinal match and at that stage, he had scored five goals out of the five matches played. Klose played brilliantly and played a crucial role in the host nation's third-place match against Portugal.

The eight players who scored three goals in the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany were:

Argentineans Hernan Crespo & Maxi Rodriguez; Frenchmen Zinedine Zidane & Thierry Henry; Spaniard David Villa & Fernando Torres; Brazilian Ronaldo and German Lukas Podolski.

Hernan Crespo played in four matches for a total duration of 305 minutes and averaged 0.75 goals per match whereas Ronaldo played in five matches for a total duration of 409 minutes and averaged 0.60 goals per match;

thus the Silver Shoe was awarded to Argentinean Hernan Crespo and the Bronze Shoe was given to Brazilian Ronaldo.


GOLDEN BALL AWARD
Amongst tough competition, Zinedine Zidane was awarded the Golden Ball Award for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Germany. Fabio Cannavaro was awarded the Silver Ball Award and Andrea Pirlo was awarded the Bronze Ball Award. In the group phases Zidane could not impress his fans. In the Round of 16 against Spain, he came out with a spectacular performance. He played brilliantly to help his team secure a place in the last eight. In the quarter-final match with Brazil, he played brilliantly. Overall, he played a crucial role in taking his team to the last four. In the semi-finals, he helped France defeat Portugal.

In the finals, he scored the first goal of the match. This was also his last World Cup match. Unfortunately, he had a disgraceful exit from football after being shown a red card for head-butting Marco Materazzi in the chest during the extra-time play.

Zinedine Zidane polled 2,012 points in the vote by journalists mostly carried out at half-time of the final match. He beat Italians Fabio Cannavaro (1,977 points) and Andrea Pirlo (715 points) in the ballot.

Italy skipper Fabio Cannavaro was awarded the Adidas Silver Ball Award.

Andrea Pirlo was awarded the Bronze Ball Award, making him the third-best player of the tournament. He also bagged the Budweiser Man of the Match award for a consummate display in the final between Italy and France.