ABSTRACT
However, verbal communication between players can become crucial in a decisive game. Remember, for example, the ‘Zidane incident’ in the 2006 World Cup final between France and Italy: Zidane’s headbutt (in French ‘ coup de boule ’) against Materazzi could be seen by everybody on the screen-but the provocative words of the Italian could not actually be heard , and it took some time until newspapers partly revealed what Materazzi had actually said. In fact, nobody 2 ever asked the question relevant to us linguists: in which language did Materazzi actually malign Zidane’s sister? That is exactly where our research comes in, as our study centres on the use of foreign languages and other communication strategies in the world of football, specifically, within multilingual football teams.
