France Zidane - Zidane apologises for headbutt during World Cup final, reax
NAME: FRA ZIDANE 20060712I
TAPE: EF06/0619
IN_TIME: 10:41:05:22
DURATION: 00:02:51:07
SOURCES: AP/TF1
DATELINE: Paris - 12 July 2006
RESTRICTIONS: See Script
SHOTLIST:
TF1 - NO ACCESS FRANCE - 24 HOURS USE ONLY - NO INTERNET - NO LIBRARY
1. SOUNDBITE: (French) Zinedine Zidane, French football star:
"He can defend against everything, the only thing I want to say is that if I had a reaction, such a reaction then it must have been something, something as I say, very serious, that's all. Now I am not here to excuse my action."
Q: (French) Can you say if they (the comments) were racist, or family related?
"No, (to racism), yes it's family, I mean when one attacks your mother, your sister and one tries many times, well when it's said once, twice and you turn away to try to avoid it, well after the third time what happens is what happened."
2. Cutaway
3. SOUNDBITE: (French) Zinedine Zidane, French football star:
"I can't say I am proud of this action but at the same time I don't regret it because if I regretted it it would mean giving reason to all these words that this person said to me and I can't accept that."
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4. Wide exterior shot of the bar
5. Wide interior pan of the bar
6. Close up shot of a man watching the interview
7. Wide shot of people watching the interview
8. Close up shot of a man watching the interview
9. Various shots of people in the bar watching the interview
10. SOUNDBITE: (French) Marie Forestier, Parisian:
"I'd say that curiosity is one of everybody's fault so yes I think we all wanted to know but if he doesn't want to say then that is his right and I'm not sure that going into such detail whereas it happened three days ago would change much. I think the most important is that he apologised to the children who saw this and did not understand and to the public in general, but as I have said he is a human being - he has his strengths and his weaknesses and based on that we cannot judge him."
11. Medium shot of people in the bar talking after the interview
12. SOUNDBITE: (French) Nelson Laforet, Parisian:
"We still like a lot Zinedine Zidane but we are quite shocked by the action. We still don't understand it but it's not because of this action that we are going to love him less. We are not going to forget all the past. It's not the thing that we try to focalise on."
13. Interior wide shot of bar
STORYLINE:
French football star Zinedine Zidane said he was not proud of head-butting an Italian opponent in the World Cup final, but added on Wednesday that he did not regret it, in his highly awaited first comments since Sunday's (9 July 2006) match.
"I can't say I am proud of this action but at the same time I don't regret it because if I regretted it it would mean giving reason to all these words that this person said to me and I can't accept that," he said on France's TF1 television.
But Zidane apologised to fans - especially to children - in several interviews late Wednesday.
The French football star only partly explained what caused him to erupt in fury and brutally head-butt an Italian opponent: repeated harsh insults about his mother and sister.
"When one attacks your mother, your sister and one tries many times, well when it's said once, twice and you turn away to try to avoid it, well after the third time what happens is what happened," said Zidane.
Zidane and Materazzi exchanged words after Italy broke up a French attack in extra-time. Seconds later, Zidane lowered his head and rammed Materazzi in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
Zidane was sent off, reducing France to 10 men. Italy went on to win in a penalty shootout with Zidane - an excellent penalty-taker - in the locker room.
Zidane didn't go into specifics about what Marco Materazzi allegedly said, and for his part, Materazzi swears he never insulted Zidane's mother.
The 34-year-old midfielder said he didn't regret the abrupt, violent outburst Sunday that marked the end of his 18-year professional career.
FIFA is still investigating.
The act of aggression marred the end of the World Cup, with many warning it would tarnish Zidane's formidable legacy. Zidane retired after the tournament, and he said Wednesday his decision was definitive.
Despite the head-butt, journalists selected Zidane for the Golden Ball award for best player at the World Cup - though FIFA president Sepp Blatter has suggested Zidane could be stripped of the honour.
Marie Forestier, a Parisian who watched the interview in a bar, said the most important thing was that he apologised to the children who saw the incident, "but as I have said he is a human being - he has his strengths and his weaknesses and based on that we cannot judge him."
Despite his temper, Zidane is better known for his sportsmanship and dancer-like style with the ball and is a national hero for the French and a symbol of a young, multicultural France.
Born to Algerian immigrants, Zidane grew up playing on concrete in an impoverished neighbourhood of Marseille.
For days, sports fans around the world have been riveted by the question: What could Materazzi have said to set Zidane off in the last few moments of his career? Media from Brazil to Britain hired lip readers to try to figure it out, then came up with different answers.
Materazzi has acknowledged he insulted Zidane, without giving specifics. At nearly the same moment Zidane was on TV, excerpts from an interview that Materazzi gave were posted on an Italian paper's Web site.
"I didn't say anything to him about racism, religion or politics," Materazzi told the Gazzetta dello Sport. "I didn't talk about his mother either. I lost my mother when I was 15 and even now I still get emotional talking about her."
Zidane "has always been my hero," Materazzi said. "I admire him a lot."