World Press Photo Gallery

by 2007 prizewinners

As a sponsor of the World Press Photo 07 exhibition in Toronto, The Walrus is pleased to present a critical analysis of a selection of the images.

Photographer: Peter Schols, the NetherlTop French footballer Zinédine Zidane was sent off the field for butting Italian Marco Materazzi in the chest towards the end of extra time of the World Cup final between France and Italy, in Berlin on July 9, 2006. As a result Zidane could not join in a penalty shootout which saw Italy win 5-3. Referee Horacio Elizondo, who did not appear to have seen the off-ball clash, consulted his assistant referees before showing Zidane the red card. Zidane had earlier announced that he would retire from the game after the World Cup.

Comment by Jeremy Keehn, writer and editor:

Bracket, for a moment, everything that came after this photograph: Zidane's ejection, France's loss on penalty kicks, the worldwide media storm, the speculation over what Materazzi had said to set Zidane off. You're left with one man, representing his country, throwing a brutal headbutt at another—flouting, in sharp relief, the boundaries of civil conduct while curiously maintaining the defining rule of his sport ("no hands").

The moment is fascinating enough in its own right to beg an award. But of course it's not his ability to capture that fraction of a second that makes Peter Schols's photograph so powerful–it's all the outcomes that emerged from that instant. Schols's shot symbolizes much of what makes sport compelling: the drama of the hero under pressure, the unpredictable nature of contests, and the passion an outcome can provoke.

--Jeremy Keehn is the managing editor of The Walrus. Jeremy studied history at the University of Alberta and has a master's in journalism from the University of British Columbia.

Further reading in The Walrus:
- "Foreign Billionaires Bring English Football to World, Agony and Ecstasy to Fans" by Timothy Taylor (Sept 2005)

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