The scandalous event that occurred in Berlin on July 9, 2006 during the final match of the world championship in football between the national teams of France and Italy, is still being discussed by the fans. Then Zidane hit Materazzi with his head in the chest, for which he was removed from the field as the main referee of the match. The incident happened in the second half of extra time, and the legendary Frenchman could not help his team win. This story caused the split of millions of not only ardent fans, but also ordinary people into two camps, each of which supported its own side of the conflict. Moreover, as a result of it, human morality was opposed to sports professionalism. This article will discuss what Materazzi told Zidane and what it led to.
The background of the duel
The French national team, according to most experts, passed the tournament bracket and got the right to participate in the main match of the championship very unexpectedly, due to a number of happy coincidences. On the other hand, the Italians were also skeptical of the Italians' chances of final success before the start of the championship.
Key episodes of the finale
The account in the final game was opened after a hit by Zidane, who spent his last match in his career, from a penalty spot. The Frenchman made a foul shot, but the ball still ended up in the net of Buffon's goal. The penalty was earned by Florent Malouda, on which fouled Materazzi. Some time later, the same Marco leveled the score, scoring his head after a pitch from a corner kick. In extra time, at the 110th minute, there was a strong blow from the famous “bald head” directly into the chest of the Italian defender, who immediately fell on the lawn. After several minutes of meetings with the side referee, the head referee showed the Frenchman a red card. At that moment, he was absolutely indifferent to what Materazzi told Zidane, than he provoked him to this act. The French team, which up to this point had a slight playing advantage, kept a draw until the penalty shoot-out, which lost 5-3 due to an inaccurate hit by David Trezeguet, who hit the crossbar.
Contradictory Decision of the Chief Justice
The Argentinean Horacio Elisondo was appointed the main arbiter of the decisive match of the 2006 world football championship in Berlin. He later admitted that he realized the importance of his decision at that moment only after reaction from the media. Along with this, he emphasized that he showed a red card to an ordinary football player, the same as everyone else. The referee stated that he did not see the moment of the strike. No wonder he didn't know what Materazzi had said to Zidane. The fact is that then the ball was in the opposite section of the field, so Elisondo was there, watching the game. The fact that the Italian defender collapsed on the lawn and does not rise from it, his assistant told him through the headphone. The game has been stopped. It so happened that the episode did not fall into the field of view of any of the side judges. Only reserve arbiter Luis Medina Castallejo reported that he saw the Frenchman strike the Italians with a header in the chest. Most players also did not understand what was happening. The only exceptions were Gattuso and Buffon, who were nearby. Horacio Elisondo once again ran to one of the side judges and asked him to be more careful in the future, because there were only ten minutes of playing time left. He knew that the lineman did not see anything, but earned himself at least some kind of cover. After that, the chief referee returned and showed Zidane a red card.
Implications for the arbitrator
A few months after completing the mundial, this Argentine referee ended his professional career, despite the fact that he had the right to serve official football matches for another six years. Moreover, at that time he was recognized as one of the best referees on the planet. Be that as it may, there is every reason to believe that the only reason for this decision was the episode, which was attended by Materazzi and Zidane during the match in Berlin on July 9, 2006.
Book Materazzi
For some time, the Italian defender refused his insults against the Frenchman. He claimed that it was a common provocation, which is characteristic of many other matches of the highest level. Moreover, Marco Materazzi even managed to make money on this scandalous episode. He did this by writing a book in which he cited about two hundred diverse remarks that could serve as the reason for what happened, thereby demonstrating his developed fantasy. In this work, he admitted that he took part in the game not so much due to professionalism, but because of the injury of another defender. Nevertheless, he took part in all the key episodes - earned a penalty for the French, evened the score and provoked the removal of the enemy leader.
Official version
In order to get to the truth and find out what Materazzi Zidane said during the sensational football match, many actions were taken. Some authoritative publications even attracted specialists who could read lips, but no one could answer this question for sure. About a year later, interest in the episode began to slowly subside, so the scandalous defender decided to remind himself and reveal this secret. During a speech on one of the Italian television channels, he said that the Frenchman during the match four times wondered if Marco wanted to try on his shirt. After the last such question, Materation replied that he would rather have preferred Zidane's sister. The Italian later apologized publicly.
Zidane's opinion
One of the best football players of recent times - Zinedine Zidane - did not comment on the current situation for a very long time. However, over time, he described that episode in a slightly different way. In particular, he stated that Marco grabbed him by the shirt for the whole game. The Frenchman asked him not to do this and promised to give it after the game. In response to this, he heard insults addressed to his sister and mother. As a result, Zidane could not restrain himself, because words often become more offensive than actions. Friends of the Frenchman several times stated that he sincerely regrets that he let down his team at such a crucial moment. But she will never apologize to the Italian.
Effects
The day after the match, Italy was euphoric and continued to celebrate a historic victory. At the same time, the rest of the football world continued to wonder why Zidane hit Materazzi. Be that as it may, after the return of the French team to their homeland, President Jacques Chirac called all of its players national heroes. Later, Zidane himself, according to a poll by the reputable Journal du Dimanche, was named France's most popular person in 2006, gaining 48 percent of the vote. Moreover, he was awarded the Golden Ball, awarded to the best football player on the planet. As for Materazzi, he took part in the commercial and published a book, which was already mentioned above. Along with this, the reputation of a dirty provocateur was fixed to him until the end of his professional career. Over time, a sculpture appeared in Paris, depicting a world-famous episode.