July 25, 2000: Luís Figo's Defection Begins the "Galácticos" Era

July 25, 2000: Real Madrid Club de Fútbol sign Luís Figo to a contract. This begins the team's "Galácticos" Era.

The Spanish soccer team define themselves by the UEFA Champions League, the tournament known from its 1955 establishment until 1992 as the European Cup, which is still the name of the trophy given to the winner. They won the 1st 5 in a row, from 1956 to 1960. They won it again in 1966. Then they didn't win it again until 1998. From 1966 onward, managers have been fired for not winning it, even after seasons when they won Spain's La Liga.

They won it in 2000, in large part because they had signed one of the best players from England, Liverpool FC's Steve McManaman. Inspired by this, and newly installed as the team's president, Florentino Pérez was determined to keep it. So, hearing that Figo, the most popular player for their arch-rivals, FC Barcelona, was disgruntled and wanted to leave, they paid €62 million for him.

The reaction in Catalonia was fury and a sense of betrayal: One banner at an El Clásico match between the teams read, "We hate you so much, because we loved you so much."

(Note: This post is about Real's Galácticos. Figo's move from Barcelona to Real Madrid, and how it affected the relationship between the teams, is a separate story, deserving of a separate post, which I have written.)

Pérez also signed Claude Makélélé from Spanish team Celta Vigo. He and Figo were added to a team that already included Fernando Hierro, Raúl (González), Guti (real name: José María Gutiérrez), Roberto Carlos, Fernando Morientes, Míchel Salgado, and goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

But Real were eliminated from the 2001 Champions League in the Semifinal, by Germany's Bayern Munich. So Pérez poached perhaps the best player in the world at the time, spending €73.5 million to get French midfielder Zinedine Zidane from Italian team Juventus. It worked, as Zidane led Los Blancos to win the Champions League in 2002.

But enough was never enough. Pérez shelled out €45 million to get the world's best forward, 2002 World Cup winner Ronaldo of Brazil, from Italian team Internazionale Milano. A generation later, it can now truthfully be said that Cristiano Ronaldo is not even the greatest Ronaldo to play for Real Madrid in the 21st Century.

But in 2003, Juventus knocked Real out in the Semifinals. So Pérez splashed the cash again, giving English champions Manchester United €37.5 million for the most famous (though hardly the best) player in England, David Beckham. It wasn't enough: In 2004, AS Monaco eliminated Real on penalties in the Quarterfinal.

So Pérez made another entreaty to England, getting Michael Owen from Liverpool. But the injuries that curtailed Owen's career were already taking effect. The era was fizzling out, and Real did not win the Champions League again until 2014 -- although that started a run of 5 in 9 years, giving them 14, twice as many as any other team.

The Galácticos concept inspired other teams. In 2003, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich bought West London team Chelsea FC, and spent them to glory, including buying Makélélé. The royal family of the United Arab Emirates bought Manchester City, and did the same thing. The prices of players went up, up, up. A player whose talents might have cost €5 million in 2005 would, by 2015, have cost €50 million, leading to the joke, "Did somebody forget a decimal point?"

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July 25, 2000 was a Tuesday. In America, the only sport in progress at the time was baseball. These games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 19-1 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The Bronx Bombers got home runs from Paul O'Neill, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Ryan Thompson and Clay Bellinger. Andy Pettitte was the winning pitcher.

The Yankees knew a thing or two about building a team of superstars, although, being from an Anglophone country, they didn't use the term "Galácticos." The Orioles' "Galáctico," Cal Ripken Jr., having ended his streak in 1998, did not play in this game.

* The New York Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 5-0 at Shea Stadium. Glendon Rusch was the winning pitcher. The Mets' "Galáctico," Mike Piazza, went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. The Expos' "Galáctico," Vladimir Guerrero Sr., went 1-for-4.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. The New Englanders' "Galáctico," Nomar Garciaparra, went 2-for-4. David Ortiz went 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs -- for the Twins. He wouldn't join the Red Sox until 2003. It's not clear when his steroid use began, but that was the year he tested positive for them.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Cubs' "Galáctico," Sammy Sosa, went 0-for-1... with 3 walks.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Florida Marlins, 6-5 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. The Braves' "Galáctico," Chipper Jones, went 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Tom Glavine was the winning pitcher.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 10-3 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. The Tribe's "Galáctico," Jim Thome, went 0-for-1 with 2 walks, then left the game due to injury.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. José Hernández singled home the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.

* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-4 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati. The Astros had 2 "Galácticos": Craig Biggio went 2-for-4 with a walk, and Jeff Bagwell went 1-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. The Reds also had 2 "Galácticos," both graduates of Cincinnati's Archbishop Moeller High School: Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs; while Barry Larkin (5 years older and never a teammate, even in an All-Star Game, until this season) went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 6-4 at Comerica Park (now Fifth Third Park) in Detroit. The Rays' "Galácticos," Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff, both went 2-for-3 with a walk. Canseco also had an RBI.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-1 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. The South Siders' "Galáctico," Frank Thomas, went 1-for-4.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The Cards' "Galáctico," Mark McGwire, did not play. The Diamondbacks', Randy Johnson, did, but was the losing pitcher.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Anaheim Angels, 9-6 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-4 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). The Padres' "Galáctico," Tony Gwynn, did not play, although you could count reliever Trevor Hoffman, who got the save in relief of Woody Williams. The Giants' "Galáctico," Barry Bonds, went 0-for-4.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-7 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

July 12, 1998: A France for the Whole World

Top row, left to right: Zinedine Zidane, Marcel Desailly, Frank Leboeuf,

Lilian Thuram, Stéphane Guivarc'h, Emmanuel Petit.

Bottom row, left to right: Christian Karembeu, Youri Djorkaeff,

Didier Deschamps, Fabien Barthez, Bixente Lizarazu.

Thierry Henry did not play in the Final.

July 12, 1998: The World Cup Final is held, at the new Stade de France, in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. The host nation takes on defending Champions Brazil.

France had hosted the World Cup once before, in 1938, and reached the Quarterfinals. They reached the Semifinals in 1958, and did it again in 1982, with a team that many had thought would win. They won Euro 84, and reached the World Cup Semifinals again in 1986. But they failed qualify in 1990 and 1994.

The French team, known as Les Bleus for their blue shirts, had never shied away from using players who were citizens of France but not ethnically French. Their 1938 team featured Abdelkader Ben Bouali of Algeria; Frenchmen of Italian descent in Julien Darui, Laurent Di Lorto and Mario Zatelli; Jules Vandooren, of Dutch descent; Oscar Heisserer, of German descent; Ignace Kowalczyk and Martin Povolny, of Polish descent; and Hector Cazenave, born in Uruguay to French parents.

Their 1958 team was led by Raymond Kopa, a son of Polish immigrants; and also featured another Polish Frenchman, Maryan Wisniewski; Dominique Colonna, Bernard Chiarelli and Roger Piantoni, of Italian descent; Raymond Kaelbel, of German descent; Kazimir Hnatow, of Ukrainian descent.

The team that won Euro 84 was led by Michel Platini, of Italian descent. And their best player in between 1984 and 1998, but not on either team, was Eric Cantona, with a mother from Spain's Catalonia region and a father from Italy's island of Sardinia.

The 1998 team, managed by Aimé Jacquet, was alliteratively described, in a mixture of French and English, as "Blanc, black, beur." "Blanc" meaning white, and "beur" was a term, usually now considered a slur, meaning someone born in France, but with his ancestry coming from the Maghreb, the former French colonies of North Africa? Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

Some on the far right, including the fascist Le Pen family of politicians, treated the black and beur players, and even the "blanc" players whose ancestry wasn't fully French, as not fully French, flying in the face of the country's motto: Liberté, égalité, fraternité (Liberty, equality, brotherhood). Under French law, whether the Le Pens and their supporters like it or not, all people born in France, or in a French territory before it achieved independence, are considered citizens of France.

Here was the 1998 French squad:

"Blanc," of entirely French descent: Midfielder and team Captain Didier Deschamps, goalkeeper Fabien Alain Barthez (unusually among starting goalkeepers, chose a number other than 1, wearing 16 for clubs and country), defender Laurent Blanc, forward Stéphane Guivarc'h, midfielder Emmanuel Petit, defender Frank Leboeuf, forward Christophe Dugarry, and 3rd-string goalkeeper Lionel Charbonnier.

