France defender William Gallas has called the Italians 'cheats', after his team's World Cup final defeat to the Azzurri on Sunday.
Les Bleus captain Zinedine Zidane was correctly dismissed for a head-butt on Marco Materazzi in an off-the-ball incident in Berlin.
But a bitter Gallas has controversially moved to defend his team-mate and alleged that Marcello Lippi's team used underhand tactics to win.
"Italians always act like this," he told AFP. "It is a shame to say that, but when they feel they are being dominated they try to provoke you.
"Yes, they are cheaters, but we can't stop that. Fifa and the referees only see the second act, they never look at why there is an incident.
"I accept when the adversary wins with honour, but that is not the case. We know Zizou, he doesn't react like that, people can't react like that, but he has been insulted.
"I think it was very grave. When you play against people like that you want to kick their ass. It is cheating, but they are Italians."
While reports in the French media suggest that Materazzi called Zidane a 'terrorist,' making reference to his Algerian roots, the Frenchman's reaction was inexcusable and left a sour taste in the mouth after what has been an outstanding career.
Les Bleus captain Zinedine Zidane was correctly dismissed for a head-butt on Marco Materazzi in an off-the-ball incident in Berlin.
But a bitter Gallas has controversially moved to defend his team-mate and alleged that Marcello Lippi's team used underhand tactics to win.
"Italians always act like this," he told AFP. "It is a shame to say that, but when they feel they are being dominated they try to provoke you.
"Yes, they are cheaters, but we can't stop that. Fifa and the referees only see the second act, they never look at why there is an incident.
"I accept when the adversary wins with honour, but that is not the case. We know Zizou, he doesn't react like that, people can't react like that, but he has been insulted.
"I think it was very grave. When you play against people like that you want to kick their ass. It is cheating, but they are Italians."
While reports in the French media suggest that Materazzi called Zidane a 'terrorist,' making reference to his Algerian roots, the Frenchman's reaction was inexcusable and left a sour taste in the mouth after what has been an outstanding career.
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