To know the value of an inch , ask France who lost the World Cup . The result could have been diffrent had David Trezeguet’s penalty been an inch deeper .

The game was set for Zidane to finish his career on a high by winning his second world cup for France but it turned out to be a shameful episode in his glorious history . Zidane gave France an early lead to France through a well taken penalty but later foolishly got himself sent off for a head butt on Materazzi . But he might have won it for France had his goalbound header in the latter stages hadent been saved acrobatically by Buffon . The game was level in extra time and Italy calmly went on to win 5-3 on penalties .

But Credit should be given to Italy who have been terrific in this tournament whether from Defensive point of view or Offensive . Cannavaro was again instrumental in the win as he cut out various France attacks . Italians played well in the first half and could have taken the lead if Toni’s effort wouldnt have hit the crossbar . In the 2nd half we saw a better of France team with Thierry Henry being the danger man and creating oppurtunities . But Italy hung on during the extra time and went on to win on penalties by scoring all five .

Anyways it was a great final to round off an exciting World Cup but it will be remembered with the incident of Zidane . It was such a sad end to his illustrious career -sent from the World’s Biggest stage in shame and down to retirement .

Golden Boot Winner : Miroslav Klose

Golden Ball Winner : Zinedine Zidane