A simple quip. Calmly slumped on a sofa, Marco Materazzi answered questions from Italian Football TV about the words that led Zinedine Zidane to headbutt him in the 2006 World Cup final in Berlin. France then lost on penalties (1-1, 5-3 on pens) and since then the Italian defender has obviously lost none of his cheekiness.
He first minimized the words slipped into the ear of the former number 10. “You live in the United States, don’t you? You know the NBA, trash-talking… My trash-talking was nothing compared to real trash-talking, ”he assured before going into the details of his exchange with the legend of the Blues. “He offered me his jersey (ndr: at the end of the match). I said : No, I prefer your sister! Laughter in the audience.
At the time, Materazzi found himself on the ground seconds after saying those flowery words, in the 107th minute of the final. “I didn’t expect it, it was crazy,” he continued, surprised that his shot worked so well to annoy “Zizou”. “How many people have already called you a son of a bitch,” he said to the crowd during the interview.
If he was writhing in pain, he claims today that he felt “nothing” at the time. During the post-headbutt penalty shootout, the former Inter Milan defender scored his attempt. Now 49, Materazzi had already mentioned this clash in 2020.
Three years earlier, Zidane had also returned to this sequence during an interview for Téléfoot: “I am not proud of this gesture, I apologized to all the young people, the coaches, the volunteers who make football is something else. »