Marco Materazzi

Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.

French soccer star Zinedine Zidane famously headbutted Italy's Marco Materazzi during the 2006 World Cup final, ending his career with a red card.

Twenty years later, Zidane will face Italy again tomorrow, but this time as France's head coach in the Nations League.

This is NPR.

Ari Daniel, NPR News.

French soccer star Zinedine Zidane famously headbutted Italy's Marco Materazzi during the 2006 World Cup final, ending his career with a red card.

20 years later, Zidane will face Italy again tomorrow, but this time as France's head coach.

This is NPR.

Exactly.

Why do you make bus leave- I missed the bus ... 80 minutes then? You'd have never had Zidane nutting Materazzi.

No, that were full, that were 90 minutes, that.

Bet, I bet it were extra time.

Well, remember, Franta, we've done stuff together.

We've watched the final when Zidane headbutted Materazzi.

Oh, yeah.

Of course.

It sounds like a nightmare to me.

That was one of the games we watched.

Also, we watched the final when Zidane had batted Materazzi.

That

And lastly, Walter Materazzi.

Oh, no, Marco Materazzi.

Not Walter Materazzi, Marco Materazzi.

Of course, he was headbutted by Zinedine Zidane in the Champions League final.

He also was a blue shirt, played for Rangers.

I know obviously it was a house of cards when, you know, we ended up selling Figgs and that.

But on paper, you look at that Everton side in 1998, and you bring in players the caliber of Materazzi to Colin Collins.

Mm.

That's kind of akin to what Spurs have done now in terms of the quality they've brought in.

It's the 90th minute.

you just take some pride, you just look around and you say, Valtemade is 197 and Gatti's there, as you said, to play the Maguire role, to play the Fellaini role, to play the Materazzi role, whatever you want to call it.

He's there as a striker, just big body, get in.

And you take that personally as the tallest player there and you say, hey, this is my role, I'm supposed to mark him.

I could say highest point of, uh, Inter's history, even with the, the teams from the '60s.

Um, coming up against, uh, Jose who was, you know, in that clinch outside the Bernabéu with Materazzi as he-

Mm

... um, got into a car to go and see, uh, Don Florentino.

He, he...

None of us were out ripping kids' gloves off, uh, and saying, "Get, uh, get on the pitch", like Mourinho, like to Materazzi now, but, uh-

[laughs]

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