Arindam: - Viewers, can you guess, who is sitting beside me? I am really scared of him. Who knows, maybe, he can even bulldoze me with his strong head. Yes, viewers, I am talking about a legend of World football, whose name is Zinedine Zidane. He is here with us in our studio. So, Mr. Zidane, do you feel sorry about what you did against an Italian player?
Zidane: - I regret for that incident because it ended my international career, but I don’t feel sorry for that. He got his deserved punishment only.
Arindam: - You gave France the World Cup title with your deadly headers, but still a section of French media people regard you as a refugee of France. How do you react to it?
Zidane: - for a professional footballer, for which team, he is playing is not at all important. What matters most is that whether I am able to provide victory to my team or not.
Arindam: - Yeah, that’s quite true. We will carry on our discussion, but, before that, we will just hear the analysis of 1st two matches of this World Cup from Mr. ARINAN. Let us hear it.
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Mr. ARINAN: - Mexico started off well against South Africa in their first encounter. Almost the entire first half was dominated by Mexican footballers only. Santos was the pick of the match. The young boy was just cruising through the opponent’s penalty area in his own style. The South African goalkeeper was always alert and saved many deadly shots at the goal. In the 2nd half, South Africa changed their game plan and the counterattack policy worked well. Tshabalala got the ball in no man’s land and what a left-footed shot it was to completely beat the Mexican goalkeeper. The weakest point of Mexico team is their goalkeeper, who plays volleyball instead of holding the football in his palms. But, Mexico never stopped trying. They started giving lofted big passes from this wing to that wing and one opportunity came where the three Mexican strikers were waiting for the ball in the penalty box of South Africa. Marquez got it all right and gave the equalizer goal. In another match, it was an encounter between France and Uruguay. That was a very boring game. France got many chances but was unable to convert it into a winning goal. Uruguay played their traditional football and marked the French strikers so tactfully that hardly France could do anything about it. Henry was looking sharp but that was not enough. France and Uruguay ended in a goalless draw. Ultimately, Group A has now become a very competitive group.
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Arindam: - France ended in a draw with Uruguay. Mr. Zidane, how will you react to it? Is France, a very weak side in this tournament?
Zidane: - It is not a weak side, but, yes, it lacks good midfielders. In a team you can have good strikers and strong defenders, but unless there is a game maker in the midfield area, you cannot break through the opponent’s defense smoothly to score goals.
Arindam: - in the next encounters, France has to play against Mexico and South Africa. What strategy France should adopt against them?
Zidane: - See, the way France played against Uruguay in this match, personally, I feel that they are attacking in a much clustered way rather than spreading out in the entire field. France needs to possess the ball as much as possible and then slowly and steadily they should increase their attacks from the left and right wings. I watched the match of Mexico Vs South Africa. Mexico was playing like that only. They were scattering here and there and then suddenly they start increasing their pace from both the wings to gain corners. I don’t know why a Mexican goal got rejected. That was not an offside.
Arindam: - What do you think? Who will qualify from Group A?
Zidane: - Well, France surely has the edge, but the other three teams are almost equal. You cannot underestimate South Africa also.
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