Marco Materazzi

Who is Marco Materazzi?

Marco Materazzi; born 19 August 1973 is an Italian retired footballer who played as a defender. 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 and signed for Internazionale, in 2001 for €10 million.

Materazzi earned 42 caps for Italy from his debut in 2001 until 2008, playing in two World Cups and two European Championships. He was one of the protagonists of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final against France, as he scored Italy's goal and later, in extra time, received a headbutt from Zinedine Zidane which was punished with a red card. Italy then went on to win the World Cup in a penalty shoot-out.

A threat in the air, Materazzi was renowned as a prolific goal-scorer for a defender as he broke the Serie A record for most goals scored by a defender in a season in the 2000–01 season, and was voted Serie A Defender of the Year for the 2006-07 season.