Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
Friday, July 14, 2006, Washington Post

Team First -- No Ifs, Ands or Head-butts

Everyone is still talking about the World Cup. Not the fact that Italy won its fourth soccer title. No, they're talking about Zinedine Zidane.

Here's what happened in case you missed the final game or replays on TV: Italy and France were locked in a tense, 1-1 struggle. Zidane, France's legendary midfielder, almost won the game in the first overtime with a near-perfect header, but the Italian goalkeeper made a spectacular save.

In the second overtime Zidane and Marco Materazzi, a tough defender who had scored Italy's goal, appeared to exchange words after a play at midfield. Zidane walked away, then turned and drove his head into Materazzi's chest. The Italian fell to the ground. The referee threw Zidane out of the game, leaving France without its captain and best player. Italy went on to win 5-3 on penalty kicks.

Zidane has apologized, especially to the children of France, for his actions. He claims that Materazzi said nasty things about Zidane's mother and sister. Materazzi admits he insulted Zidane but claims that what he said was not that bad.

As any kid on the playground knows, it's best to walk away if someone is teasing you. Zidane was wrong and the worst kind of sport to hit Materazzi, even if Materazzi said something bad to him.

Zidane also was wrong because he let his teammates down. As France's coach said after the game: "Zidane being sent off changed everything."

In team sports, it's important to remember that everything you do affects your teammates. It is easy to see that head-butting an opponent and getting thrown out of the biggest game of the year was bad.

But there are lots of smaller things that a player -- even a young kid -- might do that could bring his team down.

Let's say you miss your once-a-week practice because you want to go to the movies. Or maybe you don't hustle at practice or don't pass the ball because you want to take the shots and be the hero. Or perhaps you go to a sleepover the night before an early game and are too tired to play your best. All of these are examples of putting yourself ahead of your teammates.

Teammates count on each other to try their best. Zidane's teammates were counting on his skill and leadership, especially if the game came down to penalty kicks.

When Zidane lost his temper, he was forgetting that he was part -- a very important part -- of a team. When he hit Materazzi, he was being a bad sport and, maybe worse, a terrible teammate.