Marco Materazzi participant in 2006 FIFA World Cup
Marco Materazzi  (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmarko mateˈrattsi]; born 19 August 1973) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager.
Early in his career, Materazzi played with various Italian teams in Serie B and Serie C, and with Everton in the Premier League. He spent two periods with Perugia (1995–98 and 1999–2001) and signed for Inter Milan in 2001 for €10 million. At club level, he won a number of major honors with Inter, including five Serie A league titles in a row from 2006 to 2010, one UEFA Champions League, one FIFA Club World Cup, four Coppa Italia titles, and the Supercoppa Italiana four times.Materazzi earned 41 caps for Italy from his debut in 2001 until 2008, playing in two World Cups and two European Championships. He was one of the key players in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final against France; he gave away an early penalty that led to France's first goal, scored Italy's equalising goal twelve minutes later and, in extra time, received a headbutt from Zinedine Zidane who was punished with a red card. Italy then went on to win the World Cup in a penalty shoot-out, during which Materazzi scored again.
A controversial and provocative figure in football, he was known for his very physical and aggressive style of defending, which saw him collect numerous cards throughout his career.2006 World Cup
Materazzi was included in the 23-man squad by manager Marcello Lippi for the 2006 FIFA World Cup which was his third major tournament. He began the tournament as a reserve player, but after Alessandro Nesta suffered an injury in the group match against the Czech Republic, Materazzi came on as his replacement and made an impact by scoring a goal, and was named Man of the Match. He received a red card in the round of 16 match against Australia for a foul on Mark Bresciano, which ended in a 1–0 win for the Italians, and was suspended for the quarter-final against Ukraine, which Italy won 3–0.In the final against France, Materazzi fouled Florent Malouda to concede a penalty, which Zinedine Zidane subsequently scored. He made another impact by scoring a goal to tie the game, a header from a right sided corner by Andrea Pirlo. After the match went to extra-time, Materazzi and Zidane were involved in a confrontation in the 110th minute, where Materazzi verbally insulted Zidane while tugging his shirt as the latter attempted to walk away, which ended with Zidane headbutting Materazzi and receiving a red card. The game then continued to penalties. Materazzi scored Italy's second penalty as they defeated France 5–3 to claim their fourth FIFA World Cup.After the final, the confrontation resulted in a major controversy as Zidane accused Materazzi of insulting his sister and mother. Additionally, Materazzi claimed that after he had grabbed Zidane's jersey, Zidane sarcastically said to him "If you want my shirt, I will give to you afterwards". Materazzi then revealed that he replied, "Preferisco la puttana di tua sorella" (I would prefer your whore of a sister), which resulted in the headbutt. Three British tabloid newspapers, the Daily Star, the Daily Mail and The Sun, alleged that Materazzi had called Zidane "the son of a terrorist whore." Materazzi took legal action against all three newspapers and the allegations were later withdrawn. FIFA later issued a CHF 5,000 fine and a two-match ban against Materazzi. Alongside striker Luca Toni, Materazzi was Italy's top scorer throughout the tournament with two goals; he also won 14 challenges throughout the competition. In 2010, Zidane had said that he would "rather die than apologise" to Materazzi for the headbutt in the final, but also admitted that he "could never have lived with himself" had he been allowed to remain on the pitch and help France win the match.Honours
Player
Inter MilanSerie A: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
Coppa Italia: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2009–10, 2010–11
Supercoppa Italiana: 2005, 2006, 2010
UEFA Champions League: 2009–10
FIFA Club World Cup: 2010ItalyFIFA World Cup: 2006
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