16 years ago, in the World Cup final 2006, the event of Zinedine Zidane headbutting Marco Materazzi surely remains etched in the memory of any football fan, especially those French supporters at that time.
Match developments before Zidane’s brutal headbutt
A storm for a whole week made the Olympiastadion in Berlin hot and humid throughout the World Cup final held on July 9, 2006. The final began with each side scoring in the first 20 minutes, marking the first final since 1986 where both teams scored.
Referee Elizondo awarded a penalty when he believed Marco Materazzi fouled Florent Malouda in the 6th minute. Zinedine Zidane easily opened the scoring when he took this opportunity in the 7th minute with a Panenka that glanced off the underside of the crossbar and went into the net.
Materazzi quickly redeemed himself for Italy when he equalized in the 19th minute, a tricky header from a corner kick by Andrea Pirlo. The second half was largely controlled by the French team, but all efforts from both teams throughout the 90 minutes only resulted in a 1 – 1 score, forcing the match into extra time.
In the 104th minute, Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon made a potential save when he stopped a very dangerous header from Zidane. This was just before the tragedy began.
Zinedine Zidane knocks down Marco Materazzi
Just a few minutes later, suddenly a blue-shirted player fell to the ground. Something had happened. The match was temporarily stopped by referee Elizondo, who needed to consult with his
In fact, the clearest person about the incident of Zidane headbutting Materazzi seems to be Elizondo. In an interview in Issue Eleven of The Blizzard, he answered reporters:
“I waited to see if he would get up – he didn’t get up … didn’t get up … didn’t get up – and I stopped the match. From where I was to where Materazzi was, it only took about 25, 30 meters to walk.”
He asked both of his
That theory is similar to the theory proposed by Jean-Philippe Toussaint – a Belgian intellectual in the essay “Zidane’s Melancholy”. Toussaint argues that when Buffon had thwarted Zidane’s header, he realized that he no longer had “the means, or strength, willpower, or determination, to perform… a final act of pure form”.
In fact, “the form is against him”: unable to accept his “irreparable helplessness”, Zidane was determined to “destroy” his “appropriate exit”.
The newspaper Le Figaro called the action Zidane headbutting Materazzi at the 2006 World Cup “contemptible”. Meanwhile, the cover of L’Equipe posed the question: “What will we say to future generations?… Why did that action come from a man like him, who has become an eternal idol?”.
Actor Frank Leboeuf said he felt “ashamed” of what Zidane had done.
Conclusion
Of course, the truth is that we will never know the whole story of Zidane headbutting the Italian goalkeeper. For all the commentators, it remains such a seismic event that every attempt at explanation seems fundamentally inadequate.
The dream of the 2006 World Cup championship for the French was shattered, but they will never forget what Zidane contributed to the national football. For them, even though Zidane headbutting Materazzi directly caused the cup to slip from the French team’s hands, he will always be a national hero, and a hero can also make mistakes at times.
