Real Madrid advanced to the Champions League semi-final with a 3-0 win in the second leg and 3-2 win on aggregate, which is Zinedine Zidane’s best accomplishment as manager. After the match Zidane responded to a question asking if he was nervous during match, where he answered, “I never lost my head as a player, will never do so as a coach”.
Apparently he forgot this moment during the 2006 World Cup Final against Italy:
This moment has been ingrained in popular culture with people producing “memes”, games and even a statue in Qatar that was later removed.
Leading up to the World Cup, Zidane had announced that he would retire after his contract ran out with Real Madrid at the end of the 2005-2006 season. This meant that his final match during the 2006 World Cup would be his last ever. Entering the World Cup Final, Zidane had an assist and two goals on his way to winning the Golden Ball, which is awarded to the tournament’s best player.
France matched up with Italy in the World Cup Final, for Zidane’s last game. During the match, Zidane scored on a penalty in the seventh minute, but the biggest moment of the match didn’t happen until the second half of extra time, 110 minutes into the game. Zidane and Materazzi, an Italian center back, started exchanging words in the box. The confrontation ended up continuing into the midfield where the infamous headbutt occurred. Zidane claimed that he headbutted Materazzi because he insulted is mother and sister. Materazzi has since admitted to making comments about Zidane’s sister, but not his mother. Zidane was sent off with a red card and Italy ended up winning the World Cup in a penalty shootout. In the immediate aftermath he stood by his actions due to being provoked.
Even as Zidane was beginning his coaching career in 2014 for the Real Madrid B team, he stated he would be “disappointed but, still support his player”, if a player on his team headbutted an opponent.
Maybe the next time Zidane decides to say he never lost his head, he should remember the final game of his career. He is now known for headbutting his opponent in route to a loss on the largest stage of soccer.
