French soccer star Zinedine Zidane on Wednesday finally broke his silence, answering the question on everyone’s mind: What was behind his shocking head-butt that felled his Italian opponent in the closing minutes of the World Cup championship?
In interviews on French television, Zidane said Italian defender Marco Materazzi insulted his mother and sister, repeatedly using “harsh, nasty” words that the French captain could not bear to hear.
Zidane’s violent reaction got him ejected from the game and marked a bitter, ugly end to the storied career of this revered son of Algerian immigrants.
“I want to ask forgiveness” from the millions of spectators who watched the match, Zidane said, but, he added, he has no regrets.
“I can’t say I have any regrets about what I did because that would be like admitting that he [Materazzi] had every reason to say what he said,” Zidane said.
Zidane was, he maintained, defending the honor of the female members of his family.
He did not specify what the insults were, and speculation across the globe has focused on several possibilities, including comments laced with sexual innuendo.
“The real culprit should be sanctioned and the real culprit is him,” Zidane said. “He provoked it all.”
Materazzi has acknowledged insulting Zidane but denies insulting Zidane’s mother.
Without offering specifics he said it was the kind of insult that is commonly tossed around the soccer pitch.
Playing in what Zidane said would be his last game, he had tangled with Materazzi in overtime play
More Top Picks Best Paddle Boards For Beginners
Materazzi has not revealed the exact words he used to taunt Zidane, but in an interview to be published Thursday in an Italian paper, Materazzi said he considers mothers to be sacred and off-limits.
“I didn’t say anything to him involving racism, religion or politics, and neither did I say anything about his mother,” Materazzi said in the interview, which was given before Zidane’s TV appearance.
“I lost my mother when I was 15 years old, and I’m very sensitive about mothers.
“Zidane has always been for me a myth, and I admire him greatly.”