Former Italy defender Marco Materazzi reveals what Zinedine Zidane told him before giving him a headbutt in the 2006 World Cup Final between Italy and France: ‘If you want my shirt, I’ll give it ...
Former Italy defender Marco Materazzi reveals what Zinedine Zidane told him before giving him a headbutt in the 2006 World Cup Final between Italy and France: ‘If you want my shirt, I’ll give it to you afterwards.’
Ex-Italy and Inter defender Materazzi reflected on the famous incident involving Zidane during the 2006 World Cup Final, which led to a red card for the French icon in the last game of his career.
Zidane to Materazzi: ‘If you want my shirt…’
epa01094126 (FILES) This file combo of TV grabs shows the foul of Zinedine Zidane of France to Italy’s Marco Materazzi and the red card shown to Zidane by referee Horacio Elizondo of Argentina during the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup between Italy and France at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany, Italy’s World Cup winning defender Marco Materazzi revealed 18 August 2007, that he had told French icon Zinedine Zidane during last year’s final that he preferred his ‘whore of a sister’ to his shirt. It was this comment that led to Zidane headbutting Materazzi in the chest and being dramatically sent off. That incident preceded France’s loss in the final on penalties. EPA/A9999 DB WDR
During his interview with Vivo Azzurro, Materazzi described the moments before Zidane’s headbutt and what the former French star told him before the incident.
“When Buffon made that save on Zidane’s header, Gattuso wanted to kill me because I hadn’t marked him,” Zidane said.
“In reality, I was marking Trezeguet, but in certain situations, it was better not to argue with Rino about what had happened.
“Shortly afterwards, in a similar situation, I held him [Zidane] by the shirt for a bit. I wanted to make sure he couldn’t jump. I apologised twice, then the third time he repeated ‘if you want my shirt, I’ll give it to you afterwards,’ I said something back to him…but nothing more than the kind of things we used to say to each other as kids when I played on the seafront in Bari.”
During the same interview, Materazzi revealed that Gattuso and Vincenzo Iaquinta were among the Italian players who seemed unwilling to take a penalty kick in the shootout.
The Azzurri, including Materazzi, scored five from five, while David Trezeguet missed a penalty for France, giving Italy their fourth World Cup title.
Materazzi played 41 games with Italy, scoring two goals, both during the 2006 World Cup.
Category: General Sports
