World Cup Wrap-Up
And so another World Cup comes to an end. I had no dog in this fight, having no ethnic background from either France or Italy. (Well, "Standlee" and "Reynolds," my paternal and maternal family names, are probably both Norman French, but I don't identify with the French ethnically. To the best of my knowledge -- my family history gets cloudy
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Longer answer: In soccer, the referee carries two colored cards, yellow and red. For certain kinds of dangerous play, intentional fouls, or excessive dissent, the referee will show the yellow card to the player. This is a caution, and puts the player on notice that one more such offense will get him sent off the pitch (="field" in American). If a player who has been shown the yellow card commits a second yellow-card offense, the referee will show him a second yellow card, followed by a red card. The red card means the player is ejected from the game, and his team must play short-handed for the remainder of the game -- they may not replace him.
Some very serious fouls, including what Zidane did (intentionally head-butting an opponent), and other things like an intentional hand-ball inside the penalty area, are serious enough that the referee can show a "direct red" -- that is, there's no need to go through the intermediate yellow card, and the player is sent off immediately.
While the goalkeeper is allowed to touch the ball with his hands, he may only to so within his own penalty area (that's the larger of the two rectangular areas around his own goal). Handling the ball outside the penalty area is at least a yellow-card offense and may be a red card depending on the circumstances.
Some of the cards are referee's judgment as to the seriousness of the offense. Others are by rule or instruction from the league; that is, they may instruct referees that, "Any tackle from behind is to be considered a yellow card offense." (A "tackle" in soccer is not the same thing as a tackle in gridiron football, but involves sliding in with the feet to take the ball away from the opponent.)
The key things to keep in mind here is that when a player is sent off, his team may not replace him (imagine a gridiron football team being required to play with only ten players). This is somewhat similar to how in ice hockey minor and major penalties require the team at fault to play short-handed for 2, 4, or 5 minutes; however, in ice hockey, if a player gets either a ten-minute or game misconduct penalty, his team does not play shorthanded.
Hope this explanation helps. Google for "soccer rules" for several web sites that will explain things further.
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