Marco Materazzi

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Marco Materazzi
Personal information
Date of birth	August 19, 1973 (1973-08-19) (age 35)
Place of birth	Lecce, Italy
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Internazionale
Number	23
Youth career
1990–1991 1991–1993	Messina Peloro Tor di Quinto
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993–1994 1994–1995 1995–1998 1996 1998–1999 1999–2001 2001–	Marsala Trapani Perugia → Carpi (loan) Everton Perugia Internazionale	025 0(4) 013 0(2) 047 0(7) 018 0(7) 025 0(1) 051 (15) 164 (18)
National team2
2001–2008	Italy	041 0(2)[1]
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of February 8, 2009. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of June 9, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Marco Materazzi, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI (born 19 August 1973), is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who currently plays as a centre back for Serie A club Internazionale.

At the beginning of his career, Materazzi played with various Italian teams in Serie B and Serie C, and with Premier League side Everton. He spent two periods with Perugia (1995–98 and 1999–2001) and signed for his current club, Inter, in 2001 for €10 million. He is renowned as a prolific goal-scorer for a defender, breaking the Serie A record for most goals scored by a defender in a season in the 2000–01 season. With Inter he has won a number of major honours including three Serie A titles, the Coppa Italia twice, and the Supercoppa Italiana three times.

He made his international debut in 2001 and won his first major trophy with Italy in 2006, as part of the World Cup team. Materazzi played in the final of the competition and became the centre of much controversy when he was headbutted by Zinedine Zidane mid-match after having insulted him. The altercation, and resulting red card for Zidane, was the source of much discussion and remains a prominent moment in World Cup history.

[edit] Early life and club career

Materazzi was born in Lecce, where his father Giuseppe was a player for Lecce. Giuseppe was also a former football coach and manager of teams such as Pisa, Lazio, Sporting CP and Tianjin Teda. Marco was a Lazio fan during his father's stint as Lazio manager in the late 1980s.^[2]

He began his footballing career with the Messina Peloro youth team from 1990 to 1991. He spent his early career in the lower divisions of Italian football, with amateur side Tor di Quinto (1991–92), Serie C2 team Marsala (1993–94), and Serie C1 Trapani (1994–95), where he narrowly missed a historic promotion to Serie B after losing a promotion playoff to Gualdo.

Serie B squad Perugia Calcio signed Materazzi for the first time in 1995, but spent a part of the 1996–97 season in Serie C with Carpi, before coming back to Perugia. He then spent 1998–99 with Everton, where he was sent off four times in just 27 games, then once again returned to Perugia. He scored 12 goals in the 2000–01 season, breaking Daniel Passarella's Serie A record of most goals by a defender in one season. He was then signed by Inter for €10 million. Materazzi finished the 2006–07 season as the top scoring defender of Serie A with 10 goals. Many of his goals come from penalties. He signed a contract extension in 2006 that will keep him with Inter until 2010. Materazzi made his 150th appearance for Inter in a 2–0 win over Atalanta on 6 April 2008.

On 1 July 2009, Inter officially announced Materazzi signed a new contract which last until June 2012.

[edit] International career

Materazzi started the 2006 FIFA World Cup as a reserve player, but after Alessandro Nesta suffered an injury in the group match against Czech Republic, he was brought back into the starting lineup. He was sent off with a red card in the round of 16 match against Australia and was suspended for Italy's quarterfinal match against Ukraine.

In the World Cup final against France, he conceded a penalty but later tied the match 1–1 with a header. He also scored Italy's second penalty in the shootout after the match remained tied after extra time. During the extra-time period, Materazzi was headbutted in the chest by Zinédine Zidane, who was then sent off. Zidane had accused him for insulting his sister and mother, but during a press conference following the event, Materazzi said that after he had grabbed Zidane's jersey, Zidane offered it to him sarcastically. Materazzi then replied, preferisco la puttana di tua sorella (I prefer your whore of a sister), which resulted in the headbutt. He later claimed he did not know that Zidane even had a sister.^[3][4] Three British tabloid newspapers, The Daily Star, The Daily Mail and The Sun, alleged that Materazzi had made comments of a racist nature to Zidane. Materazzi took legal action against them and the allegations were later withdrawn and all three newspapers paid substantial damages.^[5][6]

[edit] International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	22 June 2006	Hamburg, Germany	Czech Republic	2–0	Win	2006 FIFA World Cup
2	9 July 2006	Berlin, Germany	France	1–1 (AET), 5–3 (PSO)	Win	2006 FIFA World Cup

[edit] Honours

Internazionale

• Serie A: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Coppa Italia: 2005, 2006
• Supercoppa Italiana: 2005, 2006, 2008
• Trofeo Tim: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007
• Birra Moretti Cup: 2001, 2002, 2007
• Pirelli Cup: 2001

Italy National Football Team

• FIFA World Cup: 2006

[edit] Personal

• Serie A Defender of the Year: 2007

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marco Materazzi

• Official Website
• Official Inter profile
• Profile and stats from Football Database
• Information on the incident between Materazzi and Zidane
• Popular song with video about the incident between Materazzi and Zidane

Italy squad v • d • e Italy squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Buffon • 2 Panucci • 3 Maldini • 4 Coco • 5 Cannavaro • 6 Zanetti • 7 Del Piero • 8 Gattuso • 9 Inzaghi • 10 Totti • 11 Doni • 12 Abbiati • 13 Nesta • 14 Di Biagio • 15 Iuliano • 16 Di Livio • 17 Tommasi • 18 Delvecchio • 19 Zambrotta • 20 Montella • 21 Vieri • 22 Toldo • 23 Materazzi • Coach: Trapattoni v • d • e Italy squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 Buffon • 2 Panucci • 3 Oddo • 4 Zanetti • 5 Cannavaro • 6 Ferrari • 7 Del Piero • 8 Gattuso • 9 Vieri • 10 Totti • 11 Corradi • 12 Toldo • 13 Nesta • 14 Fiore • 15 Favalli • 16 Camoranesi • 17 Di Vaio • 18 Cassano • 19 Zambrotta • 20 Perrotta • 21 Pirlo • 22 Peruzzi • 23 Materazzi • Coach: Trapattoni v • d • e Italy squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Winners (4th title) 1 Buffon • 2 Zaccardo • 3 Grosso • 4 De Rossi • 5 Cannavaro • 6 Barzagli • 7 Del Piero • 8 Gattuso • 9 Toni • 10 Totti • 11 Gilardino • 12 Peruzzi • 13 Nesta • 14 Amelia • 15 Iaquinta • 16 Camoranesi • 17 Barone • 18 Inzaghi • 19 Zambrotta • 20 Perrotta • 21 Pirlo • 22 Oddo • 23 Materazzi • Coach: Lippi v • d • e Italy squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Buffon • 2 Panucci • 3 Grosso • 4 Chiellini • 5 Gamberini • 6 Barzagli • 7 Del Piero • 8 Gattuso • 9 Toni • 10 De Rossi • 11 Di Natale • 12 Borriello • 13 Ambrosini • 14 Amelia • 15 Quagliarella • 16 Camoranesi • 17 De Sanctis • 18 Cassano • 19 Zambrotta • 20 Perrotta • 21 Pirlo • 22 Aquilani • 23 Materazzi • Coach: Donadoni