Italy defender Marco Materazzi on Monday accepted a public apology over a claim that he had used vile racist abuse to goad former France captain Zinedine Zidane into headbutting him during the 2006 World Cup final.

 The Inter Milan centre-back, who scored Italy´s equaliser and one of the crucial match-winning penalties in the shoot-out, was at London´s High Court for the settlement of his libel action against Express Newspapers, over articles in the Daily Star.

 His counsel, Jane Phillips, said the newspaper accepted that the allegations were "wholly untrue" and apologised for the distress and embarrassment caused.