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Back in 2003, Natalie Maines spoke her mind and lived to regret it. Just days before the Iraq invasion during a London concert, the lead singer of the Dixie Chicks stated: "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." It was a thunderbolt that reverberated throughout conservative factions of America where country music is a bastion. Almost immediately, the Chicks, who are all against the war, became the most loathed band in the United States. What followed that now infamous statement is chronicled in Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck's new documentary, "Shut Up...

ROME (AFP) - Italy defender Marco Materazzi has broken his silence over the verbal exchange that led to his violent World Cup final clash with French star Zinedine Zidane. Materazzi was sent crashing to the turf by a Zidane head-butt near the end of extra-time of the July 9 final in Berlin following a verbal altercation. Mystery has surrounded the exact nature of the abuse directed at Zidane by Materazzi ever since the incident, which subsequently earned the Inter Milan centre-half a two-match ban from world governing body FIFA. But in an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport here Tuesday,...

Miss France Hits a Miss Italy Like She is Zidane

Zinedine Zidane has been banned for three games and fined £3,260 for head-butting Italy's Marco Materazzi during the World Cup final.

NOW WE KNOW why France's team captain lost his cool in the World Cup finals and France lost the trophy to Italy. Terrorism. Zinedine Zidane, who is of French and Algerian ancestry, head-butted an Italian player who insulted him. Although Zidane in an interview Wednesday would not say what words provoked him, a lip reader hired by the Times of London claims Marco Materazzi called Zidane "the son of a terrorist whore.'' That's pure trickle-down politics. From the White House to the soccer pitch, "terrorist" has "cooties" and "your mother wears combat boots" flat beat as the top playground potty-mouth...

ZURICH, Switzerland (AP)—Zinedine Zidane was banned by FIFA for three games Thursday for head-butting Italy defender Marco Materazzi during the World Cup final. Materazzi was suspended for two matches. World soccer's governing body also fined Zidane $6,000 and Materazzi $4,000 after a disciplinary committee heard the former France captain's account of what led to the incident. Because Zidane has retired, he agreed to do three days of community service with children as part of FIFA's humanitarian projects. Zidane has said he attacked Materazzi because he insulted his mother and sister, while Materazzi denied insulting Zidane's mother. “Both players stressed that...

Berlin — Was it something he said? With France and Italy tied in extra time of Sunday's World Cup final, Zinedine Zidane head-butted Marco Materazzi in the chest and was ejected. France went on to lose on penalty kicks. The day after, still no one knew what the Italian defender might have said to the French star. "The Italians did everything they could do to provoke Zidane," France defender William Gallas said. Seconds before, Materazzi had grabbed a handful of Zidane's jersey just as a French attack on goal passed harmlessly by. The two exchanged words as they walked back...

THE furious mother of Zinedine Zidane last night PRAISED her son for his disgraceful World Cup headbutt on Marco Materazzi. And Malika Zidane warned the Italian defender she wants his "b*lls chopped off for his part in Zidane's sending off. Her outburst came after claims Materazzi branded her a "terrorist whore" in the ugly spat. Algerian Malika, who is recovering from an illness, said Zidane, 34, was simply protecting her honour when he butted Materazzi in Sunday's final. She told friends: "I am utterly disgusted by what I have heard. I praise my son for defending his family's honour. "No...

by Mark Finkelstein July 13, 2006 - 08:03 Let's imagine an American World Cup team member 'of pallor' had head-butted, oh, an Arab or African player. Would the MSM be quick to excuse, even make the incident the object of humor? Or would we have been treated to mind-numbing disquisitions on racism in sport as a microcosm of society at large? But when a French player of Arab ancestry head-butts an Italian? Well, CBS tells us, boys will be boys. CBS's Elizabeth Palmer, who narrated a segment on the incident on this morning's Early Show, informed us that "it's a...

PARIS - French soccer star Zinedine Zidane apologized for head-butting an Italian opponent during the World Cup final, saying Wednesday that he was provoked by insults about his mother and sister. "I apologize, to all the children" who watched the match Sunday, Zidane said in his first, highly-awaited comments about the act of violence that marked the end of his career. Zidane did not specify exactly what Italian defender Marco Materazzi said that enraged him, but that it was insulting to his sister and mother. "I would rather have taken a punch in the jaw than have heard that," Zidane...

