Marco Materazzi

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, Serie C2 team Marsala, and Serie C1 Trapani, where he narrowly missed a historic promotion to Serie B after losing a promotion playoff to Gualdo. Serie B squad Perugia 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 the 1998–99 season 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 seven 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 times 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…

Debut and 2002 World Cup

On 25 April 2001, Materazzi made his debut for the Italy national team 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. In the 90th minute, Materazzi played a floating ball over the top from just over halfway to Filippo Inzaghi but there was no touch on the ball, leading it to rolling all the way in the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed after referee Graham Poll claimed that Inzaghi had grabbed an opponent's shirt. Materazzi was later criticised for his defending on both of Croatia's goals during the match.

UEFA Euro 2004

Despite a long suspension with Inter, Materazzi was still called up by manager Giovanni Trapattoni for the UEFA Euro 2004, where he 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…

An aggressive, physical, and hard-tackling centre-back, who was also known for his tight marking of opponents, 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. 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. 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. He was also an accurate set piece and penalty kick taker, with a powerful shot from distance. In addition to these attributes, he had solid technical skills and reliable distribution, and was known for frequently playing long balls to the strikers. During his time with Inter Milan, he developed the nickname Matrix. A controversial and provocative figure in football, he was also 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 7 red cards throughout his playing career. Due to his temper and his heavy challenges, he has been involved in several altercations with other players during matches, throughout his career which drew him comparisons in the media with retired defender Pasquale Bruno.…

Materazzi was born in Lecce, where his father, Giuseppe, a professional footballer, was playing for US Lecce. Giuseppe was also a former football coach and manager of teams such as Pisa, Lazio, Sporting CP and Tianjin TEDA. Materazzi's mother died when he was 15 years old. As stated by his father, Materazzi grew up a supporter of Lazio. His brother, Matteo, is a sports agent. On June 23, 1997, Materazzi married Daniela and they have three children: Davide, Gianmarco and Anna. His sister Monia married Maurizio Maestrelli, the son of former manager Tommaso Maestrelli; Maurizio died on 28 November 2011. Monia's and Maurizio's son Alessio Maestrelli also became a footballer and made his professional debut in 2022. In September 2007, Materazzi released his autobiography called Una vita da guerriero (The Life of a Warrior), published by journalists Andrea Elefante (from Gazzetta dello Sport) and Roberto De Ponti (from Corriere della Sera).