If Zinedine Zidane missed his exit from the football scene it is largely because of him. Marco Materazzi knocked him off his hinges in the final of the 2006 World Cup. The Italian has already returned to this dark episode several times, and he did it once again this Tuesday when he was invited to the Super Moscato show on RMC.
The one nicknamed “Matrix” has for the first time expressed what looks like regrets regarding this famous scene. He also shared details that he has never mentioned before.
Materazzi claims to have done nothing
“Honestly, I didn’t do anything. Initially it was Gattuso’s fault, he began by confiding. What happened was that during the first period of extra time, I don’t know if you remember, there was a huge save from Buffon. And on this action, in reality, I clash with Gattuso because he blames me for not having been marking Zidane who had struck while I was supposed to be marking Trezeguet. It was him, Gattuso, who should have been marking Zidane. So in reality he and I butted heads saying: ‘it’s your fault, it’s my fault’. And then what happened was that I said that if I hadn’t retained Zidane we would have been in trouble. We found ourselves clashing, there was nervousness and this is what happened behind. »
Materazzi, however, does not deny having insulted Zidane’s sister: “ This is all true and those who have played football understand it. Maybe yes, I was smart to avoid it and he jumped to put his head in. And anyway it’s true that I would have wanted his jersey. But lo and behold, I answered that and this happened. »
The world champion then indicated that he would have nothing against seeing ZZ again, even if he is not what he is looking for
: “I would be lying to you if I told you that it doesn’t matter to me whether or not I meet Zinédine Zidane. We had the opportunity to see each other. I congratulated him, especially for his post-career as a player and for his three Champions League titles with Real Madrid. He was a great coach in addition to his career as a great player. So afterward, why not meet. I admit that I don’t necessarily think about it all the time. If at most, he was an ex-teammate and we had already played together, but in this case, we have never played together so I don’t see why we should necessarily meet. I think he thinks the same thing too. »
