Zidane and Materazzi (Oh No, Not Again!)

Everyone is talking about the incident between Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi in the World Cup final. It has reached a level where you just can't avoid a discussion about it. So why not be a part of them?

Zidane must have thought that Materazzi's torso was one of the golden Teamgeist balls in play when he decided to head-butt (or "Zidane", a new word rumoured to be taken by the upcoming version of the Oxford English Dictionary) the Italian defender in the chest 10 minutes from the end. While Materazzi admitted that he did insult Zidane by saying something that "you will hear dozens of times" (e.g., Good day, good morning, good night, or bon jour, bon matin or bonsoir in French, etc.) and denied having called him a "terrorist" (by claiming his 10-month-old daughter is the only terrorist to him), Zidane has said in a TV interview that Materazzi insulted his mother and sister, and also confirmed that no "terrorist" insults have been uttered.

But what actually has been said?

So far, both players have remained mum on the specifics of the exchange which led to the eventual head-butt. But why?

If Zidane believes that what he heard warranted the head-butt, he could have told us what it is. Although he did reveal that it's an insult to his mother and sister, at least he should tell us roughly what the wording is, if not in detail. On the other hand, Materazzi's version of the story isn't a verbatim record at all.

So, it's likely that the "magic words" were something extremely embarrassing and serious to Zidane personally, which even a tough man like Materazzi dares not or finds inappropriate to tell us. And when you talk about something you hear "dozens of times" on a football pitch and something extremely embarrassing to a man, there is only one word you can think of:

(I'm too shy to write down what THAT word is ...)

So my two cents are: The nasty Materazzi poked fun with its condition and health, and to prove him wrong and to show how tough he (and it) actually is, Zidane used his bald noggin and solidly headed the defender onto the ground.

And man, that was one hell of a header.