Zidane comments on the headbutt to Materazzi after 20 years.. Does he feel regret?

- The retired French football legend and coach of the "Les Bleus", Zinedine Zidane, stated that he "does not feel regret" regarding his famous headbutt to former Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final, but emphasized that he is "not proud of it", just before the renewed confrontation between France and Italy in the UEFA Nations League on Friday. Twenty years have passed since Zidane received a direct red card during the 2006 World Cup final, after he headbutted the chest of Italian defender Materazzi; an incident that had severe consequences, as France lost in the penalty shootout without their captain and star player.

Zidane spent five years with Juventus from 1996 to 2001, and was asked about his impressions of that incident before the match against the "Azzurri". He said: "Those images are everywhere and always remind me of that match, but there are other more wonderful images; I prefer to focus on the positive aspects."

He added: "Juventus and Italy were special for me, as I made my name there." He continued: "I haven't spoken to Materazzi and I don't feel regret, nor am I proud of what I did, but it's part of the journey."

Zizou added: "You can't just do good things; this is something everyone goes through in life, but we must now move forward." Although Italy triumphed over France that night in Berlin, the trajectory of both countries has taken a different direction since then.

The "Les Bleus" continued their journey to win their second World Cup title in 2018, before finishing as runners-up in 2022 and reaching the semifinals this summer; all under the leadership of Didier Deschamps, Zidane's predecessor. In contrast, Italy has not won any matches in the knockout stages of the World Cup since that final 20 years ago, and they have even failed to qualify for the last three tournaments.

Zidane said about Italy: "Seeing them out of the World Cup is unbelievable; they are among the best in the world, and they have always had great players in their ranks." He continued: "It may seem strange, but I am not part of that system and I cannot form an opinion about it.

However, it is worth noting that Italian teams have always been able to achieve amazing accomplishments.