The most famous and undoubtedly the saddest headbutt in football history occurred during the World Cup final when Zinedine Zidane headbutted the Italian player Marco Materazzi.
For the first time, referee Horacio Elizondo shared his perspective:
“It all happened in the earpiece. When Materazzi went down, the ball was in play at the other end of the pitch, and I was obviously focused on that. (…) I had a lot of doubts; something had clearly happened, but if no one saw what it was… and then the voice of Luis Medina Cantalejo [the fourth referee] was heard in my headphones, and he says, ‘Horacio, Horacio, I saw him.’ He told me, ‘a really violent headbutt from Zidane on Materazzi, right in the chest.’ (…) I then went to see Dario [one of the linesmen], knowing that he knew nothing! For what? (…) If you go to see the assistant, everyone understands that it is because the assistant is going to tell you something to help you make a decision. (…) I turn around, approach Zidane and take out the red card. (…) It was a kind of pretense, but it contained some truth about how the decision was made.”
Reportedly, Materazzi insulted Zidane by saying, “I prefer your whore sister” during the 2006 World Cup final.
