Marco Materazzi

Marco Materazzi

Materazzi training with Inter in 2009
Personal information
Full name Marco Materazzi
Date of birth (1973-08-19) 19 August 1973
Place of birth Lecce, Italy
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Chennaiyin FC
Youth career
1990–1991 Messina Peloro
1991–1993 Tor di Quinto
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1994 Marsala 25 (4)
1994–1995 Trapani 13 (2)
1995–1998 Perugia 47 (7)
1996–1997 → Carpi (loan) 18 (7)
1998–1999 Everton 25 (2)
1999–2001 Perugia 51 (19)
2001–2011 Internazionale 209 (19)
2014–2015 Chennaiyin FC 7 (0)
National team
2001–2008 Italy 41 (2)
Teams managed
2014– Chennaiyin FC

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Marco Materazzi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmarko mateˈrattsi], Ufficiale OMRI; born 19 August 1973) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager of Indian Super League club Chennaiyin.

At the beginning of 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 Internazionale, 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.[1]

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, as he scored Italy's goal and later, in extra time, he 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 play as a defender, as well as his tight marking and strong, harsh tackling, which led him to receive more than 60 yellow cards and 25 red cards throughout his playing career. Due to his temper, and his commitment to rash, heavy challenges, he has been involved in several altercations with other players during matches,[2] drawing comparisons with retired defender Pasquale Bruno.[3] The Times placed Materazzi at number 45 in their list of the 50 hardest football players in history.[4] During the 2006–07 season, Materazzi was voted the Serie A Defender of the Year.

Early life

Marco Materazzi was born in Lecce, where his father, Giuseppe, a professional footballer, was playing for U.S. Lecce. Giuseppe was also a former football coach and manager of teams such as Pisa, Lazio, Sporting CP and Tianjin Teda.

Club career

Messina Peloro

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.

Perugia

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.

Everton

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[5] and Huddersfield Town in the League Cup.[6][7]

Return to Perugia

He then returned to Perugia in 1999 and scored 12 goals in the 2000–01 season, breaking Daniel Passarella's Serie A record of most goals by a defender in one season.[7]

Internazionale

Materazzi playing for Inter in 2009

Materazzi was then signed by Internazionale for €10 million.[8] He finished the 2006–07 season as the top scoring defender of Serie A with 10 goals,[9] including a double away to Siena on 23 April which won the club's 15th league title with five games remaining.[10] Materazzi was an injury-time substitute for Inter in the 2010 UEFA Champions League Final against Bayern Munich, replacing Diego Milito who scored both of their goals in the 2–0 victory in Madrid.[11]

Materazzi declared his retirement from international football in summer 2011.[12] and was appointed in the role of ambassador to Inter.

Chennaiyin FC

On 22 September 2014, Materazzi was signed as the player-manager of Chennaiyin FC in the inaugural season of the Indian Super League.[13] Materazzi signed a two-season contract with Chennaiyin for $1 million (USD) every season.[14][15] Materazzi did not choose himself to play in their opening match, a 2–1 victory at FC Goa on 15 October courtesy of a free kick from marquee player and former Brazil international Elano.[16] Six days later in his first home game, Chennaiyin defeated the Kerala Blasters 2–1, but four days after that he lost for the first time, 1–4 to the Delhi Dynamos. In the club's fourth match of the season, he selected himself to play for the first time, starting in a 5–1 win over Mumbai City FC.[17] On 28 November, he brought his former international defensive partner Alessandro Nesta out of retirement to play for Chennaiyin until the end of the season.[18] Chennaiyin finished the 14-game regular season in first place in the league, with Materazzi having made 6 appearances. In the end-of-season play-offs, the team were eliminated in extra time in the semi-finals by the Kerala Blasters.

At the end of the 2015 season, in which Materazzi lead Chennaiyin to the Indian Super League championship, his contract ended.[19]

International career

Materazzi in 2006, during the FIFA World Cup in Germany

Materazzi made his debut for the Italy national team on 25 April 2001, in a 1–0 friendly match victory against South Africa. He made two appearances in the qualifying campaign against Georgia and Hungary. In the final tournament of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Materazzi was used as a reserve player to back up Alessandro Nesta and Fabio Cannavaro. He made only one appearance by coming on as a substitute for Nesta in the 2–1 loss to Croatia in the group stage but soon in the 90th minute Materazzi played a floating ball over the top from just over half way to Inzaghi but everyone missed the ball and rolled in the back of the net but the goal was disallowed after referee Graham Poll claimed that Inzaghi grabbed an opponent's shirt.[20] Materazzi was later criticised for his defending on both of Croatia's goals during the match.[21]

Two years later at UEFA Euro 2004, Materazzi was on the bench for Italy's first two games but started in the final group game against Bulgaria in place of the suspended Fabio Cannavaro, as Italy came from behind to win 2–1; in the first half, Materazzi was judged to have allegedly fouled Dimitar Berbatov in the area, conceding a penalty, which Martin Petrov subsequently converted. Despite the win, Italy were eliminated in the first round on direct encounters, following a three-way five point tie with Denmark and Sweden.[22]

Headbutt, a statue originally unveiled in Paris, France, of Materazzi being headbutted by Zidane in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final.

