BERLIN (AP) -- Was it something he said?
With France and Italy tied in extra time of Sunday's World Cup
final, Zinedine Zidane head-butted Marco Materazzi in the chest and
was ejected. France went on to lose on penalty kicks.
The day after, still no one knew what the Italian defender might
have said to the French star.
"The Italians did everything they could do to provoke Zidane,"
France defender William Gallas said.
Seconds before, Materazzi had grabbed a handful of Zidane's
jersey just as a French attack on goal passed harmlessly by. The
two exchanged words as they walked back up the field, well behind
the play. Then, without warning, Zidane spun around, lowered his
head and rammed Materazzi, knocking him to the ground.
The Paris-based anti-racism advocacy group SOS-Racism issued a
statement Monday quoting "several very well informed sources from
the world of football" as saying Materazzi called Zidane a "dirty
terrorist." It demanded that FIFA, soccer's world governing body,
investigate and take any appropriate action.
FIFA, which reviews all red cards at the World Cup, would not
comment on the specifics.
"This is a disciplinary matter now. I can't give any statements
now," FIFA spokesman Markus Siegler said.
Materazzi, meanwhile, was quoted as denying the terrorist
comment.
"It is absolutely not true, I didn't call him a terrorist, I
don't know anything about that," the Italian news agency ANSA
quoted Materazzi as saying when he arrived with his team at an
Italian military airfield.
"What happened is what all the world saw live on TV," the
Italian player said, referring to the head-butting.
Zidane's agent, Alain Migliaccio, was quoted by the BBC as
saying the France captain told him the Italian "said something
very serious to him, but he wouldn't tell me what."
Whatever it was, it was enough to infuriate Zidane.
"Zizou is someone who reacts to things," said Aime Jacquet,
Zidane's coach at the 1998 World Cup. "Unfortunately he could not
control himself. It's terrible to see him leave this way."
Even with the ejection, Zidane still won the Golden Ball as the
World Cup's best player.
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Zidane, who came out of retirement to help France qualify for
the World Cup and said he would quit soccer completely after the
tournament, got 2,012 points in the vote by journalists covering
the tournament. The three-time player of the year beat Fabio
Cannavaro (1,977) and Andrea Pirlo (715), both of Italy.
Zidane's red card was anything but unusual. He was sent off 14
times in his career at the club and international level.
At the 1998 World Cup, he stomped on a Saudi Arabian opponent.
Sitting out a two-match ban, he came back to score two goals
against Brazil in the final.
Five years ago with Juventus, he head-butted an opponent in a
Champions League match against Hamburger SV after being tackled
from behind.
The reaction to Sunday's outburst was mixed in France. President
Jacques Chirac called Zidane "a genius of world football," and
former Sports Minister Marie-George Buffet said Zidane's aggressive
act was unforgivable for its effect on children watching the game.
"This morning, Zinedine, what do we tell our children, and all
those for whom you were the living role model for all times?"
French sports daily L'Equipe wrote.
Zidane, whose parents emigrated to France from Algeria, became a
proud symbol of a multicultural France and is adored in Algeria.
In the mountains where Zidane's parents grew up, Atmanne
Chelouah carried off a life-size cardboard cutout of the player at
"Cafe Zizou" after the red card.
"We are very disappointed," Chelouah said. "He should have
kept his cool."
But lashing out is nothing new to Zidane, who grew up playing on
concrete in an impoverished immigrant neighborhood of Marseille,
where fouls and insults are met with instant retribution.
Perhaps he could never shake off that you-or-me mentality.
"You can take the man out of the rough neighborhood, but you
can't take the rough neighborhood out of the man," striker Thierry
Henry said Sunday.
At this year's World Cup, where Zidane sat out one match for
getting two yellow cards in the first round, he sent a message to
his teammates. In a rare television interview, he said, "We die
together."
They were ready to go as far as they could for him, yet he
punished them.
"He'll carry that weight for a long time," France coach
Raymond Domenech said of Zidane's latest red card.
Zidane nearly won the match with a late header after giving
France an early lead with a penalty, taking two steps forward to
slowly chip the ball into the air while goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon
dived to his right.
It was his third goal of the tournament and sixth in the last 10
major tournament matches. He scored three at the 2004 European
Championship.
Zidane's teammates had all wanted to help him to one last
trophy. Failing that, they refused to kick him when he was down.
"For all that Zidane has done for the national team, you have
to say 'Thank you and well done,'" said striker David Trezeguet,
the only player to miss his penalty kick in the shootout.
