[KennyVendetta]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1770

Revealed: The disgusting abuse that sparked Zidane's fury
By BETH HALE and PETER ALLEN, Daily Mail 22:03pm 10th July 2006

It is the question on every football fan's lips. What did the Italian footballer say to prompt Zinedine Zidane's shocking headbutt in the closing moments of Sunday's World Cup final?

The answer, it has emerged, was a vile stream of racial and personal abuse.

First Marco Matterazzi called the French star the Italian equivalent of 'n*****', and then insulted both his mother and his Muslim background by saying he is the 'son of a terrorist whore.



The episiode dominated fan debate on the internet, sparking heated conversations and even a cheeky 'get sent off like Zidane' game as fans taunted one another.


The revelation will prove even more of an embarrassment to football's governing body than the ironic award of player of the tournament to French captain Zidane.

To millions of television viewers around the world it appeared as if the two sportsman were enjoying a jocular exchange, until the moment Zidane lowered his head and sent his opponent plummeting to the ground.

With the help of an expert lip reader the Daily Mail was able to decipher what led to the violent outburst.

First defender Marco Materazzi spoke in Italian - a language understood by Zidane who once played for Italian side Juventus - grabbed his opponent and told him 'hold on, wait, that one's not for a n***** like you.'

It is not clear whether the Italian was referring to the ball heading their way or his own groping of Zidane.

The expert, who can lip read foreign languages phonetically and translate with the aid of an Italian interpreter, was unable to see what Zidane said in reply.

But she saw that as the players walked forward Materazzi said: 'We all know you are the son of a terrorist whore.'

Then, just before the headbutt, he was seen saying,: 'So just f*** off.'

The translation tallies with the words of Zidane's agent who said the player had told him the Italian made a 'very serious' comment.

'Zinedine didn't want to talk about it but it will all come out in the next week,' said Alain Miglaccio.

'He is a man who normally lets things wash over him but on Sunday night something exploded inside him.'

To some observers who saw Zidane floor his opponent with nine minutes to go, that description might appear an understatement.

The 34-year-old midfielder was red carded in a move that did his side no favours as they went on to lose the final on penalties.

Golden Ball award

But shame was replaced with the glow of the Golden Ball award for the tournament's best player.

For FIFA the award - voted for by journalists before half time in the final game - will be an unwelcome embarrassment.

The organisation has been battling to outlaw violence on the pitch - as well as racism. But with a typically-Gallic shrug of the shoulders Zidane's home nation gave him a hero's welcome - led by President Jacques Chirac.

The politician was positively beaming as he chatted with the player, who announced he would retire after the championship, before a lunch at the Elysee palace in Paris.

For a brief moment it even appeared the sportsman, who had been playing in what was to be his last game as a professional player, was demonstrating just how he executed that infamous headbutt.

With a somewhat untimely tribute, Chirac praised the player as a 'virtuoso' and 'a genius of world football'.

He continued: 'You are also a man of heart, commitment, conviction. That's why France admires and loves you.'

Earlier he said: 'I would like to express all the respect that I have for a man who represents at the same time all the most beautiful values of sport, the greatest human qualities one can imagine, and who has honoured French sport and, simply, France.'

French manager Raymond Domenech also played down the fuss about the head butt - saying Zidane was the victim of rough treatment from his Italian opponents throughout the final in Berlin's Olympic Stadium.

The player is fiercely proud of his family’s Arab background - and his mother who struggled with almost no money to bring up five children.

The family were originally from the village of Taguemoune, in the remote hills of Algeria.

The married father-of-four describes himself as a 'non-practising Muslim'.

Zidane’s father and mother, Smaïl and Malika, were almost unimaginably poor.

They first moved to Paris where there was little work and even less money and so the family moved to Marseille, on the south coast.

It was there that they struggled desperately to bring up five children on a tough council estate. His background means this is not the first time Zidane has endured racial slurs.

Soon after France’s 1998 World Cup win - when Zidane scored two goals - Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the Front National, was complaining about the racial origins of the France team, singling out Zidane as 'a son of French Algeria'.

His comment was carefully loaded. The implication was Zidane was either a colonial lackey or a traitor to the country of his father's birth.

It is well known that Zidane's skill is paired with the potential for rage, most notably when he headbutted Jochen Kientz of Hamburg during a Champions League match in 2000, earning him a five-match suspension.