In his third major tournament, Materazzi started the 2006 FIFA World Cup 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.[23] 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 to the Italians, and was suspended for the quarter-final against Ukraine, which Italy won 3–0.[24] In the final against France, Materazzi fouled Florent Malouda to concede a dubious penalty, which Zinedine Zidane subsequently scored. He made another impact by scoring a goal to level the score, 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 Zinedine Zidane alongside tugging his shirt while Zidane attempted to walk away, which ended with Zidane head-butting 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.[25] 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[26]" (I would prefer your whore of a sister[26]), which resulted in the head-butt.[27][28] 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.[29][30] 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.[31]

Under Roberto Donadoni, Materazzi appeared consistently during the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign and became a starter after Alessandro Nesta's retirement. In the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament, he started in the 3–0 loss to the Netherlands but was substituted in the 54th minute in what would later prove to be his final appearance for Italy, as he was replaced later in the tournament by Giorgio Chiellini.[32]

Playing style

An aggressive, physical, and hard-tackling centre-back, who was also known for his tight marking of opponents,[2] Materazzi was considered to be one of the best defenders of his generation, and was highly regarded by two of the world's most respected coaches, Marcello Lippi and José Mourinho, later becoming close friends with both managers.[33] Materazzi was lauded by his managers in particular for being a goal threat as a defender, due to his outstanding aerial ability, which made him dangerous during set pieces.[7] His prolific goalscoring allowed him to capture the record for most goals in a Serie A season by a defender, which was broken during the 2000–01 season.[7] He was also an accurate set piece and penalty kick taker, with a powerful shot from distance.[7] In addition to these attributes, he had reliable technique and distribution skills, and was known for frequently playing long balls to the strikers.[2] During his time with Internazionale, he developed the nickname Matrix.[34]

Career statistics

Player

Club

As of 25 December 2015[35]
Club Season League Cup Continental[lower-alpha 1] Other[lower-alpha 2] Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Messina 1990–91 1000——10
Total 1 0 0 0 — — 1 0
Tor di Quinto 1991–92 00———00
1992–93 120———120
Total 12 0 — — — 12 0
Marsala 1993–94 254———254
Total 25 4 — — — 25 4
Trapani 1994–95 132———132
Total 13 2 — — — 13 2
Perugia Calcio 1995–96 10———3117
Total 1 0 — — — 1 0
Carpi 1996–97 187———187
Total 18 7 — — — 18 7
Perugia Calcio 1996–97 142———142
1997–98 33520——355
Total 47 7 2 0 — — 49 7
Everton 1998–99 27161——332
Total 27 1 6 1 — — 33 2
Perugia Calcio 1999–2000 2132010—243
2000–01 30122010—3312
Total 51 15 4 0 2 0 — 57 15
Internazionale 2001–02 2911081—382
2002–03 25100130—381
2003–04 1830040—223
2004–05 2905090—430
2005–06 2226010010392
2006–07 30102060103910
2007–08 251403010331
2008–09 90205100161
2009–10 120404000200
2010–11 100101010130
Total 209 19 25 0 63 2 4 0 301 20
Chennaiyin 2014 70———70
Total 7 0 — — — 7 0
Career total 410 55 37 1 65 2 4 0 516 58
  1. ↑ Including continental competitions, such as UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
  2. ↑ Including other competitions, such as Supercoppa Italiana, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup

International

[36]

Italy national team
YearAppsGoals
200140
200250
200310
200480
200570
2006102
200740
200820
Total412
International goals
Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first.[37]
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 22 June 2006 Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, Germany  Czech Republic 1–0 2–0 2006 FIFA World Cup
2 9 July 2006 Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany  France 1–1 1–1 (2–1 p) 2006 FIFA World Cup Final

Manager

All competitive league games (league and domestic cup) and international matches (including friendlies) are included.

