I got some comments on my last posting. JOHN said that it would be pathetic to raise the question that a remark made by a player should be punished by changing the result of the game. I have to say: It's not me who demands that. It's FIFA's Disciplinary Code. But I'd like to raise another question: As players at WC level serve as role models for millions of kids around this planet shouldn't they be more aware of that? Zidane gave a terrible example on how to react to whatever Materazzi said. How long until a kid at school does the same thing - referring to Zizou? And if Materazzi said something rasict how should the Italian Federation or FIFA go about it? Of course nobody wants to rip Italy off their well deserved title. But isn't it absurd to have all those anti-racism campaigns surrounding the Cup if the major protagonists themselves act differently? PS: I don't say Materazzi made such a remark - I'm talking if ANY player did so.

Article 55, Paragraph 4 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code reads as follows: "If any player, association or club official or spectator perpetrates any kind of discriminatory or contemptuous act as described by par. 1 and/or 2 of this article, three points will automatically be deducted from the team concerned, if identifiable, after the first offence. In the case of a second offence, six points will automatically be deducted, and for a further offence, the team will be relegated. In the case of matches without points, the team concerned, if identifiable, will be disqualified." If we get footage of Marco Materazzi actually making a racist remark in the direction of Zidane, wouldn't that mean that Italy had to be disqualified from the WC. Who wins in that case? France?

"I am very conservative when it comes to the laws of the game", FIFA president Sepp Blatter said in a Reuters interview back in November 2005. Earlier that year he said: "If we start to make it too scientific this game will lose its fascination." What he was basically saying back then and this is still his thinking today is that football must keep its human face and must accept errors. This means, no supporting technology may be used during the game, such as a video replay for the ref. Millions at home saw the replay of Zinedine Zidane's header against Marco Materazzi in Sunday's WC final - on their TV screen. So did the journalists in the stadium, who all have a TV set in front of them. The only ones not getting the replay are the refs on the pitch, the players and the spectators inside the stadium. The fans don't get the replay because FIFA doesn't want to cause any commotion because of a controversial scene (they only see the goals). The refs don't get to see it because this would change the nature of the game (to accept human errors, see above). Italian coach Marcello Lippi said after the game that the fourth and fifth official both saw the slow-motion and then informed referee Horacio Elizondo about the incident. French coach Raymond Domenech agreed saying: "We have Video in football." Absurd as it is, but if fourth official Luis Cantalejo and his colleague Victoriano Carrasco really used the replay for their decision to inform Elizondo about the incident, Zidane shouldn't have seen a red card during the game (he could have been punished after the game).

Sometimes a picture speaks more than a thousand words. In downtown Berlin tonight the Italians took over. Cheering and chanting, they are great winners. does this picture show "A Night at the Opera" or what?

As always, who is down first in regular time wins the PK - it's like a rule. Let's enjoy the moment. I'll be back with pics and perhaps audio later. Stay tuned. Adieu France. What an end to your career Monsieur Zidane...