Zidane: insults provoked head-butt attack
(AP)
Updated: 2006-07-13 14:49 The Zinedine Zidane mystery
is not quite solved yet. In his first, highly awaited comments since the World
Cup final, the French soccer star only partly explained what caused him to react
in fury and head-butt an Italian opponent: repeated harsh insults about his
mother and sister.
France's soccer team
captain Zinedine Zidane (R) takes part in a television interview with
journalist Michel Denisot (L) in Paris, July 12, 2006, in which he
explained his head-butt on Italy defender Marco Materazzi during the July
9, 2006 final of the soccer World Cup. FIFA will open a disciplinary
investigation into the circumstances of the incident.
[Reuters] |
But Zidane didn't go into specifics about what Marco Materazzi said.
Materazzi swears he never insulted Zidane's mother. And FIFA is still
investigating.
Relaxed and soft-spoken, Zidane repeatedly apologized to fans — especially to
children — in several interviews late Wednesday.
"Above all, I'm human," he said.
The 34-year-old midfielder said he didn't regret the abrupt, violent outburst
Sunday that marked the end of his 18-year professional career.
"I tell myself that if things happened this way, it's because somewhere up
there it was decided that way," he told TF1 television. "And I don't regret
anything that happened, I accept it."
Zidane sidestepped questions about exactly what Materazzi said.
"I would rather have taken a punch in the jaw than have heard that," he told
the Canal Plus channel, stressing that Materazzi's language was "very harsh,"
and that he repeated the insults several times.
Zidane and Materazzi exchanged words after Italy broke up a French attack in
extra time. Seconds later, Zidane lowered his head and rammed Materazzi in the
chest, knocking him to the ground.
Zidane was sent off, reducing France to 10 men. Italy went on to win in a
penalty shootout with Zidane — an excellent penalty-taker — in the locker room.
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