I insulted Zizou, admits Materazzi

Rome, July 11 (UNI) ''Yes, I did insult Zidane.''' Marco Materazzi, the man in the eye of a storm, admitted having provoked Zinedine Zidane in the final of the World Cup but claimed he didn't call the French captain a Terrorist or made derogatory remarks about his mother.

''What's sure is that I never called him a terrorist: I am not cultured and I don't even know what an Islamic terrorist is.

''And I certainly did not talk about Zidane's mother. For me, mothers are sacred,'' the Italian defender told Gazzetta Dello Sport.

Materazzi's confession came after hours of claustrophobic speculation about what really provoked the French maestro to head-butt the Italian in the World Cup final.

Materazzi, however, refused to reveal the words he had for Zidane, which goaded the France captain to something suicidal in his farewell match.

''I held his shirt for a few seconds, he turned to me, looked at me from top to bottom with utmost arrogance and said: 'If you really want my shirt, I'll give it to you afterwards'. I answered him with an insult,'' the centre-back, who had equalised for Italy after Zidane had converted a spot kick, confessed.

''It was the type of insult that we've heard before so many times on the pitch, and sometimes we don't even notice it.

Meanwhile, Zidane's agent Alain Migliaccio said Materazzi had made ''very serious'' comments, even though he didn't know the exact words.

''He told me Materazzi said something very serious to him but he wouldn't tell me what,'' Migliaccio told BBC Five Live Sport.

''He is a man who normally lets things wash over him but on Sunday night something exploded inside him. He was very disappointed and sad. He didn't want it to end this way,'' he added.

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