Sports | It happened on July 9: when the second blue star flies into the sky of Berlin

July 9, 2006, Berlin, Olympic Stadium. The last match of a legend. Zinedine Zidane said before the 2006 World Cup in Germany that this would be her last football competition. Whatever happens, he will retire at the end of the World Cup.

This Sunday, July 9, 2006, Zizou knows that this is the last time he enters a field as a professional. He and the Blues defy Italy in the World Cup final. This is the last chance for the generation of Vieira, Thuram, Zidane or Barthez to fetch a new World Cup to their credit.

France starts the match in a rush: Malouda gets a generous penalty. Zidane dashes and transforms him, daring the Panenka, a technical gesture that involves throwing his ball on the penalty spot. The Blues lead 1-0 from the 6th minute of play but 10 minutes later, the Squadra Azzura returned to the score. Materazzi catapults from the head a corner well struck by Pirlo. Barthez can not do anything. All is to be done again for the men of Raymond Domenech.

The rest of the match is balanced, Italy rests on an iron defense to resist the French assaults. In the second half, Lucas Toni thinks scoring the goal of 2-1 but he is in the offside position.

The teams do not separate after the regulation time. In extra time, Zidane thinks he can achieve the feat of 1998, and register a second goal in the final of the World Cup, but Buffon miraculously fate the attempt of the head of the French number 10.

The meeting will take another turn, on a Zidane's new head shot. This one will not be in the balloon but in the thorax of Materazzi. A gesture that earned him a red. The career of the Marseillais ends on this ugly gesture. The match will be decided during the shootout sessions. Trezeguet will be the only player in the series to miss his. Italy is world champion for the fourth time in its history.