"Blanc," but of other descent: Defender Vincent Candela, Italian; defender Bixente Lizarazu, Basque descent; midfielder Youri Djorkaeff, half-Polish, half-Armenian; midfielder Robert Pires, half-Portuguese, half-Spanish; midfielder Alain Boghossian, Armenian; David Trezeguet, born in France as the son of an Argentine playing his club football there, and grew up in Argentina, but exercised his right to play for France. 

"Black": Midfielder Patrick Vieira, from Senegal in Africa, but entitled to play for France through his parents, as Senegal was a French colony; defender Marcel Desailly, born in Ghana but entitled to play for France through his adoptive father; forward Thierry Henry, born outside Paris, but his parents were from the Caribbean, his father from Guadeloupe and his mother from Martinique; midfielder Bernard Diomède, born in France to Guadeloupean parents; defender Lilian Thuram, born in Guadeloupe but grew up in France; and backup goalkeeper Bernard Lama, born in Central France but grew up in French Guiana, in South America.

"Beur": Midfielder Zinedine Zidane was the only one, but was already recognized as one of the best players in the world.

And one player who didn't fit any of these categories: Christian Karembeu, who came from the "overseas department" of New Caledonia, off the coast of Australia, and was therefore Polynesian.

Club-wise:

* The 1990 and 1992 French league-winning Olympique de Marseille had Deschamps. When they won the Champions League in 1993, they had Deschamp, Desailly and Barthez.

* The 1994 French league-winning Paris Saint-Germain had Lama.

* Juventus, when they won the Italian league in 1995, and the UEFA Champions League in 1996, had Deschamps. When they won the Italian league in 1997 and 1998, they had Deschamps and Zidane.

* The 1995 French league-winning Nantes had Karembeu. So did the Real Madrid team that won the Champions League in 1998.

* The 1996 French league-winning Auxerre had Blanc, Guivarc'h and Diomède.

* The 1996 Italian league-winning AC Milan had Viera.

* The 1997 French league-winning AS Monaco had Henry, Trezeguet, Petit and Barthez.

* The 1998 English Double-winning Arsenal had Vieira and Petit.

So France certainly had a talented team. But the games still had to be played. Of course, they would be played on home soil. They beat South Africa, 3-0 at Marseille; Saudi Arabia, 4-0 at Saint-Denis; and Denmark, 2-1 at Lyon. France and Argentina were the only teams in the tournament to get through the Group Stage with wins in all 3 games.

The U.S. team, encouraged by reaching the knockout stage in 1994, completely flopped. They lost 2-0 to Germany in Paris, and 1-0 to Yugoslavia (at this point, reduced to Serbia and Montenegro) in Nantes, both understandable defeats. But their 2-1 loss to Iran in Lyon was inexcusable defeat.

In the Round of 16, France needed extra time, until Blanc scored in the 114th minute to beat Paraguay, 1-0 at Lens. Also in that round was England losing on penalties, as so often happens, this time to Argentina in Saint-Étienne. Argentina ran out of luck in the Quarterfinal, as Arsenal star Dennis Bergkamp scored in the 90th minute, and the Netherlands beat them, 2-1 in Marseille. France played Italy at Saint-Denis, and it went to penalties, after 120 minutes of no scoring. France won the penalty round, 4-3.

The Semifinals were set up with interesting stories. France played Croatia at Saint-Denis. Croatia having gotten this far was a very big deal: Not only was it as far as its former parent country, Yugoslavia, had ever gotten, but it was the first time a postwar, post-Yugoslavia country had gotten that far. Just after the 2nd half started, Davor Šuker scored for Croatia, but Thuram scored right after that, and scored later in the game -- a defender with 2 goals -- to put France in the Final.

The other Semifinal saw defending Champions Brazil, masters of "samba football," against the Netherlands, inventors of "total football," Marseille. Ronaldo de Lima, usually referred to by only his first name, scored early in the 2nd half, and Patrick Kluivert equalized for the Dutch in the 87th minute. The game went to extra time, and then to penalties. Like England, the Netherlands are notorious for losing on penalties, and Brazil beat them, 4-2.

