updated 4:08 p.m. ET Jan. 1, 2007

LONDON - The most memorable soccer moment of 2006 came in the sport's biggest game - and nowhere near the ball.

When Zinedine Zidane head-butted Italy defender Marco Materazzi in the chest, it not only brought down the career of one of the game's greatest players, it sullied the image of the game when it needed a lift and should have been celebrating its biggest occasion.

The incident even eclipsed the Frenchman's audacious penalty kick that lobbed gently into the net and gave his team an early lead in the World Cup final in Berlin. Long after Materazzi's header had leveled the game, Zidane flattened the Italian defender in extra time.

It was Zidane's final act in soccer and was a sad way to go out. After being red-carded, he walked past the World Cup trophy and, when Italy triumphed in a penalty shootout to capture its fourth world title after a 1-1 draw, he finished his career.

It was typical of a World Cup that promised much but delivered little.

The most talented players around - from Brazil's Ronaldinho to England's Wayne Rooney - flopped on the biggest stage. Instead, the cheats and the referees made their marks, one official sending off a World Cup-record four players in the Portugal-Netherlands game and another, England's Graham Poll, showing three yellow cards to Croatia's Josip Simunic before realizing he should have sent him off after two.

There were high spots - notably Esteban Cambiasso finishing off a 24-pass move with a standout shot for one of Argentina's goals in a 6-0 win over Serbia-Montenegro.

Germany did a great job of organizing the event, which had less than expected crowd trouble and security problems, and coach Juergen Klinsmann took the team to the semifinals on a wave of euphoria and skillful, attacking soccer.

By contrast, Italy won the title without making many friends.

Against the backdrop of a match-fixing scandal that led to relegation for Serie A champion Juventus and points deductions for four other clubs, the Italians went to the World Cup determined to prove themselves. They were well-organized without being spectacular.

Italy's best performance was a 2-0 victory over host Germany in the semifinals. But when the fireworks went off at Berlin's Olympic Stadium to mark Italy's triumph over France in the final, there was a sense of anticlimax.

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Fabio Cannavaro was chosen FIFA's player of the year and received the Golden Ball award for the top player in Europe.

Cannavaro moved from Juventus to Real Madrid after the Italian club was stripped of both of the two most recent Serie A championship titles and was relegated.

AC Milan, initially banned from playing in the Champions League, was eventually allowed to play in the qualifying round and has since made it to the knockout round. It was also docked points in the Serie A and similar punishments were handed out to Fiorentina, Lazio and Reggina.

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