Feb
18
Retirements and resignations
Filed Under General |
It has been a week since Italy won the World Cup and all this time most of the media has focused on the Materazzi vs Zidane incident. I will avoid writing about it and instead focus on another major aspect of this tournament and that is the large number of retirements and resignations of both great players and coaches.
Zinadine Zidane
The holder of the 2006 World Cup Golden Ball and winner of the 1998 competition and Euro 2000 has now retired from both international and club play. Zizou’s career has been exciting to watch unfold from the early steps in Bordeaux to the apogee of his game in Juventus and its episodic end just one week ago. There hasn’t been a modern player who was as gifted and could perform such magic on the field. Zidane has won many soccer honors during his illustrious career including FIFA’s World Player of the Year award 3 times (1998, 2000, and 2003.) I can’t think of any words that could do justice to his brilliance and so I will only say one thing, “Mr. Zidane, thank you!”
Oliver Khan
The German goalkeeper made only one appearance in this World Cup. It was the last game of his international career. He plans to continue playing for two more seasons with his club Bayern Munich. He is the winner of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball award. In his only appearance in this year’s tournament, he did not disappoint. He came close to ending the game with a clean sheet only to be robbed by Luis Figo who set up his teammate perfectly for Portugal’s only goal on June 8th. Khan leaves the game of soccer having earned the respect of both teammates and opponents. During the press conference at the end of the game, he announced his retirement with a very Spartan, “it was my last international match.”
Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo
The Portuguese midfielder announced his retirement from the national team while he will continue to serve his club team, Inter Milan. This is the second time that he is retiring since he had done the same after the end of Euro 2004 when his team failed to win the trophy on home soil. Other than his exceptional play, he is also well known for being the only player to transfer between the two archrivals Barcelona and Real Madrid. Barcelona fans never forgave him for this decision and made sure to remind him every chance they got. Figo will be retiring having never won gold in a major international tournament but he came close twice, in Euro 2004 and in this year’s World Cup. He was named FIFA’s World Player of the Year in 2001 and won the UEFA Champions League in 2002 with Real Madrid.
Roberto Carlos da Silva
The Brazilian defender announced his retirement from the national team just days after Brazil’s exit from the World Cup. He was part of the dream team that won the 2002 contest. He is leaving the game on a sour note as many fans are blaming him for not marking Henry when he scored the winning goal in the semi-finals. Carlos will always be remembered for his fearsome free kicks and ability to lead fast counterattacks.
Marcello Lippi
The Italian coach resigned from his position as the national team’s head coach following their triumph on July 9th. This was a first for a World Cup winning coach. Lippi was under a lot of pressure to quit before the start of the tournament because of his alleged involvement with the match-fixing scandal in Serie A. He stayed on and subsequently led the Azzurri to their fourth title retiring on top. He is bowing out an overjoyed winner. In his own words, “I have won the European Cup, I have won the Inter-Continental Cup and I have won five Italian titles but I have never felt as happy as I do now.”
Juergen Klinsmann
Klinsmann took the coaching job for Germany under a lot of criticism and on the heels of a very disappointing German outing in Euro 2004. In just two years he reconstructed the German team and with it he earned the respect of everyone in the world. His young squad played the simplest and most effective attacking soccer in the tournament. They came close to winning the trophy on their home turf but in the end they had to settle for 3rd place. His resignation came as a surprise with German fans everywhere asking for his return; even the fiercest of his critics want him to return. Klinsmann has said that he would like to spend more time with his family or in his own words, “my big wish is to go back to my family, to go back to leading a normal life with them… After two years of putting in a lot of energy, I feel I lack the power and the strength to continue in the same way.”