Zidane's headbutt — the strangest way a legend ever ended his career

The 2006 World Cup final between France and Italy was supposed to be Zinedine Zidane's glorious farewell. The French maestro had already announced it would be his last match, and he opened the scoring with an audacious Panenka penalty — chipping the ball softly down the middle while the goalkeeper dove.

Then, in the 110th minute of extra time, something inexplicable happened. Italian defender Marco Materazzi said something to Zidane, and the Frenchman turned around and headbutted Materazzi square in the chest, sending him crashing to the ground. Zidane was shown a red card and walked off the pitch, past the World Cup trophy, for the last time.

Italy went on to win on penalties. Materazzi later revealed he had insulted Zidane's sister. Despite the headbutt, Zidane still won the tournament's Golden Ball as the best player — a testament to how brilliantly he had played before that moment of madness.