A book about Zinedine Zidane set to be published next week has revealed that the French legend deeply regrets his infamous 2006 head-butt on Marco Materazzi.

Among the secrets in the book, there is a confession by Zidane to his cousin Akbou who lives in Algeria.

The pair spoke about the incident in Algiers in December 2006, and Akbou, a pharmacist of 40 years, said to Zidane that he had “done well” to respond to the provocation of Materazzi.

However, the former number 10 replied: “Do not ever say that I did well to head-butt Materazzi. I did not do well and I am sorry.”

Image via BBC