[Mike]

Zinedine Zidane has elaborated on the chain of events which led to his attack on Marco Materazzi during the World Cup final.

The midfield genius brought the curtain down on one of the world's great careers when seeing red for a headbutt on Materazzi.

Numerous reports have commented on what led Zidane to launch his attack on the Italian defender and the France star has claimed Materazzi insulted both his mother and his sister.

"He (Materazzi) pulled on my shirt several times and I told him that we could swap shirts at the end of the game if he wanted to," Zidane said in a live interview on French television channel Canal Plus.

"He then pronounced very tough words, words that hurt me deeply, words about my mother and my sister. At first, I tried not to listen to him but he kept repeating them.

"I knew it was my last game and I knew there were only 10 minutes to play but things happened very swiftly.

"I am a man before anything else.

"I would rather have taken a punch in the jaw than have heard that."

Zidane had kept his own counsel on Sunday's events prior to his interview on French television and he has apologised for his actions - but still feels Materazzi was the guilty party.

"I apologise to all the children who watched the match on Sunday. This was not something to do. I want to make it clear because it was watched by two billion people and by millions of kids," Zidane said.

"I want to apologise to them but I can't regret what I did because it would mean that he (Materazzi) was right to say what he said."

Zidane felt referee Horacio Elizondo was correct to send him off.

"Afterwards I explained to the referee that I had been provoked, but my behaviour is not forgivable," Zidane said.

Zidane said that he would seek to defend himself at an upcoming Fifa hearing.

"I will go and I will tell everything I have just said," he added.

"The reaction is always punished but if there is no provocation there is no reaction. The guilty person is the one who provokes.

"If I reacted that way, it is because something bad happened. Do you really believe that 10 minutes before the end of my career I would be able to make such a bad gesture? The provocation was very serious."

Some had suggested Zidane may reconsider his decision to retire so as not to end his career on such a low note, but the midfield superstar says there will no comeback.

"This is a decision I have made and I will not go back on it," he said. "This is definite. I will not play again."

(skysports)