Zinedine Zidane sent Italian defender Marco Materazzi flying with a blow to the chest during the 2006 Fifa World Cup final.
The Fifa World Cup has always been the ultimate stage for footballing immortality. But for all the icons who have lifted the famous trophy, it is two legends of the game who left me with bittersweet memories of my two favourite World Cups.
They don’t quite make them like Paul Gascoigne and Zinedine Zidane anymore, ridiculously talented showmen who dazzled the football world with their unbelievable skill and grace. But they also had this undeniable mean streak, bringing truth to the adage that all geniuses are flawed.
Gascoigne at Italia '90 and Zidane at Germany 2006 carried their nations on their shoulders, only for their tournaments to end in a visceral, unforgettable tragedy.
My first experience of the Fifa World Cup was as an eight-year-old in the winter of 1990 at my grandparents' house next to the Orange River in Upington. We would watch the matches tucked under blankets with homemade droëwors and biltong.
