View Full Version : Zinedine Zidane
People are saying Italys Materazzi called Zidane a terrorist when he was walking off
Zidane blamed Materazzi comment
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Zinedine Zidane's agent says the France captain headbutted Marco Materazzi in Sunday's World Cup final because the Italian made a "very serious" comment.
Zidane appeared to react to something that was said and was dismissed for his violent charge into his opponent.
"He told me Materazzi said something very serious to him but he wouldn't tell me what," agent Alain Migliaccio told BBC Radio Five Live.
Sources in France say it is believed Materazzi insulted Zidane's mother.
Migliaccio, who spoke to Zidane at 2am on Monday morning, added that Zidane did not elaborate on what Materazzi said.
"I don't know, Zinedine didn't want to talk about it but it will all come out in the next week," he said.
"He is a man who normally lets things wash over him but on Sunday night something exploded inside him.
"He was very disappointed and sad. He didn't want it to end this way."
Meanwhile, France defender William Gallas also believes Zidane was provoked into the headbutt.
"I didn't see it but sometimes football is not only with the ball," the Chelsea star told BBC Sport.
"Sometimes when you have a player who is very clever and says something to you then maybe you are angry and want to 'kill' that player.
"Maybe, and I say maybe, he has made a mistake."
Materazzi refused to answer questions afterwards and Gallas saw that as an admission of guilt by the Italian.
"I don't know what he said. You'll have to ask him but he's gone. I know why he's gone because maybe he's done something wrong."
On his way back to the dressing room after his 110th-minute dismissal, Zidane passed the World Cup trophy.
It brought a sad end to his glittering career and his misery was compounded when France went on to lose 5-3 on penalties.
"Zidane didn't say anything," said Gallas. "He was very disappointed for everybody - for the team and himself.
"I'm very sad for him. It was his last World Cup and everybody wanted to win for him.
"We deserved to win but that is life. I think we played very well and better than Italy but sometimes football is very strange.
"Everybody is disappointed. I hope we will maybe win next time."
French midfielder Patrick Vieira was forced to leave the field because of injury during the second half.
The former Arsenal star said: "We are very frustrated because you work so hard to get to the final and then lose the way we did on penalties.
"That makes it more difficult but that's the way it is and we just have to live with it."
On the Zidane incident, he added: "I don't want to talk about it."
The father of Marco Materazzi believed his son was the real victim in the incident.
"I spoke to my son briefly after the game," said Giuseppe Materazzi.
"Marco had told me he had been provoked. It's as though they have something against him each time.
"In the past two years, Marco has only been on the receiving end and the injuries he has sustained are proof of this.
"I don't want to be controversial, but there are things that have to be said instead of just pointing the finger and putting a black mark against someone."
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Zinedine Zidane won the Golden Ball award for the World Cup's best player, despite being dismissed for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the final.
France captain Zidane polled 2,012 points in the vote by journalists mostly carried out at half-time.
The midfielder, 34, beat Italians Fabio Cannavaro (1,977 points) and Andrea Pirlo (715 points) in the ballot.
He scored a penalty early on in the final but was sent off in extra time as France went on to lose on penalties.
The former international player of the year and 1998 World Cup winner announced last month that he was retiring from football after the tournament.
On Sunday, he put France ahead from the spot in the opening minutes but was sent off after slamming his head into Materazzi's chest during the tense second period of extra time, which ended 1-1.
It was to be his last act as a professional player and, with the French missing his prowess in the ensuing penalty shootout, Italy went on to claim the World Cup title.
BBC sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar was in Berlin to see the game and the vote.
"The vast majority of those votes were cast by journalists before the final was over and that I'm sure is why Zidane has come out top," Farquhar told BBC Radio Five Live.
"But it's going to be a bit embarrassing for Fifa - the man who got sent off in the final for a completely unacceptable foul against another player is the guy who's been chosen by journalists as the man of the tournament.
"The reason the journalists voted for Zidane was this great emotional thing - everybody knew it was his last tournament and the final was his last game of football ever - but most people were dumbfounded to see what he did on Sunday.
"If you'd asked the 2,012 journalists - who voted for him - after the game whether they wanted to change their vote, they probably would have."
Other players on the Golden Ball shortlist included Maniche (Portugal), Michael Ballack (Germany), Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy), Thierry Henry (France), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Patrick Vieira (France) and Miroslav Klose (Germany).
Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn won the prestigious award in 2002, while other previous winners include Brazilians Ronaldo (1998) and Romario ('94), Italy's Salvatore Schillaci ('90) and Argentine great Diego Maradona.
Germany striker Miroslav Klose was the Golden Shoe winner as leading scorer at the World Cup with five goals.
Italian Gianluigi Buffon was named the tournament's best goalkeeper.
And semi-finalists Portugal won Fifa's most entertaining team award.
German striker Lukas Podolski pipped Portuguese winger Ronaldo to be named the World Cup's best young player.
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Fifa says video replays played no part in France captain Zinedine Zidane's dismissal in Sunday's World Cup final.
Zidane was sent off for a headbutt on Italy's Marco Materazzi, which was missed by referee Horacio Elizondo.
Elizondo was advised by his fourth official but France coach Raymond Domenech alleged he had only acted after seeing a video replay.
"This was definitely not video evidence," Fifa spokesman Andreas Herren told BBC Five Live.
"I spoke with the senior person responsible for refereeing in the Fifa administration.
"He clearly told me the fourth official had seen the incident involving Zidane and had advised the referee through the headset.
"The fourth official saw it as it happened on the pitch and directly advised the referee and the referee took action. Full stop.
"It appears the referee was waiting for the situation to clear up a little bit before taking action."
Fifa said although the fifth official does have a TV monitor, he is not permitted to intervene and the fourth official has no access to video replays.
Zidane, who was named the winner of the Golden Ball award by Fifa for the best player in the competition, announced before the World Cup that he was quitting football when France's involvement in the tournament came to an end.
It was a disappointing end to a glittering career for the Real Madrid star, who was dismissed in the 110th minute of the game, which Italy won 5-3 on penalties.
Herren said Fifa would decide whether Zidane will be punished for his vicious headbutt on Materazzi.
"It is up to the disciplinary committee to decide what kind of sanction that would be," he added.
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France coach Raymond Domenech said the referee should have given Zinedine Zidane more protection in the World Cup final defeat against Italy in Berlin.
Zidane was sent off in extra-time for a headbutt on Marco Materazzi before France went on to lose on penalties.
"Materrazzi is the man of the match, not Andrea Pirlo," said Domenech.
"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."
The France coach added that Zidane regretted what had happened but refused to say if he had apologised.
"To see him finish his career in this way is sad," said Domenech. "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."
Italy coach Marcello Lippi criticised his French counterpart and defended Materazzi, saying his players did nothing to implicate Zidane and get him sent off.
"Domenech made a gesture that was not very nice, a gesture as if Materazzi had done something but there was nothing. There was no acting. There was nothing going on," the Italian said.
"And you will realise that it was not Materazzi who got the attention of the referee.
"It was the fourth and fifth officials looking at the video at the edge of the pitch.
"We did not do anything. They saw it and they called the attention of the referee.
"Materazzi was not acting. He took a blow and he was hurt."
Zidane's 1998 World Cup winning team-mate Frank Leboeuf was also unable to defend the France captain's head-butt.
"I cannot accept what he did," the former Chelsea defender told BBC Radio Five Live.
"I think Materazzi said something very bad to him for him to react like that.
"But it doesn't matter what he said - you cannot agree with what he did. I feel very ashamed - because it is not the kind of thing that this team does.
"He has a hot temper; he can react, as we have seen two or three times in his career.
Germany great Franz Beckenbauer said he was stunned by Zinedine Zidane's reaction.
"Something must have been said to Zidane. He is actually a reserved and inoffensive person," said the former World Cup winning captain and coach.
"He weakened his team. We know how sensitive the French are when they lose their captain."
French President Jacques Chirac, who watched the match at Berlin's Olympiastadion, said: "I don't know what happened, why Zidane was punished.
"But I would like to express all the respect that I have for a man who represents at the same time all the most beautiful values of sport, the greatest human qualities one can imagine, and who has honoured French sport and, simply, France.
"It was really a matter of chance," he added on the result. "So it's not for me to console them. I have simply to express my admiration and respect."
France lost the shoot-out 5-3 after David Trezeguet hit the woodwork and Italy converted all their spot-kicks.
"Zidane is the first one to shoot normally but him not being there shouldn't change it that much," Domenech explained.
"We have no particular plan when it comes to penalties, it depends who is on the pitch and who feels that they want to take them.
"I can't say I'm happy just to be a finalist," said Domenech who is also unhappy his side have to attend a parade on Monday on the Champs Elysees.
"For Monday, if it was me who decided, we wouldn't have one. Thirty years ago we did that sort of thing but I don't think it is the correct thing to do now."
