The World Cups will pass but one of the moments that will never be forgotten will be the final of the 2006 World Cup, when Zinedine Zidane was expelled after headbutting Italian defender Marco Materazzi. The referee at that time, Horacio Elizondo, who did not see the play, decided to show him the red card. And 12 years later he has revealed how he found out about that action.
The Argentine referee, through 'TED conferences', told his version of what happened at that moment and who was his "guardian angel" who told him what Zidane had done.
"At one point I see Materazzi lying on the ground, about thirty or forty meters away. I proceed to interrupt the game. Quickly, through the intercoms, I ask my assistants. Both answer me, surprise, 'we didn't see anything at all'", Elizondo said.
In the face of surprise and bewilderment because he did not know what had happened, the fourth official, the Spanish Luis Medina Cantalejo, who had seen everything, appeared and told him:
"Terrible, terrible headbutt by Zidane on Materazzi. Damn, headbutt by Zidane on Materazzi, when you see the video you won't believe it."
The rest is history. Horacio Elizondo decided to send off Zidane, which marked the fate of that final that Italy won in a penalty shootout.