4. Italy v France
The national teams of Italy and France have been longtime football rivals due to their close proximity and that football is both the countries national sports. Prior to the 1980's the Italians dominated the French with a winning percentage of close to 70 percent but the eighties and nineties saw the French have their most sustained period of success against their rivals. The Italians were winless in nine against the French until the final of the 2006 World Cup - which they won on penalties - but the match will forever be remembered for an isolated incident. The match was tied 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes after two goals in the opening half. Marco Materazzi equalised for the Italians 12 minutes after Zinedine Zidane scored from the penalty spot. However, these two players would share a moment during the second half of extra time that will go down in World Cup history as Zinedine Zidane ended his international career on the sourest of notes. The head butt to the chest of Materazzi saw Zidane given a straight red card and as the game went into penalties the French would be without their captain and midfield talisman. The outburst from Zidane has been immortalised in his home nation, which attests to the players popularity. The bronze statue, sculpted by Algerian artist Adel Abdesseme, is on display outside the Pompidou Centre in the French capital2 (as shown above). Their have been several other notable matches between Italy and France that have led to this footballing rivalry being one of the biggest in the world. The two also met in the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup - hosted in France - which the home nation won on penalties and would then go on to win the tournament for the first time with a victory over Brazil in the final. Their very next competitive match was the final of the 2000 European Championships in which the French prevailed 2-1 continuing their impressive streak against the Italians. This is one of the eldest footballing rivalries and there is bound to be more chapters to come.