The Final would be the hosts against the defending Champions. It should have been the perfect matchup. But on the morning of the Final, Ronaldo, thus far having justified his label as the best player in the world, suffered a convulsive fit. When the starting lineups were released to the media, 72 minutes before the 9:00 PM kickoff (3:00 PM, U.S. East Coast time), his name was not included with Brazil's. John Motson, announcing the game for the BBC, said, "The scenes in the commentary box have been absolute mayhem and chaos." 

Stade de France

And yet, right before kickoff, Ronaldo talked manager Mário Zagallo, who had played on their 1970 winners and managed their 1994 winners, into putting him into the starting XI.

Left to right: Ronaldo, Leonardo, Roberto Carlos,

Claudio Taffarel, Aldair, César Sampaio

I watched the game on ABC, and Jim McKay, who had broadcast so many sporting events for the network since the debut of Wide World of Sports in 1961, said the moment had come for which all of France had waited. No, not hosting the World Cup Final on home soil, but singing the National Anthem before the Final. No country does a National Anthem quite the way France does "La Marseillaise."

Ronaldo had nothing, and he even got hurt further in a collision with Barthez. Zagallo admitted that the fears over Ronaldo affected his team psychologically, and stated "for the whole of the first half, I was wondering whether to take him off," but feared a public outcry in Brazil had he done so.

So the star of the game would be a man with a shaved head, but not Ronaldo: It was Zidane. He scored in the 27th minute, and again in stoppage time in the 1st half. Brazil never recovered, despite Desailly receiving 2 yellow cards, resulting in his being sent off in the 68th minute. Guivarc'h nearly scored in the game's 1st minute, and just missed another shot in the 63rd. It could have been 5-0, but France had to settle for 3-0, when Arsenal men Vieira (on the assist) and Petit (on the goal) combined to score on the last kick of the game.

Zidane with the Jules Rimet Trophy

Over 1.5 million people poured into the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in downtown Paris, and photos of the players' faces were rotated in projections on the Arc de Triomphe. It was said to be the biggest celebration in Paris since the liberation from the Nazis on August 26, 1944. France were the Champions of the World, and had united the world within France.

Lizarazu played for Bayern Munich as they won the German league in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006, and the Champions League in 2001. Guivarc'h and Charbonnier played for Rangers when they won the Scottish league in 1999. Trezeguet and Barthez helped Monaco win the French league again in 2000. Karembeu helped Real Madrid win the Champions League again in 2000, and Olympiacos win the Greek league in 2002 and 2003. Candela went on to play for the AS Roma team that won the Italian league in 2001.

Vieira, Henry and Pires helped Arsenal win another Double in 2002, and an unbeaten League season in 2004, with Vieira as Captain and Henry leading the League in scoring. Vieira then helped Internazionale Milano win the Italian league in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Henry went on to help Barcelona win the Spanish league in 2009 and 2010, and the Champions League in 2009.

Zidane helped Real Madrid win the Champions League in 2002 and the Spanish league in 2003. Thuram and Trezeguet helped Juventus win the Italian league in 2002 and 2003. Barthez played for Manchester United when they won the Premier League in 2001. Their 2003 team had Barthez and Blanc.

France won the next major tournament, Euro 2000, with Trezeguet scoring a "golden goal" to beat Italy in extra time. After a dissension-ridden 2002 tournament that saw them crash out in the Group Stage, France regrouped, and, with Zidane as Captain, announcing that he would retire after the Final, they got back to the Final, against Italy.

But they lost it in controversial fashion, as Zidane was sent off in extra time for head-butting Italian defender Marco Materazzi, who had provoked him with racist remarks. Italy then won on penalties, with Materazzi available to take one and make it, and Zidane not available. That result left the team still admired by the whole country, but sparked anger at Zidane from the right.

In 2018, Deschamps managed France to win the World Cup, beating Croatia in the final in Moscow, Russia. He became only the 3rd man to both play on and manage a World Cup winner, joining Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer of Germany. He also got them into the 2022 World Cup Final, losing to Argentina in Lusail, Qatar. In both tournaments, Boghossian was one of his assistants. The 2022 squad included Marcus Thuram, son of another former teammate.

Brazil recovered from their 1998 defeat, and, in 2002, made their 3rd straight Final. This time, Ronaldo was fine, and scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Germany. He became not just one of the greatest players in world history, but one of the most popular. How popular was he? He managed to play for both Spanish giants, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid; and for both Milan teams, Inter and AC Milan -- and remains beloved by fans of all 4 teams.

