Turkey on the Pitch

Zinedine Zidane - Turkeyhead.

But what a great turkeyhead he was. In order to achieve this level of turkeyhead, you have to be magnificent. You have to build a lifetime of goal, then have it all destroyed for some level even greater and infamous than you had ever imagined.

SOME people had said (before Sunday) that Zidane belonged with the immortals. Pele. Maradona. Ronaldo.

Zidane was three inches away from achieving that immortality. Thirteen minutes into overtime, he struck a header that seemed certain to net the winning goal, certain to cement Zidane as the greatest player of the last bunch of decades -- two cups for France in the last three. Instead, Buffon managed half a hand on it and sent it just over the goal.

Zidane screamed with the agony of a soul destroyed.

And eight minutes later... He is immortal. But not for the reason he intended. After plowing Materazzi into the ground with the single greatest headbutt in the history of sport, Zidane zoomed into a new stratosphere. He is in a place never before occupied by any athlete. He's not just a goat. He's the greatest goat who ever lived. He is the goat of the heavens.

For that, he gets the Turkeyhead of the Year award.

At least until next week.