Zinedine Zidane, former France midfielder, addressed the infamous headbutt he gave Italy defender Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup Final: “I’m not proud of it.”
The former Juventus star was sent off in extra time during the game after headbutting Materazzi in the chest, his final act as a professional because he retired from football after the game.
The score was 1-1 at the time, but Italy won the World Cup on penalties in Berlin.
In an interview with Telefoot ahead of his 50th birthday on June 23, he said of the incident, “I’m not at all proud of what I did, but it’s part of my past.”
Earlier in the match, Zidane had opened the scoring with a penalty on seven minutes which had chipped over Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and asked why he chose that method, he added: “It was the start of the match and I thought there would still be enough time.
“I had a second or two to think about how to take it: I had in front of me a goalkeeper who knows me really well so I had to think of something.
“In that effort, there was certainly technique, I don’t think there was madness. You can miss a penalty but in that moment it is what I had to do.”
Zidane also spoke about his career highlight, winning the 1998 World Cup on home soil. France knocked Italy out on penalties in the quarter-finals en route to victory.