He began his career with Belo Horizonte team Cruzeiro, and ended it with São Paulo team Corinthians. When people talk about the greatest players of all time, some of those too young to have seen him play call Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo the greatest ever. I have to remind them that Cristiano isn't even the greatest Ronaldo to have played for Real Madrid in the 21st Century.

In 2024, the Stade de France will be the main stadium for the Olympic Games. This means it will join the old Wembley Stadium in London and the Olympiastadions in Munich and Berlin, as 1 of 4 stadiums to have hosted an Olympic Games, a World Cup Final and a UEFA European Cup/Champions League Final.

UPDATE: An article for ESPN.com, published after the 2026 World Cup, ranking all 23 tournaments, rated this one 12th.

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July 12, 1998 was a Sunday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 9-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Yankees scored 7 runs in the top of the 9th inning. making a winning pitcher of Mike Stanton in relief of David Wells. Derek Jeter and Tino Martinez each went 2-for-5, with Derek having 2 RBIs and Tino having 4.

* The New York Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 5-2 at Shea Stadium.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 11-7 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4 with a walk.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-3at Pro Player Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians, 11-6 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-3 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Mark Clark pitched a 3-hit shutout.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 6-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Mark McGwire hit 2 home runs, giving him 40 on the season. At the same time, Ken Griffey Jr. of the Mariners had 37, and Sammy Sosa of the Cubs had 35.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-3 at Coors Field in Denver. Barry Bonds hit his 19th home run of the season. As far as is now known, he wasn't yet using steroids.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-3 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.

* The San Diego Padres beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Tony Gwynn went 0-for-3 with a walk. Ken Caminiti had 3 home runs and 5 RBIs. He later admitted to using steroids.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 7-5 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum). Rickey Henderson went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* And the Anaheim Angels beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-5 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Ken Griffey Jr. went 2-for-3 with 2 walks.

The mention of steroids leads me to close on this note: While Zinedine Zidane played for Juventus and Real Madrid, 2 teams known for various forms of cheating, he is not known to have been a dirty player. Except, of course, for that last game, against Marco Materazzi.

July 9, 2006: Zinedine Zidane's "Coup de Boule"

July 9, 2006: The World Cup Final is held at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. ABC broadcasts it in America. France play Italy. Both teams tend to wear blue, thus France are Les Bleus, and Italy are gli Azzurri. On this occasion, Italy wore blue, while France wore white.

The Olympiastadion is 1 of 3 stadiums to have hosted an Olympic Games, a World Cup Final and a UEFA European Cup/Champions League Final. The others are the Olympiastadion in Munich and the old Wembley Stadium in London. In 2024, the Stade de France outside Paris will make it 4.

Italy were loaded with legends: Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Andrea Pirlo, Francesco Totti, Luca Toni. This was a team so good, Daniele De Rossi and Alessandro Del Piero did not start and had to come on as substitutes, Alessandro Nesta and Filippo Inzaghi remained on the bench, and Paolo Maldini, still starting for AC Milan at age 38, was not even selected.

But France were equally laden with starpower, many of them holdovers from their 1998 triumph: Fabien Barthez, Lilian Thuram, David Trezeguet, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, and Captain Zinedine Zidane. Others had developed since that win: Claude Makélélé, Florent Malouda, Sylvain Wiltord, Lasanna Diarra, Éric Abidal, Franck Ribéry. 

The key was Zidane: The midfielder, who had starred for Girondins de Bordeaux in his homeland, Juventus in Turin, Italy, and Real Madrid in Spain, had put the team, indeed his entire country, on his back, and led them to victory in 1998.

The son of Kabyle immigrants from France's former colony of Algeria, he was a symbol of reconciliation, as both nations were still dealing with the nasty war that Algeria fought for its independence from 1954 to 1962 -- having ended only 36 years before.

Although light-skinned enough to appear white -- unlike several national side teammates, including Henry, Vieira, Thuram, Trezeguet, and his Real Madrid teammate Makélélé -- he had faced prejudicial gestures large and small, including the insinuation that he was not truly, or not wholly, French.

Yet he went into that 2006 Final once again having led the team to glory. It was to be his last game: At age 34, he had announced his retirement as a player. Win or lose, it would be all over when the final whistle blew for this game.

