Materazzi finally lifts lid on what led Zizou to headbutt him

Rome, Sep 5 (UNI) After fuelling widespread speculations, Italian defender Marco Materazzi finally revealed that it was his remark about Zinedine Zidane's sister that provoked the headbutt from the French maestro in the final of the soccer World Cup in Germany.

The incident saw Zidane receiving a marching order and France losing the match in tie-breaker despite being clearly the best of the two sides. Zidane was handed a three-match ban and a 6000 dollar fine, while Materazzi was banned for two matches and fined 4,010 dollar for his role in the incident.

Speculations were rife about what Materazzi uttered and media organisations roped in lip-readers to find out what actually prompted Zidane to such violent outburst. Even Zidane was tightlipped about the incident, only revealing that it was ''very personal'' and involved his mother and sister.

Talking to Gazzetta dello Sport, Materazzi lifted the lid on the incident and said, ''I was tugging his shirt. He said ''if you want my shirt so much I'll give it to you after the match. I said I'd prefer his sister.'' Materazzi, however, insisted that there could be no justification for Zidane's act.

''It's not a particularly nice thing to say, I recognise that.

But lots of players say worse things. I didn't even know he had a sister before all this happened,'' he said.

''I didn't cause it (headbutt), I just wanted to defend myself verbally,'' he argued.

Materazzi also demanded an apology from Zidane for the act and said he was ready to move on.

''Peace can be achieved after the most devastating wars. Why should we not be able to make peace with each other? My door is always open. He can come and speak to me whenever he wants,'' he said.

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