Marco Materazzi (; 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.
Club career
Early career
Materazzi began his footballing career with the Lazio and then the Messina Peloro youth teams 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 he spent a part of the 1996–97 season in Serie C with Carpi.
He then spent 1998–99 with Everton, where he was sent off three times in just 27 games, and scored twice, against Middlesbrough in the league and Huddersfield Town in the League Cup.
He then returned to Perugia in 1999 and scored 12 goals, including 7 from penalties in the 2000–01 season, breaking Daniel Passarella's Serie A record of most goals by a defender in one season.
Inter Milan
2001–2004: Debut and controversies
Materazzi was signed by Inter Milan in July 2001 for €10 million. He took squad number 23 and made his competitive debut for the club on 26 August in the opening championship match against Perugia. Materazzi's first goal for Inter came only in his second appearance, netting inside 10 minutes in a 2–2 draw at Parma. He also played eight time in the season's UEFA Cup, with his competition debut coming on 20 September in the 3–0 win versus Romania's Brașov.
Materazzi played 23 matches in league, including the final decisive match versus Lazio which lost Inter the championship title; he was a protagonist in a controversial episode following the final whistle, as he was involved in a heated discussion with the opposition players which turned into a physical confrontation. He was caught by the cameras shouting at Lazio captain Alessandro Nesta, saying: "I won you the title", in reference to Perugia's win over Juventus in 2000 which lead Lazio to the title.
In the following season, Materazzi made 33 appearances across all competitions, including 13 in UEFA Champions League, where he played his first match on 14 August 2002 in a goalless draw against Sporting CP.
Materazzi's 2003–04 season was blighted by injuries, including one he suffered on 25 November during the 5–1 home loss to Arsenal in UEFA Champions League group stage which kept him out of action for two months. He was at the center of a controversy again at the beginning of 2004 for aggression towards Siena player Bruno Cirillo. This happened on 1 February in a match which was won 4–0 by Inter. Materazzi (who did not play in the match) confronted Cirillo in the dressing rooms and begun spewing insults towards him. He also punched him in the face, fracturing his lip. After the incident, the sports judge Maurizio Laudi suspended Materazzi until 29 March, meaning that he missed eight club matches and one international match. In addition to his domestic suspension, Materazzi was also suspended by UEFA for two UEFA Cup games. Inter was also fined with €5,000. Materazzi later apologized for the incident, saying that he "behaved badly" and "reacted in a bad way", also adding that he would not appeal the suspension.