☆ 刺刺蝟的進化論 ☆

Dawn was breaking in the sky above the Taipei Arena early yesterday, where thousands of Taiwanese caught up in the World Cup phenomenon flooded out to their double-parked cars and scooters on Nanjing East Rd., scurrying home to catch an hour or two of sleep before work. There were no broken beer bottles or burnt flags, just empty Coke cans and speechlessness over the startling red-card exit of French captain Zinedene Zidane.

More than half of the people in the stadium were rooting for the Azzurri, either boldly smearing their faces with green, white and red paint, or stamping on to their arms the Italian flag tattoo stickers generously distributed by PUMA. Yet the entire audience went into a shock when the overhead screens showed the three-time World Player of the Year thrusting his forehead into the chest of Marco Materazzi, meaning his retirement began nine minutes earlier than expected.

 "I really feel bad that he had to end his career this way," said a National Taiwan Normal University English sophomore. And although he was rooting for Italy and his favorite player Francesco Totti, he said the Italians must have must felt pretty shabby winning their first World Cup for 24 years in such a fashion.

"(Materazzi) must have said something really hostile to Zidane to make the man lose his head," he opined. Perhaps "use his head" may have been more apt.

Even for hardcore soccer fans in Taiwan, the World Cup was not something to lose your head over. Subjecting the opposition to jeering and the proffanity-laced chants de rigueur in Europe were never activities that were going to happen here, and despite the time difference between Germany and Taiwan, which has been taking its toll on diehard fans (witness the recent case in China, where several fans went to bed after watching a group stage game and never woke up), people still turned up for work or school the next day.

Some longtime fans have scorned the whirlwind phenomenon that has created "one-month soccer fans."

But many of these month-old soccer fans make no bones about the fact that they've only started to watch the World Cup because it's "the most popular sports event on earth right now," as one man, who was apparently cheering for France but donning a fake England shirt with the bemusing words "W. Beckham" on the back, put it.

For some of them, the battle between the Azzurri and Les Bleus was their first-ever soccer game. "I just came with my boyfriend to see what the fuss was about," one girl, who claimed that the Tricolore on her head was not her choice, told the Taiwan News, while the boy next to her continued to debate with his friends over whether or not they were going to go down and taunt the Italian supporters "just for the fun of it" before the game started.

The World Cup finally came to an end yesterday, leaving the whole world baffled about the unexpected head butt that came from an international star who has been praised these past few weeks for his poise and grace and humility.

Foreign media will doubtlessly still be talking about it for weeks to come. But for most Taiwanese people, it was just another lunchtime topic--like all other news.

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