- Zinedine Zidane headbutted Italian Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final.
- After 18 years without speaking, Materazzi says he is finally ready to make peace
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Marco Materazzi has revealed he is finally ready to bury the hatchet with Zinedine Zidane after the French legend infamously headbutted him in the 2006 World Cup final.
Zidane was dramatically red carded in the final match of his career after colliding with the former Italian star, whose team lifted the trophy.
Materazzi, who claimed in April that he had not spoken to Zidane since the explosive incident, has now revealed that he would be open to a conversation with the former Real Madrid and Juventus star and would not demand an apology.
Speaking to Lucky Block, the Italian said: “I haven’t spoken to Zinedine Zidane since that day, I had never spoken to him before and I never spoke to him again afterwards.
‘We don’t have a relationship. He is a football legend and I have a lot of respect for him as a player and as a coach, winning three Champions Leagues in a row.
‘I’m no longer looking for an apology, but I would love to have a conversation with him now that so many years have passed. It wouldn’t be a problem.’
Zinedine Zidane headbutted Marco Materazzi during the 2006 World Cup final.
Materazzi (above) has revealed he is finally ready to bury the hatchet with the French legend
After Zidane was ordered to leave, Italy won the World Cup in the final.
Materazzi has previously explained that Zidane’s headbutt was an act of retaliation after he made a comment about the Frenchman’s sister.
Insisting that he does not want his legacy to be defined by the infamous moment, the defender previously said The times: ‘I don’t like it, because it doesn’t do justice to what my career was.
‘That episode should never have happened. In the tension of that final in Berlin, between scuffles and insults, Zidane offered me his shirt and I told him no, that I preferred his sister.
Then he turned around and reacted as everyone remembers. I never saw Zinedine again.
In 2022, Zidane admitted that he is “not proud” of how his playing career came to a disastrous end.
The former Real Madrid coach told French outlet Telefoot: “I’m not at all proud of what I did, but it’s part of my past.”
Zidane, considered by many to be one of the all-time football greats, began his career at Cannes before moving to Bordeaux in 1992.
He then signed for Juventus in 1996 and established himself as a generational midfielder capable of excelling in all aspects of the game, making over 150 appearances and winning two league titles with the Italian giants.
Zidane retaliated furiously after Materazzi made a comment about the Frenchman’s sister
Zidane won the World Cup in France in 1998, but retired from the sport under tragic circumstances.
Five years later, Zidane joined Real Madrid for a world-record €77.5m (£64m) and remained there until his retirement in 2006, adding a La Liga and Champions League trophy to his impressive haul. palmares.
Arguably Zidane’s greatest achievement as a player was leading France to World Cup glory in 1998, triumphing on home soil to claim the Ballon d’Or that year.
Since his two separate trophy-laden spells as Real Madrid manager in 2016-2018 and 2019-2021, the 52-year-old is yet to return to management despite being heavily linked with several top jobs across Europe, including Man United and Juventus.
