Marco Materazzi - International Career

International Career

Materazzi made his debut for 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 but technology proved that he didn't; it was also the game that Christian Vieri scored but was offside but Vieri when behind the ball (which could have been goal of the tournament). 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. After the tournament, Materazzi's performance was widely criticized as he conceded a penalty by bringing down Martin Petrov.

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 Czech Republic, Materazzi came on as his replacement and made an impact by scoring a goal. He received a red card in the round of 16 match against Australia and was suspended for the quarter-final against Ukraine. In the final against France, Materazzi fouled Florent Malouda to concede a penalty which Zinedine Zidane scored. He made another impact by scoring a goal to level the score. After the match went to extra-time and penalties, Materazzi and Zidane were involved in a confrontation which ended with Zidane head-butting Materazzi and receiving a red card. Materazzi scored Italy's second penalty as they defeated France 5–3 to claim their fourth FIFA World Cup. 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 quella puttana di tua sorella" (I prefer the whore that is your sister), which resulted in the head-butt. 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. FIFA later issued a CHF 5,000 fine and a two-match ban against Materazzi.

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.