Italy's penalty shootout victory over France in a dramatic finish to the World Cup in Germany ended a great tournament.The World Cup was almost flawlessly organised, attracted great crowds and inspired a carnival atmosphere which turned Germany into one big party zone.
With millions of people attending public screenings of the event for the Germany 2006, the atmosphere in the host country was incredible, because‘A time to make friends’ is to everybody's heart.
On the pitch, 32 teams battled it out for soccer’s ultimate prize. Some bowed out after just three games, while France fell at the final hurdle as Italy claimed the crown of ‘world champions'.
For once, the fans actually behaved far better than the players.
On the pitch, there were too few goals, too few great matches, too few great players, too few upsets and too little goalmouth action.
On average the tournament produced fewer goals per game than any other of the 17 previous finals, except for 1990 in Italy, a tournament widely regarded as one of the dullest ever.
There were too many fouls and too much blatant cheating by players -- in particular diving and feigning injury to earn unfair free kicks and penalties, all unchecked and sometimes even encouraged by coaches.
Brazil traditionally bring flair and flamboyance to the World Cup. This time they did not. Their big name players all failed to sparkle and, as a team, they completely failed to provide even half their usual quota of entertainment. Most disappointing of all was Ronaldinho, who came with the reputation of being the world's best player but was almost anonymous in Brazil's five matches.
In the final, Italy's youngest playing lining up at the start was Andrea Pirlo, who is already 27.
France had only one player under 26, midfielder Franck Ribery, at 23 one of the few revelations of the tournament.
Nobody could blame the match officials. The refereeing was of a surprisingly high standard, even if there were the inevitable mistakes here and there.
Italy and France arrived in the final deservedly and Italy played some of the best soccer of the entire month when they beat Germany 2-0 after extra time in the semi-finals.
But the final itself was a mirror of the tournament, starting with great promise but ending in disappointment.
It was a sad farewell for Zinedine Zidane, one of the few players ever to attain genius level, who was ending his glorious career on the greatest stage of all. He graced it by scoring an audacious penalty off the crossbar and then finished in disgrace, butting Italy's goalscorer Marco Materazzi in extra time and getting sent off. That he was clearly provoked by Materazzi was a reflection of the cynical nature of play at what could and should have been one of the best tournaments ever.
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VIDEO - Zidane's Best Moments 1994 -2004
On the bright side, Germany turned out to be splendid hosts who did their best to make their guests from all round the world welcome.
Their somewhat under-rated team showed an attacking spirit and determination which did them credit too and their third place finish was a fitting reward for their enterprise.
The Winners: Italy
The Azzurri won the FIFA World Cup for the fourth time after holding their nerves in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. For their performances in the group stages, Round of 16, quarter-finals and semis, soccer fans all over the world would agree that Marcello Lippi's side were worthy winners of the competition.
The Runners-Up: France
Inspired by Zinedine Zidane, until his dramatic sending off in the Final, Les Bleus surprised everyone to reach the showdown in Berlin on 9 July. Although they looked shaky in the group stages, it was in the knockout stages when they really came into their own, defeating Spain, Brazil and Portugal with relative ease.
Third place: Germany
The highest scorers at the tournament captured the imagination of the public with a combination of fine soccer and a never-say-die attitude.
Fourth place: Portugal
Luis Felipe Scolari’s outfit were arguably the surprise package of Germany 2006, overcoming Mexico, the Netherlands and England en route to the semi-finals.
FIFA Fair Play award - BRAZIL & SPAIN
Golden Ball - Zinedine ZIDANE (FRA)
Golden Shoe – Miroslav KLOSE (GER)
Best Young Player – Lukas PODOLSKI (GER)
Lev Yashin Award – Gianluigi BUFFON (ITA)
The Most Entertaining Team - PORTUGAL
All Star Team:
Goalkeepers
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Jens Lehmann (Germany), Ricardo (Portugal)
Defenders
Roberto Ayala (Argentina), John Terry (England), Lilian Thuram (France), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy), Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal) Midfielders
Ze Roberto (Brazil), Patrick Vieira (France), Zinedine Zidane (France), Michael Ballack (Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Gennaro Gattuso (Italy), Francesco Totti (Italy), Luis Figo (Portugal), Maniche (Portugal)
Forwards
Hernan Crespo (Argentina), Thierry Henry (France), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Luca Toni (Italy)
Quarter-Finalists
Argentina
After some great performances in the group stages and a victory over Mexico in the Round of 16, the Albiceleste were unlucky to lose to the hosts in a dramatic shoot-out.
