Soccer: Zidane's tormentor always happy to play the hard man

Marco Materazzi celebrates Italy's triumph in Rome yesterday. Picture / Reuters

Marco Materazzi, the central figure of Monday's World Cup final, has long been one of those footballers around whom things happen.

He can be a menace in both penalty areas, with his impulsiveness in the tackle and power at set pieces. In his brief sojourn at Everton he received three red cards in 32 matches.

After the third, which followed a second booking prompted by a Darren Huckerby "dive", he sat by the pitch on the advertising hoardings and cried.

Seven years on, at the age of 32, any tears would be of happiness. In a tempestuous evening, even by his standards, Materazzi gave away a penalty, scored the equaliser, provoked the dismissal of the game's best player in 20 years, and scored his penalty as Italy won the shoot-out.

It was all in a night's work for a man who is beloved by the Ultras at Internazionale but, until Monday, hated and feared by supporters from most other Serie A clubs.

Much of this stems from his style of play. Hard defenders are nothing new but Materazzi's aggressive approach stands out. He may have tried to pull out of the tackle which brought down Florent Malouda in Berlin, but it was typically impetuous. Earlier in the tournament a similarly rash challenge against Australia brought him a harsh red card.

There is also brutality in some of his play.

In the Champions' League quarter-finals this season, he viciously elbowed Villarreal's Juan Pablo Sorin, escaping dismissal only because the referee did not see it.

No surprise then, that after he scored against the Czech Republic in the World Cup, he dedicated his goal to Daniele De Rossi, who was serving a four-match suspension for an equally violent elbow on the USA's Brian McBride.

Among his tattoos are one which says Lion. Another has his birthdate in Roman numerals.

Yet he is also a softie. He wears the No 23 shirt, for Inter and the Azzurri. It is the date of his wedding day and his son's birthday.

He is popular among team-mates, and his celebrations in Berlin were the most joyous of all the jubilant Italians.

On his website he says: "Those who know me, know I am a good lad, the others don't think so."

Among the "others" may be Craig Bellamy, who was sent off for retaliating after tangling with Materazzi when Newcastle played Inter in the Champions League.

And, now, Zinedine Zidane. We may never know what Materazzi said to the French captain, but whatever it was, Zidane's furious reaction did not appear to prompt any remorse from the 32-year-old Italian.

Materazzi came from a football family.

His father, Giuseppe, coached a string of Italian clubs, including Lazio, as well as Sporting Lisbon in Portugal. He also had a spell in China.

Marco was a late developer, playing predominantly in Serie C until he was 24. After he had played a season in Serie B with Perugia, Walter Smith spent £2.8 million ($7.8 million at today's exchange rates) to bring him to Everton but even Premiership referees balked at his aggressive play.

Nevertheless, his ability on the ball and in the air impressed and there were mixed feelings among the Everton support when he returned to Perugia after a season.

Back in Umbria he blossomed, winning his first cap in April 2001 at the age of 27 and joining Inter a few months later.

He has been a regular at Inter, and with an unusual shortage of top-quality central defenders in the Italian game, became the understudy to Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta.

When Nesta was injured against the Czechs, Materazzi stepped in, and was man of the match.

He was banned from the quarter-final win over Ukraine but returned for the semifinal.

Now, he may be on the move.

Even before the World Cup, he had been offered to English clubs, and he was yesterday linked with Spanish club Villarreal.

He will take with him a fearsome appetite for the game, a checkered reputation, and a World Cup winner's medal.

- INDEPENDENT