Marco Materazzi’s autobiography describes his ‘brothers’ in football and his arguments with Zinedine Zidane and Raymond Domenech.
The Inter defender releases his autobiography this week, in which he describes the moment when Zizou headbutted his chest during the World Cup Final in Berlin. In the tome he finally reveals the phrase that set the Frenchman off: “I’d prefer your whore of a sister.”
“In that moment you say the first thing that comes into your head and this is why I wanted to confirm precisely what I really said,” noted the Italian in an interview with Sky Italia.
“Anyone who has played sport – not just football – knows that you can occasionally let the odd phrase like that slip out. I think we were both under such competitive stress and adrenaline that we made mistakes, but my error was certainly less serious than his.”
FIFA did not quite see it the same way, as although Zidane was given a three-match ban for the headbutt, Materazzi received a two-game suspension for provocation.
“I fully admit I probably could have avoided saying those stupid words,” he wrote in his book, ‘Una vita da guerriero.’
“I do not pretend to be a Saint when I step on the field. On the pitch insults and bruises are given and received. The night of the Final, in those moments of the second period of extra time that would enter the history books, I was the one doing the insulting.”
The altercation started when Materazzi was tugging at Zidane’s shirt and the Frenchman offered to hand it to him after the game during their celebrations.
“He made fun of me and I responded with an insult. Was it a mistake? Yes, I know, but Zidane was wrong to react that way as well – with a headbutt that knocked me to the ground and went around the world in 80 seconds.
“I understand Zizou, because only someone who has been on a football field with 70,000 people shouting around you, a few billion television viewers analysing your every move, the tension of a World Cup Final and the fog of 120 minutes behind you can understand what goes – or doesn’t go – through your mind.
“I justify his actions and I understand them. But I also asked myself what would have happened if he had provoked me and I had the brilliant idea of knocking him down with a headbutt.”
After the book was written, another row with France broke out thanks to Coach Domenech’s match-fixing accusations aimed at Italy’s Under-21 side in 1999. Both men will be in the stands on September 8, as Materazzi is injured and Domenech banned for those allegations.
“I will shake his hand and compliment him for all he is doing with the French squad,” insisted the defender in his Sky Italia interview.
“I shall also thank him for saying I was Man of the Match in the World Cup Final. If you’ll forgive me a joke, I had worked that out on July 9, 2006, he took a year to come to that conclusion!”
The memories of the celebrations after the penalty shoot-out in Berlin are still fresh, although Matrix freely admits he can only recall so much.
“When I arrived in the locker room there were only three or four of us. The others arrived half an hour later, or at least that’s how it felt. Time seemed to move without logic. Massimo Oddo and Gianluca Zambrotta were with me along with an enormous tub full of ice cold beers.
“I am practically a teetotaller, but I had at least three. Maybe that is why when President of Italy Napolitano arrived I shook up a beer and showered him with it under the shocked eyes of Minister for Sport Giovanna Melandri. I know I did that, but I didn’t realise it at the time, as I was so happy,” continued the Inter star.
“When you know you have made an entire nation happy, I think you feel kind of omnipotent. He didn’t mind and the President joked about it later, so I got away with it!”
Materazzi is famed for his many enemies in football, but insists he also has firm friends in the sport.
“If I can jokingly put it this way, I get on with gypsies and terroni,” he smiled, the latter word referring to Italian southerners.
“My roommate at Inter is Dejan Stankovic, who is very much a gypsy and therefore my friend. For the same reason even if we argue, which we do quite intensely, I have a great rapport with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
“Rino Gattuso represents both those things, so he is the perfect combination and is therefore my brother. Rino can well be the symbol of Milan, our primary rival, but he always remains my brother and I am someone who never turns his back on friends.”
The Inter defender releases his autobiography this week, in which he describes the moment when Zizou headbutted his chest during the World Cup Final in Berlin. In the tome he finally reveals the phrase that set the Frenchman off: “I’d prefer your whore of a sister.”
“In that moment you say the first thing that comes into your head and this is why I wanted to confirm precisely what I really said,” noted the Italian in an interview with Sky Italia.
“Anyone who has played sport – not just football – knows that you can occasionally let the odd phrase like that slip out. I think we were both under such competitive stress and adrenaline that we made mistakes, but my error was certainly less serious than his.”
FIFA did not quite see it the same way, as although Zidane was given a three-match ban for the headbutt, Materazzi received a two-game suspension for provocation.
“I fully admit I probably could have avoided saying those stupid words,” he wrote in his book, ‘Una vita da guerriero.’
“I do not pretend to be a Saint when I step on the field. On the pitch insults and bruises are given and received. The night of the Final, in those moments of the second period of extra time that would enter the history books, I was the one doing the insulting.”
The altercation started when Materazzi was tugging at Zidane’s shirt and the Frenchman offered to hand it to him after the game during their celebrations.
“He made fun of me and I responded with an insult. Was it a mistake? Yes, I know, but Zidane was wrong to react that way as well – with a headbutt that knocked me to the ground and went around the world in 80 seconds.
“I understand Zizou, because only someone who has been on a football field with 70,000 people shouting around you, a few billion television viewers analysing your every move, the tension of a World Cup Final and the fog of 120 minutes behind you can understand what goes – or doesn’t go – through your mind.
“I justify his actions and I understand them. But I also asked myself what would have happened if he had provoked me and I had the brilliant idea of knocking him down with a headbutt.”
After the book was written, another row with France broke out thanks to Coach Domenech’s match-fixing accusations aimed at Italy’s Under-21 side in 1999. Both men will be in the stands on September 8, as Materazzi is injured and Domenech banned for those allegations.
“I will shake his hand and compliment him for all he is doing with the French squad,” insisted the defender in his Sky Italia interview.
“I shall also thank him for saying I was Man of the Match in the World Cup Final. If you’ll forgive me a joke, I had worked that out on July 9, 2006, he took a year to come to that conclusion!”
The memories of the celebrations after the penalty shoot-out in Berlin are still fresh, although Matrix freely admits he can only recall so much.
“When I arrived in the locker room there were only three or four of us. The others arrived half an hour later, or at least that’s how it felt. Time seemed to move without logic. Massimo Oddo and Gianluca Zambrotta were with me along with an enormous tub full of ice cold beers.
“I am practically a teetotaller, but I had at least three. Maybe that is why when President of Italy Napolitano arrived I shook up a beer and showered him with it under the shocked eyes of Minister for Sport Giovanna Melandri. I know I did that, but I didn’t realise it at the time, as I was so happy,” continued the Inter star.
“When you know you have made an entire nation happy, I think you feel kind of omnipotent. He didn’t mind and the President joked about it later, so I got away with it!”
Materazzi is famed for his many enemies in football, but insists he also has firm friends in the sport.
“If I can jokingly put it this way, I get on with gypsies and terroni,” he smiled, the latter word referring to Italian southerners.
“My roommate at Inter is Dejan Stankovic, who is very much a gypsy and therefore my friend. For the same reason even if we argue, which we do quite intensely, I have a great rapport with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
“Rino Gattuso represents both those things, so he is the perfect combination and is therefore my brother. Rino can well be the symbol of Milan, our primary rival, but he always remains my brother and I am someone who never turns his back on friends.”
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