MILAN, Italy - FIFA president Sepp Blatter says Zinedine Zidane could be stripped of his Golden Ball award for the best player at the World Cup due to violent conduct. "The winner of the award is not decided by FIFA, but by an international commission of journalists," Blatter said in Wednesday's La Repubblica. "That said, FIFA's executive committee has the right, and the duty, to intervene when faced with behavior contrary to the ethic of the sport." Zidane head-butted Italy defender Marco Materazzi in the chest after the two exchanged words on the field in extra time of Sunday's World...

THE far-right vice-president of the Italian Senate stoked anti-French feeling in the country overnight, branding Italy's World Cup final opponents "blacks, Islamists and communists". Roberto Calderoli, head of the right-wing popular Northern League party, refused to retract earlier comments in which he hailed Italy's defeat of France in Monday's World Cup final as "a victory for Italian identity". "When I say that France's team is composed of blacks, Islamists and communists, I am saying an objective and evident thing," Calderoli was quoted as saying today by the ANSA news agency. His comment, in response to a complaint to the Senate...

MILAN, Italy -- Marco Materazzi acknowledged he insulted Zinedine Zidane before the French captain head-butted him in the World Cup final, but repeated his denial that he called Zidane a "terrorist." "I did insult him, it's true," Materazzi said in Tuesday's Gazzetta dello Sport. "But I categorically did not call him a terrorist. I'm not cultured and I don't even know what an Islamic terrorist is." A Paris-based anti-racism group issued a statement Monday saying Materazzi had called Zidane, whose parents emigrated to France from Algeria, a "dirty terrorist." Zidane and Materazzi exchanged words in extra-time of Sunday's final in...

Our correspondent finds out what may have caused a great player to lose his head in such spectacular style WITH his monkish mien backed by a sense of brooding menace, Zinédine Zidane has always been something of an enigma, so it is perhaps fitting that the final act of his career should be the source of such mystery. Just why did a man blessed with complete control of a football lose his head in such a violent manner at such a crucial moment, boring it into the chest of Marco Materazzi? As L’Equipe summed up the moment of madness with...

Hey Folks, I know on the other thread Zidane is getting chopped for being a Muslim - (a little unfair on its own - in the context of the World Cup playing) but - I followed the blog someone posted from for the Zidane head butt - and then I started reading the blog of watchers below and they pointed out the scum materazzi pinched so hard Zidane's nipple - Zidane had it and headbutt him. Watch the first video carefully. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBV52GPhNjw Now watch this video - turn down the volume because the song is not nice but Materazzi purposefully...

PARIS (AFP) - First there was hope and expectation, then there was undiluted joy, a reality check, exasperation, despair and finally deflation - that was the Champs Elysees during the World Cup final. What was supposed to be a great swansong for a player rightly lauded as the greatest of his generation, ended in disgrace for French star Zinedine Zidane. And his hoards of loyal fans looked on in disbelief as they watched their talisman head-butt his way - the victim being Marco Materazzi - into an inglorious but dramatic retirement - more Eric Cantona than Zizou. The wild party...

BERLIN (AP) -- Zinedine Zidane cut short his dazzling World Cup and closed his career with an ugly head butt -- and a loss. The France captain was given a red card for slamming the crown of his bald head into the center of Italy defender Marco Materazzi's chest after the two exchanged words while walking down the field in extra time. The game was tied 1-1 when Zidane was sent off, head bowed, in the 110th minute Sunday. Without their sharpshooting captain, France couldn't unlock Italy's defense and went on to lose in a shootout, 5-3. Zidane's strike was...

Portugal takes on France at 3 p.m. ET (ESPN) in Munich. Discuss.

The Germans and Italians meet in Dortmund on Tuesday (2:55 p.m. ET, ESPN) to play for the right to go to the World Cup Final on Sunday. The loser will play in the third-place game Saturday against the losing team of the other semifinal to be held Wednesday.