In the 7th minute, Malouda, then playing his club football for Olympique Lyonnais, was knocked down in the box by Marco Materazzi of Internazionale Milano. If Materazzi were a hockey player, he wouldn't be a "pest": A good player who frequently plays rough; he'd be a "goon": A player whose sole purpose is to play rough, because he can't do anything else.

Horacio Elizondo, the Argentine selected to referee the game (because he was from neither team's continent), correctly awarded a penalty, and Zidane converted it. France led, 1-0.

The lead did not last long. In the 19th minute, Pirlo, the AC Milan legend, sent a hellacious corner kick into the box, and Materazzi, of all people, headed it past Barthez, the famously bald goalkeeper who was back with Olympique de Marseille after starring for them, Toulouse, AS Monaco and Manchester United.

In the 2nd half, Luca Toni, then of Florence-based Fiorentina, hit the crossbar with a shot, and then correctly had a headed goal disallowed as having been offside. Malouda was tackled in the box by Juventus' Gianluca Zambrotta, but was incorrectly not awarded another penalty. Arsenal legend Henry was stopped by Juventus goalie Buffon. Malouda skied a shot over the bar. Pirlo just missed with a free kick.

In extra time, Ribéry, then with Marseille and later to star for Bayern Munich, just missed. Buffon just barely knocked a Zidane header away.

And then, in the 110th minute, Materazzi pulled on Zidane's jersey, they exchanged words, and Zidane head-butted Materazzi right in the chest. In French soccer, this is known as a coup de boule -- literally, "stroke of ball" or "blow of ball," but also meaning "play of head." (The more familiar phrase coup d'état means "blow of state," and refers to the overthrow of a government.)

Elizondo did not see the incident. The 4th official, Luis Medina Cantalejo -- so respected that he not only officiated at 3 games of that World Cup, but was one of the few Spanish referees to officiate at La Liga games between arch-rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona, a rivalry so intense that foreign referees are nearly always assigned to oversee it -- told Elizondo through his headset that it had happened.

Elizondo properly showed Zidane a straight red card, making him the 4th player to be sent off in a World Cup Final, and the only player ever sent off in games of 2 separate World Cups. The scene of Zidane walking into the locker room, past the World Cup trophy but not even looking at it, is nearly as iconic as the coup de boule itself.

Extra time ended with the game still 1-1, so it went to penalties. Italy kicked first. Pirlo scored his penalty. Sylvain Wiltord, then with Lyon and previously the man whose goal past Barthez secured the League and Cup "Double" for Arsenal in 2002, made his. 1-1.

Materazzi was next for Italy, and made his penalty. Next for France was Trezeguet, facing his Juventus teammate Buffon. In extra time of the Euro 2000 Final, he had beaten Buffon with a shot. Under the rules then in place, it was a "golden goal": Automatic victory. This time, he was not a hero: He clanged his shot off the crossbar. 2-1 Italy.

De Rossi made his penalty. Abidal made his. Del Piero made his. Willy Sagnol made his for France. Finally, Fabio Grosso clinched the win for Italy: 5-3, with France's last shot not taken, seeing as how it would have been meaningless. Italia: Campioni del Mondo.

Fabio Cannavaro, as Captain, raising the Jules Rimet Trophy

Zidane, of course, was not available for the penalties.

Why did he do it? Three British newspapers -- The Times, The Sun, and the Daily Star, with varying degrees of reliability -- all hired lip-readers who were fluent in French and Italian to look at the tape, and to see what Materazzi had said to Zidane to provoke it. (Materazzi does not speak French, but Zidane played in Italy long enough to learn the language, and their exchange was entirely in Italian.)

The Times has a reputation for sterling journalism; The Sun and the Daily Star are considered lying right-wing propaganda rags. Yet the lip-readers hired by all 3 reported the exact same thing: They all said that Materazzi had called Zidane a "son of a terrorist whore."

It had been less than 5 years since the 9/11 attacks, and a year to the week after the 7/7 attacks on the London Underground (subway). Apparently, Materazzi was unaware that presuming that all Muslims are terrorists is not only bigoted, but stupid. To make matters worse, Zidane's mother was ill at the time.

