AFP
ROME, July 11: Italian defender Marco Materazzi acknowledged that he "insulted" French player Zinedine Zidane because he was super arrogant in the World Cup final, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported on Tuesday.
Zidane, 34, floored Materazzi with a headbutt to the chest in the second half of extra-time in Sunday's final and was sent off, missing a penalty shoot-out in which he would have been expected to take one of France's spot-kicks.
"I held his shirt .. for only a few seconds, he turned toward me and scoffed at me, looking at me with super arrogance, up and down: 'if you really want my shirt, you can have it later.' (Zidane said) It's true, I shot back with an insult," the paper quoted Materazzi as saying.