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Italy defender Marco Materazzi admitted on Tuesday he insulted Zinédine Zidane because he had been "very arrogant", according to La Gazetta dello Sport. The incident has been the subject of all sorts of speculation, and Materazzi is the first involved to give his version of the story...

In no way am I saying that he actually has made any slur, but if so this will be catastrophic for FIFA. All of their effort to "Kick racism out of football" will effectively be destroyed - how can they expect to stamp racisnm out among the fans if the players won't. This scenario is much more...

!!!!!!! Maybe Domenech's astrology was right all along!!! FORZA ITALIA

Wow. Just hope that nothing Materazzi has said is going to tarnish the tournament (if it already isn't). Italy slight favourites in terms of confidence here?

Unbelievable.

Holy shiiiit...ZIZOU??? Lucky this is his last match!

A few good patches from 15-30 minutes...apart from that, the game has been punctuated by fouls and other stoppages, as expected, to be honest. Can't really say that either side looks more likely to win it so far. France definitely more orgainsed. Thuram is superb as always. Unbelievable. Italy...

Oops. Just found out that the winner of the Golden Ball is voted on, and presented, before the final in Berlin.

Apparently Ronaldo was topping the vote for the award, until after the quarter-final, when an English-inspired hate campagin led to a flood of votes for both Luis Valencia and Lukas Podolski. (Fan votes contribute to the overall result) Ronaldo was definitely the better player in the tournament...

How can anyone possibly pick a winner here? Such a difficult match. I sort of lean toward the Portuguese, but much will be decided on whether Zizou can replicate something resembling his quarter-final performance. Can Makelele, Vieira and Zizou get on top of Deco, Maniche and Costinha? Hard to...

Really? Why? What can possibly have been more important than that match?

Guaranteed profit no matter what happens for the rest of the tournament. Neither side deserved to lose, but it is better than a result on penalties. Great game, both sides playing tournament winning football there. It is also good that no player got a yellow card ruling them out of the...

Done and done. Will it be extra time or penalties? I am thinking penalties. Lippi needs to change things here you would think. Pippo Inzaghi does look to be the logical choice.

Both sides could be ahead in this match. Certainly living up the the billing, which didn't quite happen when Germany played Argentina. Maybe Italy have made a few slight defensive errors, or maybe Germany have been simply too good in their attack. Definitely targeting the weak link Grosso, who...

They played some scintillating football at Germany 2006 as well. What is the focus on rankings? I don't care if we are 175th if we play the way we did last month. Italy to qualify this morning. Gattuso, Pirlo and Totti > Kehl, Ballack and Borowski. Italy should have started with Inzaghi as...

Btw what are the thoughts about the speculation regarding Houllier having confirmed to coach the Socceroos? Personally a bit unsure, obviously his results at Clarefontaine show his technical knowledge, but are his senior coaching performances as successful. He failed to qualify for USA 94 with...

How are France an "erratic motley of over-aged has-beens"? They did what they had to do, more or less, to get through the group stages. France's class has shown, however, when it counted. The "over-agers" have produced absolute world class displays (Zizou, Makelele, Vieira, Thuram) against two...

Interesting to note that Podolski was actually born in Poland. I don't think anybody is actually saying that he did raise his arm in a Nazi salute, but it did cross my mind as well. I wonder what Paolo Di Canio thinks about this? Another great night of football ahead. So dreading having to...

The Italians are taking care of business. Early goal giving them the cushion, midfield moving the ball well and finding space, Cannavaro and Co. organised as usual, and, maybe, just maybe, the enigmatic Totti is beginning to once again find touch. Not sure if Toni is the right option up front by...

Well we have Tevez....now...where is Messi? I think that Germany will press forward early, Argentina try and slow the game down with niggling tactics. This game depends on whether Germany can break the likes of Heinze at the back. Over 1.5 goals for me tonight in this one.