Materazzi's version of events was a little different. He said he would never have insulted someone's mother, having lost his own when he was 15 years old. Without question, he had tugged on Zidane's shirt. The exchange of shirts is a postgame tradition that goes back decades, and Materazzi said that Zidane told him, "If you want my shirt, I will give it to you afterwards." Not an unreasonable request of a star of one of the finalists to one of the other finalist, and not an unreasonable response.

Materazzi said that his follow-up was, "I prefer the whore that is your sister." In other words, "Your sister puts out, and I'd like you to set me up with her." In other words, Materazzi admitted that he had gone too far.

But so had Zidane. There were about 10 minutes of play to go. Winning is the best revenge. A man as accomplished as Zidane -- 2 League titles in Italy and 1 in Spain, a Champions League win, a World Cup and a Euro title -- should have accepted this. Win the game, and you look like a champion, and the guy trying to provoke you looks like an idiot. Instead, the great Zizou looked like an easily provoked fool, and Materazzi an undeserved World Champion.

The play swept the world. Dozens of people posted their attempts at recreating it on the Internet. American TV shows parodied it. A song titled "Coup de Boule" hit Number 1 on the French music charts.

One moment can change not just a game, but a reputation, forever. Zidane stood to become the greatest hero in the history of French sport. Maybe he still is, anyway. But the first thing anyone thinks about when they hear his name is the coup de boule.

UPDATE: An article for ESPN.com, published after the 2026 World Cup, ranking all 23 tournaments, rated this one 3rd, citing "some old-school corruption," "a delightful semi-underdog run from the hosts," "stars doing star things," "another Final shootout," and, "Most of all, we got Zidane's head-butt."

*

July 9, 2006 was a Sunday.  It was the off-season for the NFL, the NBA and the NHL. But, as the last day before the All-Star Break, it featured a full slate of Major League Baseball games:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 6-5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. Jason Giambi hit a home run, but a bullpen collapse led by Ron Villone and the execrable Scott Proctor gave the game to the Deviled Eggs.

* The New York Mets beat the Florida Marlins, 7-6 at Shea Stadium. The Mets scored 4 runs in the 8th, including 3 on a home run by David Wright, to win it.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-3 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Washington Nationals, 10-9 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-3 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-4 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-5 in 19 innings, at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago (now Rate Field). Tadahito Iguchi singled home the winning run.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-4 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 11-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 7-5 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston. Aaron Miles' double won the game in the top of the 12th inning.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-2 at Ameriquest Field (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies, 8-5 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 3-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-2 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the McAfee Coliseum).

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. 

May 15, 2002: Bayer Leverkusen's Treble Failure

May 15, 2002: Real Madrid defeat Bayer Leverkusen of Germany, 2-1 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland, and win the UEFA Champions League. It is the 9th time that they have won this tournament, formerly known as the European Cup – more than any other club. But they haven’t won it since.

Their goals were appropriately scored by their two greatest players of the modern era, hometown hero Raul Gonzalez (usually known by just his first name) and French superstar Zinedine Zidane. They led a team of superstars known as "Los Galácticos," including Spaniards Iker Casillas, Guti and Míchel Salgado; Portuguese star Luís Figo (previously playing for arch-rival Barcelona), black Frenchman Claude Makélélé, and Englishman Steve McManaman, the former Liverpool star who is now a pundit for ESPN.

Real Madrid had built one of the greatest teams in the history of world club soccer. But this game is less remarkable for its winner than it is for its loser. Bayer Leverkusen, based in Leverkusen on the east bank of the Rhine River in western Germany, and founded by the Bayer pharmaceutical company, had failed in all three of its major competitions. In one of the closest races in the history of the Bundesliga, Germany's national league, Borussia Dortmund had defeated Bayer by 1 point, and Bayern Munich by 2 points.

Their manager was Klaus Toppmöller, a former star forward at FC Kaiserlautern, who helped the Dallas Tornado win the 1973 North American Soccer League title. He had previously managed top-flight sides, including Eintracht Frankfurt. His players included goalkeeper Hans-Jörg Butt; midfielders Michael Ballack, Zé Roberto from Brazil, Marko Babić from Croatia; forward Dimitar Berbatov from Bulgaria; and an American, right back Frankie Hejduk.

