Materazzi reveals what Zidane said before 2006 World Cup final headbutt

Former Italy defender Marco Materazzi reveals what Zinedine Zidane told him before giving him a headbutt in the 2006 World Cup Final between Italy and France: ‘If you want my shirt, I’ll give it to you afterwards.’

Ex-Italy and Inter defender Materazzi reflected on the famous incident involving Zidane during the 2006 World Cup Final, which led to a red card for the French icon in the last game of his career.

Zidane to Materazzi: ‘If you want my shirt…’

During his interview with Vivo Azzurro, Materazzi described the moments before Zidane’s headbutt and what the former French star told him before the incident.

“When Buffon made that save on Zidane’s header, Gattuso wanted to kill me because I hadn’t marked him,” Zidane said.

“In reality, I was marking Trezeguet, but in certain situations, it was better not to argue with Rino about what had happened.

“Shortly afterwards, in a similar situation, I held him [Zidane] by the shirt for a bit. I wanted to make sure he couldn’t jump. I apologised twice, then the third time he repeated ‘if you want my shirt, I’ll give it to you afterwards,’ I said something back to him…but nothing more than the kind of things we used to say to each other as kids when I played on the seafront in Bari.”

During the same interview, Materazzi revealed that Gattuso and Vincenzo Iaquinta were among the Italian players who seemed unwilling to take a penalty kick in the shootout.

The Azzurri, including Materazzi, scored five from five, while David Trezeguet missed a penalty for France, giving Italy their fourth World Cup title.

Materazzi played 41 games with Italy, scoring two goals, both during the 2006 World Cup.