Special Feature FIFA World Cup 2006 |
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Italy wins World Cup in penalty shoot-out On the night of Sunday 9th July 2006 Maltese streets were flooded by thousands of avid Italian football team supporters celebrating Italy's World Cup win. Just after 2300CEST, when the Italian team won against that French in a penalty shoot-out 5 - 3, Maltese streets were coloured red, white and green, with die-hard fans waving Italy's flag, carcading and creating a celebratory commotion.  Many Maltese fans took to prominent hot-spots such as the Sliema Promenade and Spinola Bay in St. Julian's, creating a cacophony of sounds with car-horns, gas-horns as well as with the singing of the Italy's national anthem, amid much ecstatic shouting.Italy and France battled it out for the golden cup in a match that lasted over 120 minutes. By the end of extra time the two teams were at a 1 - 1 tie. Italy's winning goal was scored by Fabio Grosso to the disappointment of the French team and its fans. The 2006's win garnered Italy its fourth World Cup title. In turn, on Saturday 8th July 2006 Germany secured third place in this FIFA World Cup Edition with a final score of 3 -1 against Portugal.  Controversy concerning the matches featured prominently both in the Maltese Islands as well as abroad. Some Italian teams amongst which Juventus and Lazio, fell into scandal amid reports of match-fixing by executives. In turn, Maltese fans were up in arms earlier this year after Melita Cable had announced it had secured the exclusive rights to air the World Cup matches, which meant that only its subscribers could enjoy them at a cost. Eventually the company signed a contract with Smash TV to give the station the rights to broadcast all the World Cup games and later on it was ordered to stop blocking Italian channels accessible via television aerial, hence allowing Maltese enthusiasts to revel in the World Cup spirit. This year's World Cup edition, in Germany, was enjoyed in the evening as opposed to four years ago in Korea and Japan when matches were played in the mornings CEST because of the time zones difference. MaltaMedia covered the World Cup from a Maltese perspective. Throughout the four-week football festival MaltaMedia provided the fixtures, latest scores, news from a Maltese perspective, personal blogs from MaltaMedia OnLine Network team members and other content. See also: |
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