Soccer: Highlights and lowlights (cont.)

By Grant Wahl, SI.com

The U.S. women's tale of redemption at the 2008 Summer Games was especially sweet for Hope Solo (left) and coach Pia Sundhage. Bob Martin/SI

SIGNATURE PLAY: Zidane's pirouette
The greatest soccer player since Maradona could do many things with unparalleled aesthetic grace, but none more so than the maneuver in which a moving Zizou would place his toe onto the ball, turn and pivot in one fluid motion to skin an unsuspecting defender. Zidane's move combined the spatial awareness of Michael Jordan with the artistry of Rudolf Nureyev. No one today does it like Zizou did.

UNDER-THE-RADAR STORY: The MLS players' lawsuit (2000)
In late 2000, a federal court in Boston ruled that Major League Soccer's single-entity structure was legal, finding for the league owners in a lawsuit brought by the MLS players with the help of the NFL Players Association. The players claimed that MLS was an illegal monopoly designed to rein in spending on players, but the court found otherwise, creating a precedent that may eventually be followed in other leagues around the world. As European leagues seek to rein in costs, they may try to follow MLS' example, if not by becoming single-entity businesses but at least by instituting hard salary caps.

BIGGEST MELTDOWN: Zinedine Zidane, France
In the final game of his remarkable career, minutes away from perhaps winning his second World Cup, Zidane did the unthinkable. After a garden-variety verbal exchange with Italian defender Marco Materazzi, Zidane turned and head-butted his foe in the chest with so much force that it knocked Materazzi onto his back. It was an obvious red card. Italy would go on to win the trophy on penalties, and Zidane would leave us wondering how on earth he could have lost his composure, leaving such an indelible final image.

BEST TRASH TALKER: Marco Materazzi, Italy
Not many trash-talkers are so convincing that their words can provoke targets to respond with physical brutality. Dennis Rodman was one who could, but so is Materazzi, who delivered his mot juste to Zidane with such conviction ("I'd rather have your sister") that the Frenchman lost his mind. Love the Matrix or hate him, but you have to respect the fact that he knew how to sell the line.

MOST INSPIRATIONAL STORY: U.S. women's team, 2008 Olympic gold medal
You could have forgiven the U.S. women for thinking their chances of winning gold in China were dashed when leading scorer Abby Wambach -- by far the team's most dangerous attacking threat -- broke her leg on the eve of the tournament. But the Americans bounced back from an opening-game loss to Norway and went on a stunning run to win the tournament, knocking off heavily favored Brazil in the final. The star of the game was goalkeeper Hope Solo -- the same Solo who'd been involved in the team's greatest controversy after being benched for the '07 World Cup semifinal, a 4-0 loss to the same Brazilians. The lesson? Perseverance pays off.

BIGGEST VILLAIN: Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Mexico
The old string-puller for El Tri is the kind of cartoon villain you love to hate. A tireless instigator whose job is to get inside his opponents' heads, Blanco will do whatever it takes: diving, elbowing, kicking and even standing over his foes with theatrical bravado. That he still has the skills to win games makes him all the more maddening (unless he's on your team).

PYRRHIC VICTORY: France vs. Ireland, 2009
The historical record will show that France prevailed in its World Cup 2010 qualifying playoff against Ireland by an aggregate score of 2-1. But anyone who saw Thierry Henry's blatant hand ball on France's decisive extra-time goal will know that les Bleus and Henry lost far more than they won in this game. When the whistle blows on France's opening game in South Africa next summer, les Bleus and their biggest star will be playing without the world's respect.

BEST CLUB RIVALRY: Manchester United vs. Arsenal
The venom going back and forth between United and Arsenal in the mid-2000s was often just as entertaining as the majestic games themselves. Both teams won multiple Premiership titles this decade, and Arsenal's undefeated 2003-04 season remains the league's greatest achievement of the past 10 years. Best of all, the constant sniping between Ferguson and Arsène Wenger is guaranteed to add a storyline to the pre- and postgame festivities.

BEST NATIONAL-TEAM RIVALRY: France vs. Italy
Even if we can't count the '98 World Cup quarterfinal, in which France outlasted Italy on penalties, les Bleus and the Azzurri engaged in two of the most memorable big games of all time this decade. In the Euro 2000 final, Italy was seconds away from winning 1-0 in Rotterdam when Sylvain Wiltord's last-ditch goal sent the game into extra time. David Trézéguet's golden goal gave France a 2-1 win and made les Bleus the first team to hold the World Cup and European Championship trophies at the same time since West Germany in '74. The tables turned, though, in the '06 World Cup final, when Italy came from behind to tie the game, then profited from Zidane's legendary ejection to prevail on penalties.

OUTSIZED PERSONALITY: José Mourinho
Even before he dubbed himself "the Special One," Mourinho had established himself as the new standard bearer for highly quotable, wildly arrogant and undeniably successful soccer coaches worldwide. Knocking off Manchester United and going on to win the Champions League in '04 with small-market FC Porto gave Mourinho a launchpad and a soapbox, and he did not hesitate to use both, whether he was leading Chelsea to two Premier League titles (and filling the pages of the British tabloids) or guiding Inter Milan to back-to-back Scudettos (and causing even the pink pages of La Gazzetta dello Sport to blush).

BEST INNOVATION
High-definition soccer broadcasts. Soccer is all about creating and maximizing space, and HD broadcasts are a revolutionary advance in presenting those spatial relationships to soccer-addled viewers worldwide. No sport improves more in HD than soccer does. It's that simple.

WORST INNOVATION: Tinkering with the ball
Before every World Cup we hear from the maker of the official ball that the newest version represents some revolutionary technological advance that will change the game forever. Just as predictably, goalkeepers will hate the new ball, which they say knuckles and acts unnaturally. What's the point? Find a ball design, stick with it, end of story.

BIGGEST NEAR-MISS: Torsten Frings' uncalled penalty
It's the great what-if question of American soccer: What if Frings' obvious goal-line handball had been deemed a penalty by referee Hugh Dallas in the second half of the U.S.' taut World Cup quarterfinal against Germany in '02? Well, let's see: The U.S. probably would have tied the score at 1-1 on the ensuing spot kick, and the Yanks could have taken control of the game with the man advantage that would have resulted from Frings' ejection. Had the U.S. won the game, in which it outplayed Germany, it would have set up a semifinal matchup with South Korea, a team the Americans had beaten and tied before. Long story short: If Frings's handball is called, it's not hard to imagine the U.S. playing in the '02 World Cup final against Brazil.