‘He was the only one who could’ve contained me’: Zidane says former France teammate was the only one who could’ve prevented infamous headbutt
Zinedine Zidane has revealed that the only person who could have prevented his infamous in the 2006 World Cup is his former teammate Bixente Lizarazu.
The France legend said in an interview with Telefoot: “I think Bixente [Lizarazu] is the only one who could have contained me.
“And yes, he would have been important that night, if he had been by my side, even if in any case we cannot redo the past.
“I’m not proud of what I did, again, but it’s part of my journey.”
Italy won the World Cup that year after beating France 5-3 on penalties. Prior to that, in the second half of extra time, Zidane was involved in a war of words with Italy defender Marco Materazzi.
However, Zidane was sent off minutes later after he headbutted Materazzi on his chest.
