Great World Cup Moments: Just how did referee ‘see’ Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt?

FOR several long moments it seemed that Zinedine Zidane would get away with a headbutt deep into extra time in the 2006 final — that he didn’t is almost as controversial as his act itself.

THESE days we have video referees to track down every misdemeanour on a pitch, but for several long moments — several minutes, in fact — it seemed that Zinedine Zidane would get away with his headbutt on Marco Materazzi deep into extra time in the 2006 final.

For those of us sitting in Berlin’s Olympiastadion that night — in an age before Twitter — there was initially only mystery as to why Materazzi lay prone on the turf, miles away from the ball.

What was the moment: ‘Zidane’s moment of madness’

Which World Cup was it? Germany, 2006

Match between: France and Italy

Zidane's final act in international football will never be forgotten.

Only when TV replays kicked in — almost a full minute later — did Zidane’s shockingly violent response to an insult about his sister become clear.

Part of that shock was the identity of the assailant: one of the greatest, most balletic players of all time, who had come out of retirement to lead his country to the final.

The least demonstrative of men, Zidane was on the brink of adding a second World Cup triumph in three tournaments to further glorify his career.

Even as the realisation spread among fans and viewers of what Zidane had done, the referee, Horacio Elizondo, struggled to retain order on the pitch.

Finally he briefly took counsel from one linesman before showing Zidane the red card.

Except … both linesman later admitted they had not seen the incident.

Elizondo would claim that fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo told him over his head set that he had seen the headbutt, and conspiracy theorists still claim the Spaniard “saw it” via a pitchside monitor.

That would not have been admissible, of course, and FIFA later insisted that Cantalejo saw the headbutt with his own eyes only.

Why on earth shouldn’t we believe an organisation with such a track record of truth-telling as FIFA?

RE-LIVE THE GREATEST MOMENTS:

DAY ONE: Diego Maradona’s Hand of God goal

DAY TWO: Roy Keane’s epic ‘f*****g” rant

DAY THREE: Luis Suarez’s extraordinary brain explosion

DAY FOUR: The greatest goal celebration in World Cup history

DAY FIVE: The battle of Nuremberg

DAY SIX: The humiliation of Brazil

DAY SEVEN: Escobar’s deadly own goal

DAY EIGHT: The greatest Brazil team ever assembled

DAY NINE: South Korea’s fairytale run at ‘corrupt’ Cup

DAY 10: Tragic tale of Brazil’s most hated man

DAY 11: Dennis Bergkamp’s impossibly perfect touch

DAY 12: Zaire’s free kick madness

DAY 13: France’s mutinous meltdown

DAY 14: The birth of the Cruyff turn

DAY 15: Rossi magic stuns Brazil’s best

DAY 16: Beckenbauer’s pain-defying act of bravery

DAY 17: The drug-fuelled fall of Diego Maradona

DAY 18: The ageless Roger Milla’s 1990 goalfest

DAY 19: England’s greatest humiliation

DAY 20: Rivaldo’s laughably awful dive

DAY 21: The arrival of Pele’s Brazil

DAY 22: Kuwait sheik calls for midgame walk-off

DAY 23: Banks’ greatest save of all time

DAY 24: Toto Schillaci’s World Cup fireworks

DAY 25: Slumber in Seville, the extraordinary 1982 semi-final

DAY 26: The ‘Disgrace of Gijon’

Originally published as Great World Cup Moments: Just how did referee ‘see’ Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt?