When a superstar of the ilk of Alessandro Nesta goes down clutching his knee, and the manager signals for you to be thrust into the World Cup limelight, partnering the great Fabio Cannavaro, one might expect you to keep your head down, try and be calm, level-headed and above all, try and fill the unmistakeable void as best as possible. Marco Materazzi, on the other hand, was never going to conform to such vanilla ideals. Taking centre-stage, the 2006 World Cup served as a platform for one of the great thespians of modern-day football, as he wrote himself into Italian folklore, and ticked off France on the list of holiday destinations where he'd be ill-advised to venture. World Cup final equalisers and Zidane headbutts aside, Materazzi was once an unimpressive Everton loanee in the Premier League, playing 25 times in 1999. Unperturbed by his failings in England, Spurs dipped into the market for the Italian three years after he had featured as one of the leads in one of the most notorious incidents in World Cup final history.
''There is interest in England and I can say that Tottenham in recent days have expressed a real interest in Marco. We are at a very early stage, they are talking with Inter and are presenting something to the player - then it is up to the club and Marco to decide whether to accept or not.' - Agent Claudio Vigorelli, January 2009.
In the end, former Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho ended up blocking the 35 year old's proposed transfer, instead keeping the harmony of the group intact. One can't help but feeling that Materazzi made the right call, as the Milanese club won an unprecedented and historic treble the following season.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
