Zidane, Rooney, Beckham to mention a few. I witnessed a moment of horror(in action replay) last night when Zinedine Zidane walked back to the Italian player Mazerrati and head-butted him hard in the chest. The guy was flung back and plonked on the ground clutching his chest. actually the whole thing looked so vicious that zidane could have broken his ribs and possibly pierced his heart, had the guy been my size.

Ironically, just that afternoon, i had been reading a profile on Zidane in a sunday paper, he was being hailed as one of the greats in football, how he is revered by the masses etc etc. but the next paragraph chillingly pointed out his dark side: how he had butted someone before, viciously kicked a player in the last world cup, how he was suspended for 5 matches in the champions leave for violent play. A lone figure from the "wrong side of the tracks" in France. Very talented, huge pressure on him, the weight of France's chance at the world cup heavily weighing on his shoulders. The guy snapped. Fuck knows waht that Italian dude said to him. He didn't see bothered, Zidane had been assaulted throughout the game, and maybe one day he will release us from our misery and tell us what happened. Maybe he doesnt know, the screws became too tight and he crumbled, probably giving the world cup to Italy at that point. I felt sorry for him, but I want to understand the madness.

Rooney. aah, the weight of the English team on his young shoulders. The entire nation behind him, prying and hoping for a speedy recovery from the foot injury, palying his first 90mins, annoucing his lethatl return. Enter an extremely important match and the boy flipped. He snapped, the screws bacame unstuck. Worse than Zidane, he could've rendered the guy impotent, preventing him from spawning future Portuguese football players. Nutted the guy. But then Ronaldo became the scapegoat. he goaded him, he winked so screamed the headlines. Perhaps the pressure got to him as it got to Zidane yesterday and HIs moment of madness probably cost England a place in the semi-finals.(i don't think they would have gone past Azzuri). So, a young man and an older one. One showing great promise for the future, another ending that future with greatness. They went mad. They snapped. they snuffed out dreams.

David bekham kicked that Argentinian palyer(don't remember his name). He became persona non grata after. a charsimatic palyer who had made lots of people and himself shitloads of cash. Also like rooney and zidane, not exactly from the "right" side of the tracks. That kick was to be the defining moment for the eglish team, as was the nut crunch by Rooney, as was the chest busting by Zidane.

It is where they come from which predisposes them to violent behaviour, Is there too much pressure on them to perform, do they need counselling? Perhaps where others like George Best found solace and death in the bottle, others now resort to falshes of violence. Obviously brilliance is preferable to violence but hey, who knows what these people's demons are. Who knows what keeps them awake at night or alone in their thoughts during the day.

The kings went mad. They cost their countries and their teams. saddest of all, they cost themselves. Zidane will always wonder"what if" and surely that's something worse to live with, than having missed a penalty at the end.