And Domenech said it was too soon to reflect on the positives of the match or the tournament.
"I don't have the heart to remember the good things right now. Only the disappointment at the moment," he said.
"I am deeply disappointed. We deserved the title based over the whole match.
"Only victory is beautiful and we missed out just by a little thing. We can say it wasn't too bad but it is the Italians who are the world champions.
"They played for the penalties because that was the only option for them."
Domenech also refused to speculate on his future.
He added: "I'll think about that in two or three days' time when I've had a rest and start to forget this very big disappointment.
"We have the meeting of the French federation on Tuesday and the president will say what has been decided, but this is not important now, I'm not worried about that now, I'm disappointed.
"It's not enough for me that we made the final - I thought we should have won.
"We had Patrick Vieira who was injured, that was an important element, and then the sending off reduced us to 10 men. We had the match very much under control at that point so that was indeed sad."
Fifa is to investigate Zinedine Zidane's dramatic sending off during Sunday's World Cup final in Berlin.
The Frenchman was dismissed in extra-time for a headbutt on Marco Materazzi which happened seconds after the Italian apparently insulted him.
Materazzi has denied calling Zidane a "terrorist" or insulting his mother.
Fifa will now launch an investigation into Zidane's conduct to enable it to clarify the circumstances surrounding the incident as exactly as possible.
Zidane and Materazzi exchanged words with 10 minutes left of extra-time before Zidane lowered his head and rammed Materazzi in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
Materazzi defended himself on Tuesday in the Italian newspaper La Gazetta dello Sport, when he said: "It was the kind of insult you will hear dozens of times and just slips out of the ground.
"I didn't call Zidane a terrorist and certainly didn't mention his mother."
Zidane, who was born and grew up in Marseille, is the son of Algerian immigrants and has suffered taunts about his heritage throughout his football career.
But Materazzi added: "I am ignorant, I don't even know what an Islamic terrorist is; my only terrorist is her," he said pointing to his 10-month-old daughter.
"I did not bring up Zidane's mother; for me a mother is sacred."
Materazzi and Zidane became involved in a verbal spat with 10 minutes to go in extra-time with France and Italy drawing 1-1 in the World Cup final.
After Materazzi's insult Zidane shoved his head into the Italian's chest and was sent off, with Italy going on to win the match 5-3 on penalties.
"I held his shirt, for only a few seconds," said Materazzi, who had scored Italy's equaliser after Zidane put France ahead from the penalty spot.
"He turned towards me and scoffed at me, looking at me with super arrogance, up and down.
"He said 'if you really want my shirt, you can have it later.'
"It's true, I shot back with an insult."
Media organisations across Europe have been trying to decipher what Materazzi said to provoke such an extreme reaction from Zidane.
But it remains unclear exactly what was said and the BBC has broadcast two different versions.
BBC Radio Five Live asked for help from a deaf lip reader, Jessica Rees, who read the words phonetically to an Italian translator.
She deciphered the insult as being "you're the son of a terrorist whore" - a translation also carried by many national newspapers in Britain on Tuesday.
The BBC's Ten O'Clock News also called in experts to study the television footage of the incident and determined the following:
Materazzi's first word to Zidane was "no" before he then told him to "calm down".
He then accused him of being a "liar" and wished "an ugly death to you and your family" on the day the Frenchman's mother had been taken to hospital ill. This was followed by "Go f*** yourself".
Zidane's agent, Alain Migliaccio, has hinted that Zidane will soon reveal exactly what was said by Materazzi.
Piara Powar, national co-ordinator for the anti-racism group Kick It Out told Five Live, said: "If there was a racial slur then Fifa needs to act."
Keith Hackett, head of referees in England, said that if it can be proved that Matterazzi racially abused the Frenchman, then Fifa should take retrospective action for "the good of the game."
This has all been reported on www.bbc.co.uk (http://www.bbc.co.uk) - Sport
ZZ deserved to head butt him
I don't believe that 2 lip readers could be wrong. I also don't believe that ZZ would act as he did on front of millions for just an ordinary insult.
I hope the red card is retrospectively removed.
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Zinedine Zidane has apologised for his headbutt on Italian defender Marco Materazzi in Sunday's World Cup final.
But the French legend does not regret his actions, alleging on television that Materazzi provoked him by insulting both his mother and sister.
"It was inexcusable. I apologise," said the 34-year-old Zidane. "But I can't regret what I did because it would mean that he was right to say all that."