Leverkusen had a stretch from December 1, 2001 to February 6, 2022 where they lost 5 out of 7. But where they really lost the title came late, with a 1-1 draw away to Hamburger SV on April 13, a 2-1 loss at home to Werder Bremen on April 20, and a 1-0 loss away to FC Nürnberg on April 27. Given their superior goal difference to Dortmund (but not Bayern), just 1 more goal in any of those 3 games would have given Leverkusen the title.

If Leverkusen could win on the final day, May 4, while Dortumund did not, that would also have given Leverkusen the title. Bayer did their part, beating Hertha Berlin, 2-1 in Leverkusen; but Dortmund beat Bremen, 2-1 in Dortmund, and that was it.

On May 11, at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, they lost the Final of the DFB-Pokal, 4-2 to Schalke 04. ("DFB" for "Deutscher Fußball-Bund," or "German Football Association," and "Pokal" for "Cup," so this is Germany's version of England's FA Cup.) Leverkusen led the game 1-0 before Schalke scored on the stroke of halftime.

In the Champions League, Leverkusen survived defeats to Juventus and Arsenal to advance from the Group Stage, and went back to England and defeated Liverpool in the Quarterfinal and Manchester United in the Semifinal. But, as with the Pokal, a goal right before halftime, in this case by Zidane, doomed them, putting Los Galácticos up, 2-1, and that would be the final score.

In a space of 12 days, Bayer Leverkusen went from having a chance at all 3 major trophies to having lost them all. Such a crash had never happened in Europe before, nor has it since. (In 1987, North London team Tottenham Hotspur were eligible for a domestic Treble as late as March 4 -- Football League, FA Cup, and League Cup -- and lost them all. But, for reasons that had nothing to do with them, they were ineligible for European play.)

Toppmöller managed Leverkusen 1 more season, then 1 at Hamburger, and 2 with the national team of Georgia. He has not managed any team since 2008, and has never won a trophy as a manager.

Hejduk would help the Columbus Crew win the 2008 MLS Cup. Ballack (with Real star Makélélé) later starred for Chelsea, and Berbatov for Manchester United. While Zé Roberto had previously helped Real Madrid win a La Liga title, would later help Bayern Munich win 4 Bundesliga titles, he was not selected for Brazil's World Cup team following Leverkusen's 2002 defeats. Brazil won that World Cup. This may not have been a coincidence.

Bayer Leverkusen had previously won the UEFA Cup, now the UEFA Europa League, in 1988; and the DFB-Pokal in 1993. Through the 2021-22 season, those remain their only major trophies. In 2000, they went into the last game of the Bundesliga season in 1st place, but lost 2-0, away to 10th-place Unterhaching, with Ballack scoring an own goal, and lost the title to Bayern Munich on goal difference. This has led to discussions of whether there is a "curse" on the club.

UPDATE: In 2023-24, they finally won their 1st Bundesliga title, and became the 1st team ever to do so undefeated: Played 34, won 28, drew 6, lost exactly none. And they beat Kaiserslautern for the DFB-Pokal, winning "The Double." If there was a curse on them, it was broken.

*

May 15, 2002 was a Wednesday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 10-7 at Yankee Stadium. Joe Kennedy outpitched Orlando "El Duque" Hernández. Steve Cox went 3-for-5 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs. For the Yankees, Bernie Williams and Nick Johnson hit home runs, Johnson had 4 RBIs, and Derek Jeter went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Jeff D'Amico pitched a 2-hit shutout. Mo Vaughn hit a home run.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-6 at the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base and an RBI.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-2 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-1 at Comerica Park (now Fifth Third Park) in Detroit.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-2 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-4 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee. Todd Walker went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Ken Griffey Jr. was injured, and did not play.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 4-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-6 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Florida Marlins, 7-2 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Montreal Expos, 2-1 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). Ryan Klesko singled D'Angelo Jimenez home with the winning run in the bottom of the 14th inning.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-1 at Pacific Bell Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco. Greg Maddux outpitched Liván Hernández. Barry Bonds went 0-for-2 with a walk before leaving the game.

There was 1 game in the NBA Playoffs: The New Jersey Nets beat the Charlotte Hornets, 103-95 

at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

There was also 1 game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: The Colorado Avalanche beat the San jose Sharks, 1-0 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.