It may well be the most iconic red card of all time. With the score tied at 1-1 in extra time of the World Cup final, Zinedine Zidane floored Marco Materazzi with a headbutt in the final game of his career, seeing red shortly after. France would go on to lose the penalty shootout.
It’s been the subject of many years of speculation, with the prevailing story filtering through the media that Materazzi had called Zidane’s sister a prostitute.
Years later, Zidane would reveal that it was indeed a comment related to his sister Lila, as per Onda Cero.
“He provoked me by talking about my sister Lila. I’m not proud of it, but it’s part of my career. At that time, I was more fragile. He didn’t insult my mother, but he did insult my sister,” Zidane had told L’Equipe.
Speaking to Italian Football TV, Materazzi has revealed exactly what he said, at least according to him.
“Zidane offered me his jersey, I said no I prefer his sister”
– Marco Materazzi on what was really said before he got headbutted pic.twitter.com/0XlVrgeJso
— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) April 7, 2023
This comes in the wake of an incident of violence between two players in La Liga this weekend, as Fede Valverde allegedly waited for Villarreal’s Alex Baena in the car park after the match, punching the latter in the face.
