UNFORGETTABLE FIFA WORLD CUP MATCH: ITALY VS FRANCE 2006. BY @naabara

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Hello steemians, i want to use this opportunity to say a very big thank you to this community for giving us such an avenue.
My most unforgettable World Cup match is France against Italy in the finals of the Germany 2006 FIFA World Cup.
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association of football competition contested by the senior men’s national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930 except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champion is France which won its second title at the 2018 tournament in Russia. The current format involves a qualification phase which takes place over the preceding three years, to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase. In the tournament phase, 32 teams, including the automatically qualifying host nation(s), compete for the title at venues. The World Cup is the most prestigious association football tournament in the world, as well as the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games. 17 countries have hosted the World Cup. Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, and Mexico have each hosted twice, while Uruguay, Switzerland, Sweden, Chile, England, Argentina, Spain, the United States, Japan and South Korea (jointly), South Africa, and Russia have each hosted once. Qatar will host the 2022 tournament, and 2026 will be jointly hosted by Canada, the United States, and Mexico, which will give Mexico the distinction of being the first country to host games in three World Cups.
However ,the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final was an exciting football match that every football fan couldn't wait to watch which took place on 9 July 2006 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin Germany, to determine the winner, after France and Italy had hailed from the group stages ,round off 16,quarter finals and semifinals successfully over their respective opponents, both were determined to lift the ultimate glory. The match was contested between Italy and France that have since been known with a strong rivalry after loosing to France in the 2000 UEFA euro final tournament.

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The final began very interesting as expected when on the 7th minutes France was awarded a penalty after an infringement in the box and Zidane converted it brilliantly behind the the post,the nature of the kick was so nice that it hit the crossbar and went over the goal line of which a lot of spectators thought it wasn't a goal. After an exciting play from both side Materazzi who had caused the penalty scored for Italy on the 19th minutes which balance the game to 1-1 draw and made it very interesting to watch. Long play of good defense,entertainment football and attack both teams couldn't find the net until the 90minutes of playtime had elapsed and the game went into extra 3o minutes time which obviously remained same, it also embroiled in an incident in extra time that led to Zidane's sending off after he head butted Materazzi. The incident was the subject of much analysis following the match and the game went to penalty kicks. Italy won the World Cup after beating France 5–3 in a penalty shoot-out following a 1–1 draw at the conclusion of extra time.the question remains would France have won the cup if Zidane had not head butted Materazzi? A lot of fans were not happy of his actions and left them so much disappointed after loosing the penalty kicks.
It’s my fervent hope that readers will appreciate the importance of the prestigious World Cup tournament,what it meant for both nations,the excitement and fun of football,the disappointments, drama and what it mean for Italy to have won the World Cup for the fourth time to equal Germany at that time, all this makes it unforgettable World Cup match.
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