Brazil
The world champions’ attempt to secure their sixth FIFA World Cup success ended after a lacklustre showing against France.
England
Unlucky with injuries, unlucky from the spot. Penalties proved to be the undoing of England once again, and England failed to live up to their high expectations at this event.
Ukraine
Coached by Oleg Blokhin, the FIFA World Cup first-timers did extremely well in reaching the last eight, but found Italy too tough an opponent in Hamburg.
Round of 16
Australia
Not expected to get past a group which included Brazil, Croatia and Japan, Dutch coach Guus Hiddink masterminded a magnificent showing by the Socceroos.
Ecuador
Before the tournament began, it was claimed that the South Americans could not play well away from their home country. Their Performance proved their doubters wrong.
Ghana
Ghana were rightly described as the ‘Pride of Africa’, as the only side from the continent to qualify for the Round of 16. Victories over the USA and the Czech Republic cemented this claim.
Mexico
The match against Argentina which saw them lose 2-1, will surely be remembered as one of the tournament’s best.
Netherlands
Marco van Basten’s men came up short against a well-organised Portugal side, after qualifying from what was thought to be the tournament’s toughest group.
Spain
Tipped by many to go far in the competition after disposing of Ukraine, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia with relative ease at the group stages, Spain fell at the very next hurdle. France beat them again.
Sweden
Conceding two early goals by Lukas Podolski in the first 12 minutes to Germany effectively ended the Swede’s hopes of progressing into the quarter-finals.
Switzerland
The winners of Group G failed to convert any of their three penalties against Ukraine to see them exit the competition with an unwanted new FIFA World Cup record.
Group Stages
Angola
While not altogether unexpected, Angola's first-round elimination was down to a combination of inexperience and tactical limitations.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica were hoping for big things in Germany, but the team which was considered to be one of the best in the country’s history, failed to get past the group stage.
Cote d’Ivoire
The Elephants came with a lot of promise and although they fell at the first hurdle, they won many friends and admirers in their all-too-brief visit to Germany.
Croatia
Soaring expectations back home thought that a clash with Italy in the Round of 16 was the team’s destiny. However, failure to take chances put paid to Croatia’s hopes.
Czech Republic
They entered the FIFA World Cup as one of the highest ranked teams and got off to an impressive start. But the journey home came all too soon for the Czech Republic.
Iran
Defeats to Mexico and Portugal in their opening games left Iran with no chance of advancing. The subsequent point claimed against Angola was no consolation at all.
Japan
Two goals and a solitary point were all Japan had to show for their efforts at Germany 2006, the tournament which brought to an end Zico’s reign as coach.
Korea Republic
Victory against Togo gave the Taeguk Warriors their first FIFA World Cup success on European soil, but it was not enough to book the team a place in the Round of 16.
Paraguay
Paraguay returned home having picked up just three points from their three Group B encounters. Their hopes were ended by narrow defeats in their opening two matches.
Poland
Poland and their fans are unlikely to harbour fond memories of Germany 2006, but a 2-1 win over Costa Rica in their final match did provide some consolation.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia for their fourth consecutive appearance at the FIFA World Cup finals, and once again Sami Al Jaber weighed in with a goal.
Serbia and Montenegro
The team that only conceded one goal in qualifying, to finish ahead of Spain, somehow ended up on the receiving end of ten in as many days in Germany.
Togo
Having suffered three defeats in as many games, Togo bade farewell to Germany as the bottom team in Group G, with off-field issues contributing to their downfall.
Trinidad and Tobago
Showing great determination and resolve to make up for their inexperience and lack of resources, T&T will look back on their two weeks in Germany as a success.
Tunisia
Tunisia made history by becoming the first African side to record a win at Argentina 1978. Twenty-eight years on and three campaigns later they have yet to repeat the feat.
USA
For a team that earned only a single point, thanks to a 1-1 draw with Italy, there is no shortage of things that could have gone better for this US squad.
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