Willy Sagnol has revealed that he didn't speak to Zinedine Zidane for almost two years after his France team-mate's infamous headbutt in the 2006 World Cup final.
Zidane had earlier scored a penalty to put France ahead against Italy but Marco Materazzi equalised for the Azzurri.
With the game level at 1-1 in extra-time, the midfielder was sent off for head-butting Materazzi as he reacted to being wound up by the Italy defender. Willy Sagnol has revealed that he didn't speak to Zinedine Zidane for almost two years after his France team-mate's infamous headbutt in the 2006 World Cup final.
Zidane had earlier scored a penalty to put France ahead against Italy but Marco Materazzi equalised for the Azzurri.
With the game level at 1-1 in extra-time, the midfielder was sent off for head-butting Materazzi as he reacted to being wound up by the Italy defender. Sagnol added that he found it difficult to accept Zidane's apology and also joked that he smoked 250 cigarettes in ten minutes immediately after the defeat to Italy.
He said: 'I did not want to accept his apologies, or talk to him. Now was not the moment. I had to go to the bathroom, smoke 250 cigarettes in ten minutes. This is how I escaped.
While many of his French team-mates won the World Cup in 1998, Sagnol wasn't part of that group and ended his career without having won the most prestigious prize in football.
However, Sagnol revealed that he and Zidane eventually managed to make up.
He said: 'We did not speak for almost two years. In 2008, after the European Championship, I had to get married. My wife told me to invite him.
'I called him but he couldn't come to the party at night, but it made me happy to see him arrive for the morning. We had an aperitif together.'
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