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Materazzi Denies Provoking Zidane

The fiasco that took place during World Cup`s final match in Berlin on June 9 will not be forgotten soon. Zinedine Zidane`s unbelievable behavior and the view of him head-butting Italy`s defender, Marco Materazzi, are images that no soccer fan will forget soon. Sports media throughout the world is dealing with this issue, and are trying to find out what provoked Zidane`s attack ? that cost the France player a well-deserved red card.

Rumors were circulating about the possibility that Materazzi provoked Zidane and called him a terrorist just before the incident. The rumors about Materazzi`s remark came from the Paris-based anti-racism group SOS Racism that was quoted saying, "According to several very well informed sources from the world of football, it would seem that the Italian player Marco Materazzi called Zinedine Zidane a `dirty terrorist`."

However, Materazzi spoke to one of the news stations and tried to clear his name. "It is absolutely not true, I did not call him a terrorist. I am ignorant. I don`t even know what the word means," he said. "The whole world saw what happened on live TV," he added.