Zinedine Zidane lost his rag after Marco Materazzi called him the "son of a terrorist whore" during a tirade of racist abuse, the player's family claimed last night.
The French captain lashed out at the Italian defender with a disgraceful headbutt when allegedly goaded about his mother Malika and his Muslim religion during Sunday's World Cup final.
His cousin Rabah Zidane claimed Materazzi chose "the most vicious insult he could muster" in order to get his opponent sent off.
The claim was one of many flying around as to why Zidane, whose parents are Algerian, floored Materazzi as extra time drew to a close, bringing his glorious career to a shameful end.
One Italian website even printed what it said was a lip-reading expert's transcript of the bust-up.
It began when Materazzi tugged at French-born Zidane's shirt.
ZIDANE: (in Italian) Stop pulling my shirt.
MATERAZZI: Shut up f****r, you only get what you deserve.
ZIDANE: Yeah, sure...
MATERAZZI: All of you deserve that, f*****g Muslims, terrorist b******s.
Sources within the French camp also claim the Italian made a sick remark about Zidane's first coach Jean Ferrade, who died of cancer just before the World Cup. Other reports claim Materazzi called the midfielder's sister a prostitute.
And another lip-reader told BBC radio that former Everton star Materazzi wished his opponent "an ugly death to you and your family".
But the Inter Milan player last night denied ever using the word terrorist in his exchange with Zidane, who speaks Italian from his time at Juventus.
He said: "It is absolutely not true, I did not call him a terrorist." And Italian newspapers claimed Zidane sparked the row by insulting Materazzi first about his mother who died when he was young.
But Rabah insisted the star would not react so violently unless he or his family was racially abused. He added: "My cousin is not a violent man. He is gentle and he doesn't hit people but he was provoked by a truly savage insult.
"We have heard through people Zinedine has spoken to that he was called a terrorist. He clearly couldn't control his rage." A French Football Federation source said: "It takes a lot to provoke Zidane, racist abuse is normally what does it.
"Lots of things were said but if you insult Zidane's mother you are asking for trouble.
"Combine such words with a reference to terrorism, something which French-Algerians are very sensitive about, and a violent reaction might appear inevitable."
The player refused to talk about the incident. But his agent Alain Migliaccio, said: "Zinedine told me Materazzi said something very serious. He will speak about it in the next couple of days."
Zidane was born in Marseille after his parents emigrated from Algeria. He grew up on a rough estate packed with immigrants and with high unemployment.
The French football source said: "Many convicted terrorists in France come from this type of background. It's something men like Zidane are very sensitive about."
Fifa last night denied claims video evidence was used to send off the player. Spokesman Andreas Herren said the fourth official spotted the butt and told the referee through his headset.
Feelings over Zidane's red card were mixed in France. President Jacques Chirac paid tribute to the star.
At a lunch in Zidane's honour, he told him: "You are a virtuoso, a genius of world football. France loves you." But sports minister Jean-Francois Lamour said the head butt was "unpardonable".
Taken from the Daily Mirror 11/7/06