Materazzi Recalls Zidane Headbutt and Jesus De Miguel's Death

In depth

Marco Materazzi said the death of footballer Jesus De Miguel led him to acknowledge that nothing more serious happened to him in the headbutt he received from Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 World Cup final. He noted what would have happened had it happened to him.

Twenty years after that incident, Materazzi addressed it again ahead of the Italy-France match. In an interview with the newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, he linked the famous incident to the recent events in Spain, where De Miguel died after colliding with a goalkeeper during a match.

"What would have happened if it had happened to me?" Materazzi asked. On the attempt at reconciliation with Zidane, he said: "I'd withdraw from everything."