Madam, - A festival of football that opened with a six-goal thriller petered out with a miserable, whimpering finale. It says much about the state of the game that only one player scored more than three goals in the entire tournament and the best 11 you could pick would be top-heavy with defenders and defensive midfielders.
Too often the referee (who should be mostly invisible) was the man of the match, influencing games far more than any brilliance on the field of play. Almost all of the key teams played a variation of the boring 4-5-1 system and too many players preferred to dive and con rather than play the game. And the final was decided by the cruel lottery of penalties.
A modest proposal: in future, where such high-profile matches finish tied after 120 minutes, instead of the cruel spectacle of penalty kicks why not have a "penalty butt-out" instead.
Each team could nominate five or so players. The defending side would take turn to voice choice insults about the attacking player's family/race/religion, etc. The attacker would then heat-butt, gouge or crotch-stamp his opponent as appropriate. If the defender goes down, it counts as a score to the attacking side. If however he stays on his feet and avoids blubbering like a windy baby, his team score the point. After five of these the roles are reversed and the other team gets a go. - Yours, etc,
DAVID FAY, Leix Road, Dublin 7.
Madam, - I do not understand the overwhelming sympathy and support for Zinedine Zidane after his violent act in the World Cup final. I think a fair parallel is with the infamous "karate kick" by another temperamental French footballer some years back.
Both acts of violence were incited by verbal insults, but that is where the similarity ends. Monsieur Cantona was given a lengthy ban and 120 hours, community service, whereas Monsieur Zidane has been given the blessing of two heads of state - the presidents of France and Algeria respectively!
How is this possible? It seems to me that there are some double standards in place. - Is mise,
S. Ó HAOLÁIN, Luxembourg.