What provoked Zidane?

It is ironic that in a World Cup marred with ejections due to players faking injuries, the tournament ended with a red card that was actually legitimate. (And it almost didn't happen, because the ref didn't actually see the offense take place.)

France's Zinedine Zidane rammed his head into Italy's Marco Materazzi. We can all see that.

What's less clear is why.

Britain's ITV said Materazzi tweaked Zidane's nipples moments earlier. But look for yourself at the video. After whatever happened (and Josh points out that it looks more like Zidane got felt up than had his nipples tweaked), Zidane turned around and gave a "what-the-fuck-was-that" look to Materazzi.

Here's a better view of the alleged nipple twisting.

Then the players glared at each other and possibly traded insults. And that's when Zidane committed the act.

What did Materazzi say? We might never know for sure. (I'm still waiting to hear what really happened in the Eagles huddle at the end of the 2005 Superbowl. Did Freddie Mitchell really have to call plays because Donovan McNabb was unable?)

The rumors are that Materazzi called Zidane a "harki," a term used to refer to Algerian traitors who fought against the Arabs on behalf of the French. (For what it's worth, The Hindu newpaper says Zidane's father was not an harki.)

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