Huge Statue of France Legend Zinedine Zidane Headbutting Marco Materazzi Bought by Qatar

Huge Statue of France Legend Zinedine Zidane Headbutting Marco Materazzi Bought by Qatar

Babajide Orevba
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:44 PM
  • Zinedine Zidane lit up the 2006 FIFA World Cup hosted by Germany but he ended the tournament on a shocking note
  • The France midfielder headbutted Italy’s Marco Materazzi in the final of the tournament and was consequently sent off
  • A bronze statue of the incident which was created by Algerian artiste Abdel Abdessemed has been purchased by Qatar officials

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The 2006 World Cup final witnessed one of the most shocking, but, iconic moments in the history of football after France legend Zinedine Zidane delivered a headbutt into the chest of Italy’s Marco Materazzi.

Zidane was consequently sent off in the encounter and to commemorate the incident, Algerian artist Abdel Abdessemed constructed a giant bronze statue.

The sensational piece is named "Coup de Tete," which translates all too simply as "headbutt."

Huge Statue of France Legend Zinedine Zidane Headbutting Marco Materazzi Bought by Qatar
Zinedine Zidane headbutting Materazzi statue unveiled. Photo: Karim Jaafar
Source: Getty Images

And after 15 years of the event, Bleacher Report are claiming that the 16-feet tall piece has been acquired by the Qatar Museum Authority (QMA).

And according to Yahoo!'s Dirty Tackle blog, the QMA's director of art Jean Paul Engelen said in an interview with the Doha News.

He said:

“It’s an impressive piece. It’s a huge sculpture, and it’s done in the same style as Greek Mythological statues, but this glorifies human defects instead.
It shows that although we sometimes treat footballers like gods, they’re not—they’re just human beings.”

Meanwhile, a 2014 FIFA World Cup winner with Germany Toni Kroos has retired from international duty with as he rules out himself from future international call ups, Sky Sports reports.

The 31-year-old announced that he has retired from international football after winning 106 caps for Die Mannschaft.

The Real Madrid player made his debut for the Germany national team back in 2010, but after eleven years, he feels it is time to focus on club football.

His last international match was at the ongoing Euro 2020 after his side lost 2-0 to England at Wembley Stadium as they crashed out of the tournament.

Both goals were scored in the second half of the game after the English failed to get the better of their oldest rivals in the first period.

Legit.ng earlier reported that Cristiano Ronaldo is a difficult player to work with according to former Juventus striker David Trezeguet, The Sun.

Despite scoring 101 goals in 133 appearances for the Bianconeri since his 2018 arrival from Real Madrid the French icon still believes Ronaldo has problems with his teammate.

The Old lady picked the last Champions League spot in Serie A last season after they were dethroned by Inter Milan for the Scudetto.

Authors
Babajide Orevba photo
Babajide Orevba
Babajide Orevba is a CAF accredited Nigerian journalist and HOD of the Local Desk with over 10 years of experience in media landscape.He studied NCE Political Science/Social Studies, AOCOED.
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