Defender Materazzi was keeping his mouth firmly closed yesterday.

But his father Giuseppe, said: 'I spoke with my son very briefly on the telephone after the match.

'He didn't tell me what Zidane had said and he just said that I should enjoy this moment and he would tell me everything that happened when he got back.

'He told me that he had been provoked as he has been throughout his career and throughout the last two years.'

According to reports in France, Zidane's mother is seriously ill at the moment and had to go to hospital on Sunday morning.

Other French players have told journalists that their colleague was particularly sensitive because of this mother's condition.

The lauding of Zidane as a hero in France and his naming by FIFA as player of the tournament is in stark contrast to the treatment experienced by England players Wayne Rooney and David Beckham after they were sent off at critical junctures in different World Cups.

Rooney is said to have been widely regarded by members of the FA hierarchy as having acted petulantly before being red carded in England's match against Portugal during this year's tournament.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter also backed the referee who sent off Rooney, adding: "The referee was within touching distance of the players and he took the decision according to what he witnessed."

David Beckham was widely criticised after his sending-off against Argentina in the 1998 finals for kicking out at Diego Simeone. He was on the receiving end of abuse from fans wherever he played for Manchester United for a considerable period afterwards.

[StewtheBassman]

Thanks, Kenny...interesting and certainly what the whole world is wondering.

I find it typical that Chirac is treating him as a hero despite his explosion. Imagine how they would have gloated had they one the Cup!

[KennyVendetta]

[shimshimhada]

Originally Posted by KennyVendetta

[Nikki]

I'm not saying Zidane was right by what he did but Materazzi deserved it, what an a-hole. What poor sportsmanship on both sides.

[KennyVendetta]

Since the last gif died.....

[maq]

I'm not a fan of the French team but as someone who used to play soccer I respect Zidane tremendously. There's no exucse for what Zidane did, it was simply a stupid move on his part. I blame him for not being responsible to his team and country. However, I don't blame him for headbutting Materrazi.

Materrazi is a known dirty player - dirtiest in the Italian league. There are online vids posted by Italian AC Milam fans showing how Materrazi intentionally kicked other players in various games. He was also the one that hurt Zidane's shoulder earlier in the game. There's no doubt that Materrazi was on a mission to take Zidane out. I don't have a problem with Italy winning the World Cup, but I feel sorry for Zidane ending his legendary career by getting red carded for fighting with an @sshole like Materrazi.

[ctgazer]

down with the racist fool...shoulda headbutted the fool in the face..bust his teeth up break a rib...yah, the more i look at the sig, the more im glad zizu won the fifa golden ball..

[KennyVendetta]

[aapriadi]

i love the gif above...he fell down so hard lol!! zidane should have stepped all over him and his groin too dammit!

[ska///235i]

Zidane is a legend in soccer and he had never done something like this before (maybe a few times), I'm sure Matterazzi said something very offensive.



about the pic....... "Hammer time, Cant touch this!"

Originally Posted by KennyVendetta

Since the last gif died.....

[KennyVendetta]

I love the internet!

[ska///235i]

Originally Posted by KennyVendetta

I love the internet!

more please

[KennyVendetta]

[ska///235i]

Originally Posted by KennyVendetta

[StewtheBassman]

Gang, the article Kenny posted indicated that "lip-reading" specialists deciphered the insults....and they were hired by none other than that paradigm of journalistic superiority, the Daily Mail....

I'm waiting to hear what Zidane himself says when he makes his statement.

From a yahoo article on Zidane...
"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. "


http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slu...v=ap&type=lgns

In his defense I would say that great athletes are supremely passionate people, and that one would lose his head like that is not unimaginable. It happens in other pro sports too.

[ska///235i]

oh well...is all over
Great WC2006...some really good matches

but the headbutt still Owned

[KennyVendetta]

[Jay_328]

Originally Posted by KennyVendetta

[ska///235i]

Originally Posted by KennyVendetta

now thats racist...Zidane with an AK

[ward]

so what word is equivalent to the N word for french people??


I may need that for personal reasons

[rudyg]

Isn't the Daily Mirror a tabloid? I am sure Materazzi said "something" that pushed Zidane over the edge, but I won't trust a tabloid for the specifics. Although, Materazzi IS a goon, but Zidane is no angel.