Top 10 Italy Defenders: 1998 – 2012 – Number 6
You’ve got to love Marco Materazzi, in spite of the fact that there is almost nothing about him worth loving. The magnitude of his prank on international football is simply too great not to provoke a smile. Who else could have taken a colossus like Zinedine Zidane off his pedestal but the dirtiest, biggest, hardest defender in the game?
Materazzi was an unbalanced defender, tough as nails in terms of personality and physique, but also prone to mistakes and ridiculous own goals. He is usually derided, but in his baseness he embodies an aspect of football which is no less real for not being celebrated – the fact that football is not just grass but mud, not just skill but muscle, not just sweat but blood.
When he replaced Alessandro Nesta in 2006, catastrophe seemed imminent. Instead, he went on to become one of the determinant players of the team, even scoring two goals (one in the final, no less) to equal Luca Toni as the team’s top scorer, and taking Zidane off the pitch with his now infamous provocations. Truthfully, he also got himself sent off in the game against Australia and almost cost his team the game, demonstrating what an unpredictable player he was. His awful performance at Euro 2008 points to the same thing.
Most of this man’s international career was spent on the bench, particularly in 2002 and 2004, but he always did his part loyally for the Azzurri, and his influence ultimately proved much greater than his technical skills should warrant. You may dislike the man, but he certainly deserves to be remembered among Italy’s most important defenders of this decade.
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