Zinédine Zidane ‘not proud’ of Marco Materazzi headbutt in 2006 World Cup final | OneFootball

A few different memories could return to the fore when Zinédine Zidane takes his place in the dugout at the Stade de France on Friday night, when he takes charge of L’Équipe de France for the first time on French soil.

Zidane, named as Didier Deschamps’ successor, has had a successful start to life as manager of Les Bleus, beating Turkiye and Belgium both by the same 1-0 scoreline. However, both games came away from home. Friday night’s game against Italy is seen as something as a homecoming. It is the stage on which he shone back in 1998 as France won the FIFA World Cup.

However, in Italy, he comes up against a familiar foe. It is against this side that his career came to an end in 2006, and in violent circumstances. Zidane was sent off for an off-the-ball headbutt on Marco Materazzi. France would end losing to Italy in the penalty shootout.

Speaking on Thursday, Zidane revisited that episode. “2006? The images remind me of it because these are going around everywhere. I think more about the positive images […] I’m not proud of what I did. That is part of a journey. We all do things that aren’t great. The most important thing is what happens after and what will happen with the France national team,” he told reporters.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle