So near and yet so far. How could that happen to a man like you? Zidane could have been forgiven for feeling a sense of trepidation upon his return to France. He would have been aware of the reception that greeted his Real Madrid team-mate David Beckham after he arrived back in England in following his sending-off against Argentina.
France, however, was different. There was no need for armed guards and there was burning of Zidane effigies.
Jacques Chirac, the president of France, led the tributes. You have honoured the country with your exceptional qualities and your fantastic fighting spirit, which was your strength in difficult times, but also in winning times.
His bones had ached, his form had dipped but Zidane managed to conjure up a final, extended piece of magic to woo the world. Not many would argue against that. Before the tournament, few in France could have hoped that the team would come within a penalty shoot-out of winning but Zidane had given them hope. And yet the people of France would not let that moment of madness tarnish all that he had given them throughout his career. They had never been undisputed masters in any other aspect of the final, yet the honour is theirs for the fourth time in their history.
The veterans of France, tapping unimaginable reserves of stamina, had been more potent from the opening of the second-half onwards but are now submerged in the miseries of their leader. A red card rather than a greetings card ushered Zinedine Zidane into retirement 19 minutes into extra-time.
This World Cup had come to mean too much to him and the dismissal followed three bookings in his six matches here. The year-old was as overwrought as any testosterone-maddened youngster but could still have contrived a triumph. Goalkeepers had little to do, even if the final was diverting and often classy. Buffon might as well have been a bystander in the shoot-out, since a Juventus team-mate David Trezeguet bashed his penalty against the bar.
The left-back Fabio Grosso secured victory for Italy from the spot. One of the worst aspects of the sudden-death system is that it leaves the losers tormenting themselves over each detail that might have been different. Thierry Henry, affected for a while by a first-minute head knock, had a splendid, free-running spell after the interval and compelled Buffon to an important stop.
The coach Raymond Domenech, though, was eventually to substitute him. By then Henry was exhausted but his removal meant that neither he nor Zidane could face Buffon in the shoot-out.
The veteran, in a rather erratic fashion, had illustrated at the very start of the night that he could beat the goalkeeper. After six minutes Henry headed into the area from the left and Florent Malouda went down as Materazzi closed on him.
Plotting the penalty, Zidane almost baffled himself in the battle of wits. Here, confronted by his former Juventus colleague Buffon, he opted for the opposite. The ball was floated the other way, where it caught the underside of the crossbar and dropped over the line. Minds turned to the symmetry of his impact, considering that he had delivered an opener, too, when France took the World Cup in Paris.
The harmonies of history were, in practice, to take another shape entirely. Italy had never before conquered on penalties in the World Cup finals and were even vanquished by France in that fashion at the quarter-final stage eight years ago.
A nation famed for its icy efficiency was bound to put that right sooner or later. France had made Italy turn into a former incarnation of themselves. Does any part of this add up? There has been so much noise, so much temptation to portray Zidane as either a fatally-flawed hero, a defender of personal rights, a human agent in a world of athletic units.
Really, though, the main feeling is one of crushing mundanity, of mild absurdity even. Is this really it? The second mystery surrounds the call to send him off. Lippi suggested initially help had come from a Fifa official with a TV monitor.
This would have been a breach of protocol. The Fifa line is that the fourth official, Luis Medina Cantalejo of Spain, saw the butt in real time and told referee Horacio Elizondo through his head set.
The referee has even given a TED talk on this subject. Zidane head-butted Materazzi. When you see the video you will not believe me. Conspiracy fans will perhaps wonder why. Does it matter? This was entirely the right decision. Although, it also feels a little odd even now. Football changed in that instant: a moment of progress, but also of intrusion, a moment when professional sport edged closer to becoming an arm of our shared hour digital surveillance.
To follow high-level football now is to experience an endless loop, an endless argument about details. Some see this as a triumph, progress towards the elimination of error and perfectibility. This is perhaps the case. So to penalties. Pirlo hoists the opening kick in the roof of the net, a kick so decisive you know at this moment Italy are going to win. Materazzi takes one, of course, and scores easily.
In fact everyone scores except Trezeguet, who smashes his with pointless power against the crossbar. The ball bounces down and out, a mocking echo of that Panenka. Italy just keep slotting them. Alessandro Del Piero never looks like missing through every one of the 50 steps it takes to get to the spot. Grosso puts one in the corner. And that is it. The blue shirts come haring on, leaping and jumping, eyes wide, spooked by their own moment of history. Some of his teammates were less than pleased.
And for that team this was a moment when something passed. Half of the class in had been there for the whole span. In the event that brilliant generation is left with a home World Cup, a Euros in the country next door, the implosion in South Korea and defeat to Greece at Euro a fine champion team but not quite an all-time great one. It seems significant that Zidane himself has never appeared to be tortured, or aggrieved, or even that bothered by his final moment as a footballer. And that they were, all white noise aside, entirely deserved winners.
World Cup questions: what did Zidane's head-butt in Berlin mean? Barney Ronay. Read more. Reuse this content. I replied that I'd rather have his sister than his shirt". That was the final straw for Zidane , who turned and headbutted Materrazi in the chest. After reviewing the incident, the ref sent him off. One of the first things I did was to apologise to all of the young players in front of everyone, to all of the coaches who try to ensure that football is not about something else, not that.
B ut it forms part of my career, it is part of my life and part of things which may not be that serious but it's something which I have to accept that happened and take it on board".
I would rather have taken a blow to the face than hear that. It was inexcusable. I apologise. But if there is no provocation, there is no need to react. Above all it was a very serious provocation. It was an inexcusable gesture but the real culprit is the person who provoked it. Do you imagine that in a World Cup final like that with just 10 minutes to go to the end of my career, I am going to do something like that because it gives me pleasure?
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