PARIS – French soccer star Zinedine Zidane offered apologies but no regrets yesterday for brutally head-butting an Italian opponent in the World Cup final, saying he was spurred by cruel insults to his mother and sister.

Exactly what was said between France’s captain and Marco Materazzi remains a mystery, however. Zidane never was specific about what enraged him. So, for the moment, the exchange stays between them.

“I would rather have taken a punch in the jaw than have heard that,” he told the Canal-Plus television network, stressing that Materazzi’s language was “very harsh,” and that he uttered the insults several times.

Two British newspapers – the Times of London and the London Daily Mail – hired lip readers who concurred that the Italian player called Zidane “the son of a terrorist whore.”

Both players have given similar accounts regarding the lead-up to the incident. After Materazzi grasped Zidane’s jersey, Zidane told him he could have the shirt after the game if he wanted it. According to Corriere Della Serra (corriere.it), Italian sources say Materazzi responded, “I rather take the shirt off that whore of your sister.”

In his first public comments since Sunday’s match, Zidane repeatedly apologized to fans – especially to children. But he said he didn’t regret the abrupt, violent outburst that marked the end of his illustrious 18-year professional career.

“I tell myself that if things happened this way, it’s because somewhere up there it was decided that way,” the 34-year-old midfielder said in an interview on TF1 television. “And I don’t regret anything that happened, I accept it.”

Zidane and Materazzi exchanged words after Italy broke up a French attack in extra-time. Seconds later, Zidane lowered his head and rammed Materazzi in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

Zidane was sent off, reducing France to 10 men. Italy went on to win in a penalty shootout with Zidane in the locker room.

The act of aggression marred the end of the World Cup, with many warning it would tarnish the legacy of Zidane, who retired after the Cup.

Yesterday, he stressed he felt no regret “because that would mean [Materazzi] was right to say all that.”

“There was a serious provocation,” Zidane said. “My act is not forgivable. But they must also punish the true guilty party, and the guilty party is the one who provokes.”

Materazzi has acknowledged he insulted Zidane, without giving specifics. At nearly the same moment Zidane was on TV, excerpts from a Materazzi interview were posted on an Italian paper’s Web site. He denied insulting Zidane’s mother.

“I didn’t say anything to him about racism, religion or politics,” Materazzi told the Gazzetta dello Sport. “I didn’t talk about his mother, either. I lost my mother when I was 15, and even now I still get emotional talking about her.”

Zidane “has always been my hero,” Materazzi said. “I admire him a lot.”

Materazzi spoke to Zidane in Italian. Zidane, who played several years for Juventus in Turin, speaks Italian.

France’s president Jacques Chirac has had only kind words for Zidane since the match – reassuring him that France still “admires and loves him.”

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What he said

‘… the son of a terrorist whore.’ – What Materazzi called Zidane, according to lip-readers for London’s Times and Daily Mail

‘I’d rather take the shirt off that whore of your sister.’ – What an Italian Web site claims Materazzi said after Zidane offered to give him his jersey after the game, in response to Materazzi grabbing at it