Zidane prepares for Italy reunion twenty years after famous World Cup final red card

Twenty years after his famous red card in Berlin, Zinedine Zidane will face Italy again on Friday as the head coach of France. During the 2006 World Cup final, Zidane ended his playing career by delivering a firm headbutt to the chest of Italy defender Marco Materazzi deep into extra time. Speaking at a pre-match news conference, Zidane stated he has no regrets about the incident, calling it a part of his journey while adding that he is not proud of what happened. He also confirmed that he has not spoken to Materazzi at all since that day.

First Home Match

Friday's UEFA Nations League fixture at the Stade de France marks Zidane's first home game since taking charge of Les Bleus. He has already won his first two matches away from home, securing 1-0 victories against Türkiye and Belgium. Ousmane Dembélé is set to captain the team once again due to the absence of the injured Kylian Mbappé.

Italy Team Updates

Italy enters the match under returning coach Roberto Mancini, who has split his squad to manage preparations ahead of a fixture against Türkiye on Monday in Bologna. After losing forward Giacomo Raspadori to injury, nine players were left behind in Italy to train at Coverciano, including Honest Ahanor, Nicolò Cambiaghi, Diego Coppola, Daniele Ghilardi, Samuele Inácio, Eddy Kouadio, Rolando Mandragora, Massimo Pessina, and Alessandro Romano. Meanwhile, Nicolò Barella and Daniel Maldini have returned to the squad for the trip to Paris.

Context

The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition featuring senior men's national teams from Europe. Matches in this tournament allow top-tier national sides to compete against each other outside of major global tournaments like the World Cup and the European Championship.