Dave Zirin pieces together circumstantial evidence and historical context in his latest column in defense of French soccer star and national hero Zinedine Zidane (or Zissou as he is known) after his violent head-butt to the chest of Italy's Marco Materazzi resulted in Zidane's red card ejection from the World Cup Final. France went on to lose the game, without Zidane, in a penalty shootout. Zirin explains:

Two recent articles highlight the role international soccer can play in promoting unity and peace. An excellent piece by Neil Stormer, who works in conflict resolution and foreign policy in Washington, DC, outlined numerous examples in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries that show how large a role soccer and sports in general have played in mitigating conflict. The most recent example is from the World Cup: