What happened in France dressing room after THAT Zinedine Zidane's headbutt
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Mikaël Silvestre has lifted the lid on what happened in the dressing room in the aftermath of Zinedine Zidane's infamous headbutt on Marco Materazzi at the 2006 World Cup final.
The tournament was supposed to be the Frenchman's curtain call before retirement and he had spent it winding the clock black with some brilliant performances, in particular against Brazil.
Italy and France came head-to-head in football's biggest fixture, with the former eventually going on to be crowned world champions for the fourth time after winning 5-3 on penalties.
The match itself wasn't the most enthralling overall, but the discussion about that day in the years to follow has invariably been about Zidane's moment of madness.
Zidane's illustrious 17-year international career came to a heartbreaking and bitter ending after being sent off in the World Cup final.
With the match tied up 1-1 with 10 minutes remaining in extra-time, the French captain was red carded for planting his head into the chest of Italian defender Materazzi.
Referee Horacio Elizondo didn't actually see the incident, but after consulting with the off-field officials, he had no choice but to send Zidane off.
Zidane's World Cup final was over and his final moment as a footballer saw him walk past the World Cup trophy with his head down.
The now Real Madrid boss clearly knew he messed up and former teammate Silvestre revealed Zidane apologised to his teammates in the dressing room after the game.
Speaking to talkSPORT, the former Manchester United and Arsenal defender said:
He was already in the dressing room before us and he took his shower so he apologised. I didn't know why he was apologising.
It was only when I went to the media that I saw the replay of the headbutt and I thought "wow, wow, wow, okay." But what can you say? You're not going to tell off God!
It may come as a surprise to some, but Zidane was sent off 14 times as a professional.
He was very introverted but you have to realise before that incident he had already collected ten red cards in his career. There were times where he'd lose it but sometime a lot of geniuses lose their head.
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