French legend Zinedine Zidane has opened up about his infamous headbutt that occurred during the 2006 World Cup final and ended in disaster for both France and the then superstar footballer.
The headbutt involving Italian forward Marco Materazzi brought Zidane's illustrious career to a close as Italy went on to defeat France on penalties.
"I'm not at all proud of what I did, but it's part of my past," Zidane told French broadcaster Telefoot.
Zidane had made a perfect start to the match, scoring from the penalty in the seventh minute to put France ahead in the title clash. But Materazzi levelled the proceedings at 1-1 with his 19th-minute strike.
Both teams subsequently failed to score in the second half and extra time, forcing a penalty shoot-out to decide the winner. Unfortunately for Zidane, the champion wasn't France but Italy as he had to leave the pitch after being red-carded in the 110th minute.
The talismanic football star retired with 31 goals in 108 appearances for France, with the 1998 World Cup victory over Brazil being the highlight of his career.
At the club level, Zidane was equally successful, having won multiple titles with Juventus and Real Madrid.
After calling it quits from the game, Zidane returned as a manager and earned a name for himself among the greatest coaches of all-time in football history.
During his three-year reign at Santiago Bernabeu, the 50-year-old powered Real Madrid to a La Liga title and a hat-trick of Champions League trophies from 2016-to 18, becoming the first-ever head coach to clinch Europe's premier club competition for three years in a row.