Marco Materazzi reignites controversy over Zinedine Zidane's gesture
Twenty years after the 2006 World Cup final, Marco Materazzi returns to the columns to reignite the debate around Zinédine Zidane’s headbutt, which resurfaces in the Nations League match between Italy and France.
The former Inter Milan defender dramatizes the incident by comparing it to a recent tragic event.
A tragic parallel
He draws a bold parallel with the death, which occurred on November 3, of footballer Jesus de Miguel, struck by goalkeeper Jesus Owono. This tragedy leads him to realize late the danger such an impact poses, recalling the one suffered in Berlin. “The death of Jesus de Miguel made me thank God that nothing serious happened. In the case of this goalkeeper, we are talking about involuntary homicide following a play… and what if it had happened to me?” he wonders.
Materazzi still hasn't digested Zidane’s refusal to express remorse, the Frenchman having said last October that he was not proud of his action. “Today, I would say in Zidane’s place what I would have said that night, twenty years ago, or the next day: I made a mistake, but I was provoked; judge for yourselves what happened, I offer my apologies,” he explained.
Materazzi compares Zidane's headbutt to the death of Jesus De Miguel
He believes Zidane would have been seen as a great gentleman, while Materazzi would have been labeled “the usual fool”, the one who pushed him to the limit in his own way. In his view, it would have ended better, but everyone sees things their own way and, in any case, the story would have stopped at that point.
This resentment is fueled by a missed meeting at the Melia Hotel in Milan in November 2010, on the eve of a Milan‑Real clash, where he recounts: “The opportunity arose, that’s a fact. I leave the hotel after greeting Mourinho, and Zidane parks his car at the back. Seeing him, he hesitates, pretends to turn back, but I greet him and he replies: don’t worry, these things happen, it’s in the past.” Materazzi laments that Zidane later backtracked on his remarks, claiming he would have taken him for a simple supporter.
Paradoxically, he concludes by paying strong tribute to the coach, stating that he likes everything about his method. “He has worked in top‑level dressing rooms, he knows the players, he understands champions, he gives them space and creates empathy: it’s essential to win,” analyses Materazzi. He adds that Zidane has achieved a lot by coaching Cristiano Ronaldo, Bale, Marcelo or Modric, and that one should certainly not pretend to teach him free‑kicks, as Rafael Benítez did. Thus, he praises the coach while keeping the dispute between the two men alive.