ZIDANE THE HEADBUTT HERO: WORDS OF VIOLENCE

12-07-2006

So now we know. Or rather we don't.

Disgraced French football star Zinedine Zidane hasbeen talkingfor the first time about the provocation he facedfrom the Italian defender Matterazi during Sunday's World Cup final

Except that Zizou wouldn't repeat exactly what was said to him.

All we know is that it involved his mother and his sister.

Or at least we that's what Zidane says he said.

Matterazi, this time around, is saying nothing.

It had been rumoured that Zidane was the victim of a racial taunt.

Would that have made the vicious headbutting which got him sent off more excusable? Or less?

Either way, in the eyes of his own public he's now an even greater hero than before.

A bizarre reaction to a hot-headed fool who lost France the World Cup.

Compare and contrast the venom aimed at David Beckham when his rash lash at Diego Simeone got him dismissed against Argentina in the 1998 tournament.

English fans turned him into Public Enemy Number One.

There was even an effigy of Beckham hanging from a lamp-post.

Ridiculous of course, but in a footballing sense we at least grasped the gravity of the incident.

The French, on the other hand, seem desperate not to besmirch a national idol.

Yet until his moment of madness, Zidane's team looked the likeliest winners and he was the puppet-master.

The game turned on the moment the red mist descended.

It was followed by a red card, and Italy won on spot kicks.

Where was France's best penalty taker? Sitting in the dressing room enjoying a solitary soak.

Zidane has now apologised for his actions, but also said that he would do the same again.

So he's not really sorry after all then, except perhaps about the damage his stupidity has done to his reputation.

“Je Ne Regrette Rien” was Piaf's cry - and now it's Zidane's too.

Really, mate, you more than anyone should realise that some things are best left unsaid.