There is nothing like a little support from the top. Zinedine Zidane must be feeling much better now that the president of Algeria has sent him a letter of support. The French soccer captain was sent off in the World Cup final for head-butting Marco Materazzi after exchanging comments with the Italian defender. Italy won the final after a penalty shoot-out.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika described Zidane, the son of Algerian immigrants, as "a World Cup demi-god" and the best footballer in the world.
"Yesterday I sent a personal letter on my behalf and on behalf of all the Algerian people to express my solidarity and my friendship to Zidane, and to give him some comfort," Bouteflika told a news conference in London after talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
"He was a demi-god of the World Cup, but five minutes later, for many people unfortunately, he become something that sports men should shy away from. He has not lost his own human dimension." said the president, speaking through a translator.
The match was Zidane's last in competitive football and Bouteflika said it was not for others to judge the footballer's actions. "We support him because he is Algerian, we support him because he is the best ... he's the best in the world. It was necessary for Algeria to express itself and to side with him."
Zidane is still waiting for a letter of suppport from the French president. He may be waiting a while.
CORRECTION! We were wrong. President Chirac said to Zidane: "You have the admiration and the affection of the entire French nation," "You are a genius of the world of football!" Well, I guess it takes a genius IQ to head-butt.
Tags: Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
2 comments:
Ha! The French President was in fact the first to pledge his support to Zizou!
In a speech -- in front of a few hundred thousand people who came to welcome their captain and team home in paris on Monday morning, President Chirac said to Zidane: "You have the admiration and the affection of the entire French nation," "You are a genius of the world of football!" Come read all about it athttp://chateaulalinde.blogspot.com/2006/07/zidane-flawed-genius.html and see the film clip here http://chateaulalinde.blogspot.com/2006/07/zizou-zidane-has-scored-another-goal.html
ZZ is a legend in world football. I don't know what was said to make him react the way he did, but it must have been something horrible.
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