Materazzi Reveals Trash Talk Behind Zidane's 2006 World Cup Headbutt

• Sports

It has been 17 long years since the 2006 World Cup final, where Italy emerged victorious over France, but only now has the complete truth come to light. The final was forever remembered for the moment when French captain Zinedine Zidane headbutted Italian defender Marco Materazzi, which resulted in his dismissal and marked the end of his illustrious playing career.

The Unraveling of the Mystery

For years, the world was left wondering what Materazzi could have said to provoke such a reaction from Zidane. The French legend hit the crossbar with a header attempt, only to "fall" to the Italian's provocation and headbutt him in the 111th minute of the match.

But now, Materazzi has finally shed light on the situation in an interview with Italian Football TV. He revealed, “You know the NBA? Trash talking? My trash talking was nothing. He offered me his shirt [at the end of the game].

I said ‘no, I’d prefer your sister'”.

“Zidane offered me his jersey, I said no I prefer his sister”

- Marco Materazzi on what was really said before he got headbutted pic.twitter.com/0XlVrgeJso — Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) April 7, 2023

The Equalizer

Before the controversial incident, Materazzi leveled the scores after Zidane had given France an early lead with a spectacular penalty in the seventh minute.

Despite Zidane's dismissal in the 110th minute, with the score locked at 1-1, Italy went on to win the game on penalties, thanks to Materazzi's outstanding performance.

Zidane's Perspective

In an interview with L'Equipe a few years after the incident, Zidane opened up on what had transpired.

He revealed, “He provoked me by talking about my sister Lila. I’m not proud of it, but it’s part of my career. At that time, I was more fragile. He didn’t insult my mother, but he did insult my sister”.

Zidane went on to apologize for his actions, acknowledging the impact it had on the millions of children who were watching the game. France's manager that night, Raymond Domenech, had a sarcastic take on the situation, calling Materazzi the man of the match instead of Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo.

He said, “Materrazzi is the man of the match, not Andrea Pirlo. When one has to put up with what Zidane had to and the referee doesn’t do anything, one understands. You can’t excuse it, but you can understand it.

To see him finish his career in this way is sad. He has had a great career and a great World Cup. Something must have happened but I don’t know what. I don’t think he decided out of the blue to headbutt him, that he wanted to leave the pitch, something must have happened.

The referee saw nothing, the assistant referee saw nothing and then we have the fourth official seeing the video replay and telling the referee”.