Materazzi on Zidane's headbutt: "That episode should never have happened"

Marco Materazzi will always be remembered for the headbutt that Zinedine Zidane gave him in the 2006 World Cup final, when Italy beat France. An image that the World Cup winner recalled in an interview for '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, amidst the bickering and insults, Zidane offered me his shirt, and I said no, that I preferred his sister.Then he turned around and reacted as everyone remembers. I never saw Zinedine again."

Marco Materazzi also refused to choose between the 2006 World Cup and the 2010 Champions League, which he won with Inter at the Santiago Bernabeu against Bayern Munich: "Do you prefer mum or dad? I can't choose one over the other. They were, without a doubt, the best nights of my career".

"In fact, it was 10 months. I remember the Premier League was different, nothing like it is now. Italy was much better. Back then, if you played in another country, it was almost impossible to be called up by the national coach. You almost didn't exist," he concluded, referring to his time in England.

 

April 1, 2024