Materazzi responded by denying he said anything about Zidane's mother.
"I didn't mention anything about religion, politics or racism," said the Italian on Wednesday.
"I didn't insult his mother. I lost my mother when I was 15 years old and still get emotional when I talk about it.
"Naturally, I didn't know that his mother was in hospital but I wish her all the best.
"Zidane is my hero and I have always admired him a lot."
Zidane was sent off for headbutting Materazzi in the chest in the second period of extra-time in the final in Berlin.
The Frenchman claimed he had been provoked by the Italian and appeared on French TV station Canal Plus on Wednesday to explain his actions.
"It was seen by two or three billion people on television and millions and millions of children were watching," he said.
"It was an inexcusable gesture and to them, and the people in education whose job it is to show children what they should and shouldn't do, I want to apologise."
Asked what had caused to react so violently, he said Materazzi had directed some "very hard words" at him.
"You hear them once and you try to move away. But then you hear them twice, and then a third time," said Zidane.
"I am a man and some words are harder to hear than actions. I would rather have taken a blow to the face than hear that."
Zidane, who retired from football after Sunday's final, also called for Materazzi to be punished for his part in the incident.
"We always talk about the reaction, and obviously it must be punished. But if there is no provocation, there is no need to react," said the former Real Madrid and Juventus player.
"Above all it was a very serious provocation. It was an inexcusable gesture but the real culprit is the person who provoked it.
"Do you imagine that in a World Cup final like that with just 10 minutes to go to the end of my career, I am going to do something like that because it gives me pleasure?"
Since the incident, rumours have run rife about what Materazzi said to get such a reaction from the Frenchman.
There were claims the Italian had called Zidane a "terrorist", but in Tuesday's edition of the Italian newspaper La Gazetta dello Sport, Materazzi said: "It was the kind of insult you will hear dozens of times and just slips out on the field.
"I didn't call Zidane a terrorist and certainly didn't mention his mother. I did not bring up Zidane's mother; for me a mother is sacred."
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Zidane, who was born and grew up in Marseille, is the son of Algerian immigrants and has suffered taunts about his heritage throughout his football career.
The two players initially clashed in the Italian penalty area before words were exchanged.
Materazzi said: "I held his shirt, for only a few seconds. He turned towards me and scoffed at me, looking at me with super arrogance, up and down.
"He said 'if you really want my shirt, you can have it later'. It's true, I shot back with an insult."
Fifa is to investigate Zidane's sending-off and president Sepp Blatter has hinted the France star could be stripped of the Golden Ball award he won after being voted the best player in the World Cup by journalists.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/5169342.stm
i personally believe we would all do the same . having said that . violence never ever is the correct action ... as i said though .. i think we can all understand why he did what he did
I agree with you Mr B
I would of rather got sent off for headbutting someone than letting it go. When it comes to family no one has the right to say anything about them. A world class player exits his career with a red card but he doesn't regret what he did and to be honest I wouldn't of aswell. As for Materazzi I hope FIFA take action soon.
I got the following from a political blog:
. Today, with the help of Italian lip-reader Arturo Belladini, I can reveal what drove Zidane to self destruct. Materazzi is seen to hold Zidane's shirt on the edge of the penalty box in extra-time at which point Zidane says "If you want my shirt so bad you can have it." Materazzi responded "I don't want your shirt, you m***** f*****! You're a f****** old man." As they jog away Zidane is seen to laugh at this and it is unclear how he responds due to him having his back to the TV camera. Materazzi then hurls a volley of abuse. "You should've quit two years ago, you're a f****** has-been! M***** f*****! Your mum is a f****** Muslim terrorist and you are too! F*** you, old man! F*** you, old man! This arena is not for you anymore, m***** f****! Your sister is a whore and the whole Italian team has f***** her! F*** off, you bald c**t!" Zidane carries on jogging away.
This is even worse than previously reported. I think it's disgusting.
mooneynulson
14,07,06, 21:10
i think thats wrong, thats too long for what he could have said if that makes sense
It's a translation! My 1st language isn't English and often a translation can be much longer than the original.
There is absolutely no reason to disbelieve the lip-reader.
mooneynulson
14,07,06, 21:43
It's a translation! My 1st language isn't English and often a translation can be much longer than the original.
There is absolutely no reason to disbelieve the lip-reader.
Nothing can be done about it, the same happend to a player called neil lennon and nothing happend to him for what he said
FIFA are taking everything very serious now and I think something will be done about this, if its left then it will show that they don't care and other players will do it
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