Zidane: 'The headbutt on Materazzi? No regrets'

France’s head coach spoke on the eve of the Nations League clash against Italy.

France head coach Zinedine Zidane spoke on the eve of the Nations League clash against Italy: "The headbutt on Materazzi? Images that are impossible to forget, given that they keep showing them, but my career is not limited only to that episode"

"Juventus are part of the positive things in my career. It was at Juve that I became an important player. Then I never spoke to Materazzi again. I am not proud of what I did, but I have no regrets. It is part of my journey, and in life, and this applies to everyone, you do not always do only beautiful things. Now we are at another point in my career and we will see what happens against Italy too. Then of course the sending off in 2006, which brought my career to an end with the national team as well, gave me extra motivation to come back as head coach, which is a dream come true. I have always believed in myself, in the positive things, I prepared myself and now I am ready to coach and give everything for this team"

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"Italy are a great footballing nation, so it feels strange not to see them at the World Cup for three consecutive times, but I do not know the situation well, I do not know why it happened. I do know, however, that Italy are a good team. Perhaps they are no longer the side they were in 2006, but anything can happen in one match. Mancini's team are difficult to face. They lost to Belgium and won well in Turkey. That is why we must be ready and at our best to win."

"I have had many great coaches and Lippi was particularly strong tactically. Italians have an important tactical culture, with nothing to learn from others. And I have a bit of that culture too"

"Juventus are one of the positive things in my career. It was at Juve that I became an important player. After that, I never spoke to Materazzi again. I'm not proud of what I did, but I have no regrets. It is part of my journey, and in life, and this applies to everyone, you do not always only do beautiful things. Now we are at another moment in my career and we will see what happens also against Italy. Then of course the sending-off in 2006, which brought my career with the national team to an end as well, gave me extra motivation to return as head coach, which is a dream come true. I have always believed in myself, in the positive things, I have prepared myself and now I am ready to coach and give everything for this team"