Instead, Zidane was dismissed from the field for headbutting Materazzi, apparently in retaliation to some verbal insult offered by the Italian defender.
Italy were temporarily shaken but equalized after 19 minutes when Materazzi atoned for his earlier slackness by rising high above Patrick Vieira to head home an Andrea Pirlo corner from the right.
Both Zidane and Marco Materazzi found the net in the 2006 final in Germany between France and Italy, but it was the pair's off-the-ball clash deep into extra time that became the tournament's defining moment.
With France rocking at the back, Materazzi nearly repeated the medicine and Italy were close to a second in the 36th minute when Pirlo curled in another tempting corner which striker Luca Toni headed against the bar.
Materazzi is still best known for his antics in the 2006 World Cup final, when his comments to Zinedine Zidane led to the France playmaker being sent off for a vicious headbutt in his farewell international which ended with the Italians being crowned world champions.