Zinedine Zidane says 2006 World Cup final incident remains part of his career

Zinedine Zidane says images of his dismissal in the 2006 World Cup final against Italy continue to remind him of what happened, but the France manager insists he would rather focus on the more positive moments of his career.

France face Italy on Friday in their third Group A match of the Nations League – League A.

Speaking at his pre-match news conference, Zidane said the scenes from the final remained difficult to escape.

“The images always remind me of what happened because I face this issue very often, wherever I go,” he said.

Zidane was sent off before the end of the 2006 final after headbutting Marco Materazzi following a confrontation between the two players. France went on to lose the match on penalties.

“Fortunately, that was not the only thing I did during my career,” Zidane added. “There are other things that were much more enjoyable, so I prefer to think about the positive aspects.”

He also reflected on the significance of Italy in his career, having played there for Juventus.

“Italy, as I have said, was very special to me because it was where I became an important player,” he said.

Zidane denied that he regretted his actions in the final, although he repeated that he did not take pride in them.

“Do I regret it? No, absolutely not,” he said. “I do not consider it a regret because it is part of my career. I am not proud of what happened, and I have said that before and say it again today, but it remains part of my career.”

“Nobody can be proud of everything they do in their life. I think we are all on a journey through life and sometimes we do things that are not good.”

Zidane said his attention was now on his responsibilities as France manager and the meeting with Italy.

“My focus is now on what comes next and what will happen tomorrow against Italy, with me as the manager of the France national team,” he said.

France lead Group A with six points from their opening two matches. The group also contains Belgium, Italy and Turkey.

They began their campaign with a 1-0 victory over Turkey before recording another 1-0 win against Belgium in their second match.

The meeting with Italy will therefore bring Zidane face to face with the team against whom he played his final international match, 18 years after the incident that continues to feature whenever memories of the 2006 final return.