He Defended His Sister's Honor

It was mention of his sister:-

MILAN, Italy (Reuters) -- Italy defender Marco Materazzi has revealed the content of the verbal exchange he had with Zinedine Zidane which led to the headbutt from the Frenchman and his sending off in July's World Cup final.

Materazzi said it was mention of Zidane's sister which prompted the butt from the France midfielder which left Italy's opponents down to 10 men before its defeat on penalties.

"We both spoke and I wasn't the first. I held his shirt but don't you think it is a provocation to say that 'if you want my shirt I will give it you afterwards'?

"I replied to Zidane that I would prefer his sister, that is true. I brought up his sister and that wasn't a nice thing, that is true," said Materazzi.

The Italy defender said that while he had told FIFA he was willing to make a gesture of reconciliation with Zidane, he was not going to apologize.

"He has not apologized to me and I certainly don't have to apologize to him. If anything, I owe apologies to his sister, although I swear, before all this mess I didn't even know Zidane had a sister," he said.