Zidane recalls ‘head-butting incident’: ‘i’m not proud, but…’
Marco Materazzi Ufficiale is an Italian former professional footballer while manager and Zinedine Yazid Zidane, popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional soccer coach and former player who played as an attacking midfielder.
FORMER FRANCE INTERNATIONAL ZINEDINE ZIDANE IS KNOWN FOR A SUDDEN HEAD-BUTT TO ITALY’S MARCO MATERAZZI IN THE FINAL OF THE FIFA WORLD CUP IN GERMANY.
MR ZIDANE RECALLED THE EVENTS OF THAT TIME. ON THE 19TH, THE FRENCH SOCCER PROGRAM TELEFOOT REPORTED HIS COMMENTS.
IN 2006, ZIDANE ANNOUNCED HIS RETIREMENT AFTER THE TOURNAMENT AND WENT TO THE WORLD CUP IN GERMANY, LEADING THE TEAM WITH THIERRY HENRY AND PATRICK VIEIRA.
THE FRENCH NATIONAL TEAM DEFEATED THE POWERHOUSE BRAZIL AND PORTUGAL NATIONAL TEAMS AND ADVANCED TO THE FINAL.
ON JULY 9, HE CLASHED WITH THE ITALIAN NATIONAL TEAM IN BERLIN. IN THIS LAST MATCH OF HIS CAREER, ZIDANE STARTED AND SCORED THE OPENING GOAL FROM A BRILLIANT CHIP KICK IN THE SEVENTH MINUTE OF THE FIRST HALF.
HOWEVER, IN THE SECOND HALF OF EXTRA TIME WHEN THE SCORE WAS 1-1, HE WAS ANGERED BY A PROVOCATION FROM MATERAZZI.
HE HAD A HEAD-BUTT AGAINST MATERAZZI AND WAS SHOWN A RED CARD AND SENT OFF WITH A SHOT. FRANCE LOST 3-5 ON PENALTIES AND MISSED OUT ON THE WORLD CUP.
ZIDANE ALSO GAVE AN INTERVIEW TO FRENCH MEDIA OUTLET CANAL PLASS AND TF1 THREE DAYS AFTER THE FINAL. WHEN ASKED ABOUT HIS INTERACTIONS WITH MATERATZI, HE SAID: “IT WAS VERY PERSONAL, AND I WAS SUBJECTED TO VERY UNBEARABLE WORDS THAT HURT MY MOTHER AND SISTER, AND HE REPEATED IT SEVERAL TIMES. I PUT UP WITH IT ONCE OR TWICE, BUT…”
“my actions in the presence of two or three billion people are unforgivable, and i want to apologize especially to the children who were watching tv,” he said, but added, “i don’t regret my actions, because if i regret them, i’ll admit what he said. that’s unacceptable.”
ZIDANE IS CELEBRATING HIS 50TH BIRTHDAY ON JUNE 23 THIS YEAR WHEN HE APPEARED ON TELEFOOT.
WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE HEAD-BUTTING INCIDENT ON THE SHOW, HE SAID, “I’M NOT PROUD OF MY ACTIONS AGAINST MATERAZZI, BUT IT WAS AN EVENT IN MY LIFE.” UNLIKE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF THE WORLD CUP IN GERMANY, HE REVEALED THAT HE HAD LEARNED FROM HIS ACTIONS AT THE TIME.
meanwhile, materatzi recalled the head-butting incident on his instagram live in 2020. “we were bumping into each other inside the penalty area, he scored in the first half and the coach told us to follow the mark. after the first clash, i apologized to him, but his reaction was not a good one.”
“and in the third clash he got frustrated and said, ‘i’m going to do my shirt later,’ to which i replied, ‘i want your sister more than a uniform.'”
“i didn’t think i’d get a head butt there, i guess i could say i’m lucky that i wasn’t prepared to do that. if i had known i was going to get a head butt, i would have sent him to the locker room,” he said of a conversation he had with zidane. the events that shocked football fans around the world are still being told by the people involved.
