No news or analysis to see here, move on...

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Zidane_head_loop.gif

Isn't a head-butt a deliberate clash of two heads ? I thought FIFA said we were meant to KICK racism out of football. Even anti-racists admit the need to beat up Italians occasionally though so Zizou was promptly awarded the Golden Ball.
You find posters of Zidane in every small cafe in rural France, even Gaullist areas, and he has a wondeful image. He played for Real, Franco's team though the fascist is dust now and you can't hold that against him. The English football team famously gave the Nazi salute in Berlin in 1936, but then the Scots played the Germans two years earlier under Nazi flags at Ibrox which is more appalling if anything.

 http://homepages.strath.ac.uk/~cjbs13/Swastikas%20over%20Ibrox.html

Italy defender Marco Materazzi has denied calling Zinedine Zidane a "dirty terrorist" before the French captain head-butted him.

Zidane drove his head into the Italian's chest during Sunday's World Cup final.

Video footage shows Materazzi apparently saying something to Zidane in the moments preceding the attack.

But Italian news agency Ansa quoted Materazzi as saying: "It is absolutely not true, I did not call him a terrorist. I'm ignorant. I don't even know what the word means."

The Paris-based anti-racism group SOS Racism had earlier quoted sources alleging Materazzi used the phrase.

Zidane, the son of Algerian immigrants, was shown a red card after the incident.

Italy went on to win 5-3 on penalties after the match was tied 1-1, following extra time.

SOS Racism called for an inquiry and said world football's governing body FIFA had recently toughened sanctions against racial prejudice.

French television reported Zidane, 34, would talk about the incident "in the coming days".

In an odd twist, FIFA awarded Zidane - France's hero of their 1998 World Cup triumph - the Golden Ball as the player of the tournament following a vote taken before his red card.

Germany striker Klose was the Golden Shoe winner for the tournament's leading scorer, with five goals.