As of 20 December 2015
Team Nat Year Record
GWDLWin %
Chennaiyin India 2014– 33 16 6 11 48.48
Career Total 33 16 6 11 48.48

Honours

Player

Club

Internazionale[35]

International

Italy[35]

Individual

Manager

Chennaiyin

Orders

  • Collar of Merit Sports: 2006[39]

References

  1. ↑ The Matrix – Marco Materazzi: http://lazymanscalcio.tumblr.com/post/18215957095/the-matrix
  2. 1 2 3 Cazullo, Aldo. "Materazzi". www.corriere.it. Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Emanuele Gamba (3 February 2004). ""O' animale resto sempre io una volta aspettai Lerda..."" ["I'm still the animal once I waited for Lerda..."] (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  4. ↑ "Top 50 Hardest Footballers". Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  5. ↑ Bramwell, Neil (17 February 1999). "Barmby sparks Everton deluge". London: The Independent. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  6. ↑ Shaw, Phil (23 September 1998). "Dacourt drives Everton through". London: The Independent. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "I difensori e il vizio del gol Facchetti il top, poi Matrix". Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  8. ↑ Marco Materazzi – News, Stats and Info About the Soccer Player
  9. ↑ Italian Serie A Goal Scoring Leaders – 2006–07 – ESPN FC
  10. ↑ Andersson, Astrid (23 April 2007). "Materazzi secures early title for Inter". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "Bayern 0–2 Internazionale". UEFA. 22 May 2010.
  12. ↑ "A Salute to Marco Materazzi". BBC News. 21 July 2011.
  13. ↑ "Fans accord Marco Materazzi a warm welcome". ISL. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  14. ↑ "Elano is Chennai´s Marquee". INDIAN Express. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  15. ↑ "Marco Materazzi to manage Chennai Titans". Times of India. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  16. ↑ Raj, Rohan (15 October 2014). "ISL: Record-breaking Chennaiyin FC romp to 2–1 win over FC Goa". India Today. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  17. ↑ Suchindran, Aravind (28 October 2014). "Elano, Mendoza shine as Chennai trounce Mumbai 5–1". The Times of India. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  18. ↑ Davies, Jack (28 November 2014). "Alessandro Nesta comes out of retirement to join Indian Super League side Chennaiyin". Goal.com. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  19. ↑ "Ready to extend contract: Materazzi". The Hindu. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  20. ↑ Simon Kuper (9 June 2002). "Italy are offline". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  21. ↑ "Croatia punish Italy". BBC. 8 June 2002. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  22. ↑ "Italy 2–1 Bulgaria". BBC. 23 June 2004. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  23. ↑ "Czech Republic 0–2 Italy". BBC. 22 June 2006. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  24. ↑ "Italy 1–0 Australia". BBC. 26 June 2006. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  25. ↑ Jonathan Stevenson (9 July 2006). "Italy 1–1 France (aet)". BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  26. 1 2 Materazzi-Zidane, mistero svelato Ecco la frase che scatenò la testata – Calcio – Sport – Repubblica.it
  27. ↑ "Materazzi reveals details of Zidane World Cup slur". Reuters. 5 September 2006. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
  28. ↑ "And Materazzi's exact words to Zidane were...". The Guardian. London. 18 August 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
  29. ↑ Tryhorn, Chris (2008-04-07). Zidane headbutt victim wins Star apology. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2009-02-09.
  30. ↑ Materazzi wins British libel damages over Sun's claims about Zidane headbutt. The Guardian (2009-02-06). Retrieved on 2009-02-09.
  31. ↑ Antonio Sansonetti (6 June 2014). "Home Sport Italia 2006: campioni del mondo. Grosso jolly, Cannavaro e Buffon muro: voto simpatia 7,5" (in Italian). BlitzQuotidiano.it. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  32. ↑ Paolo Bandini (10 June 2008). "Euro 2008: Holland v Italy – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  33. ↑ http://www.futaa.com/football/article/why-i-cried-when-jose-left--materazzi
  34. ↑ "Foto: Marco Materazzi, Matrix". F.C. Internazionale Milano. 26 December 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  35. 1 2 3 "Italy – M.Materazzi – Profile with news, career statistics and history". Soccerway. 25 December 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  36. ↑ "Marco Materazzi". National Football Teams. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  37. ↑ "Marco Materazzi – national football team player". EU-Football.info. 25 December 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  38. ↑ http://www.fifpro.org/en/events/world-xi/players?sortname2=2007
  39. ↑ "Coni: Consegnati i Collari d'oro e diplomi d'onore ai campionissimi". Coni.it. 23 February 2014.
  40. ↑ "ONORIFICENZE – 2006". quirinale.it (in Italian). 12 December 2006. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
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