It’s been 18 long years since the infamous FIFA World Cup 2006 final held in Olympiastadion, Berlin, where Italy beat France 5-3 in the penalty shootouts to claim their fourth title in the prestigious competition. This mega match is remembered as an infamous one for one incident, and it’s Zinedine Zidane’s sent-off after he headbutted Italy’s Marco Materazzi. Well, after so many years Materazzi once again spoke about the incident and Zidane.
Now aged 51, Materazzi threw light on one of the most talked about moments of not only his career but of football in the 21st century. Speaking to LuckyBlock (as per the Mirror), Materazzi said that he hasn’t spoken to France football legend Zinedine Zidane after the incident in the final, where he was headbutted. He also clarified that they don’t have any relationship.
Marco Materazzi however went on to make an offer in the conversation, saying that he is willing to have a conversation, despite not receiving any apology from Zidane, as so many years have passed by, and there would be no problem now. Materazzi said, “He is a legend of the game, and I have a lot of respect for him as a player and a manager, winning three Champions Leagues in a row. I’m no longer looking for an apology but would happily have a conversation with him now that so many years have passed. There would be no problem.”
Also Read: Werder Bremen joins St. Pauli in boycotting X over Trump-Musk Alliance
What happened between Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi?
In the 2006 FIFA World Cup finale, the taste of goals was received from the initial moments. France’s national side were given a penalty in the starting minutes itself, Zidane, the then biggest star of France converted it to a lead with a beautiful Panenka goal. In return. The eventual winners Italy retaliated immediately. Materazzi scored the equalizer in the 19th minute and made the score 1-1.
The scores remained the same till the end of the match. But, in between during the 110’ minute, Zinedine Zidane who was playing the last game of his career was shown red for headbutting Marco Materazzi, the only other goalscorer in the game. Post the violence, France were cut to 10 men, but still no result came, and the match went till shoot-outs, where Italy won 5-3.
It was being rumoured for a long that Materazzi abused Zidane’s mother, which fumed Zidane to headbutt him. Zidane recently cleared the air that Materazzi didn’t abuse his mother but instead insulted his sister Lila, which made him angry primarily. Marco Materazzi too cleared that Zidane was offering him his jersey in a friendly banter, and Materazzi said ‘no, I prefer your sister’. And, we can conclude that this comment wasn’t received well by Zidane, and he reacted that way.
The anger seems to have melted now, as finally, Marco Materazzi has offered to reestablish talks with the French legend Zinedine Zidane.
Also Read: FC Barcelona Injury Update: Andreas Christensen latest details, recovery timeline