Marco Materazzi was born on August 19 1973 in Lecce. He grew up in the youth teams of Lazio and Messina, before playing with Marsala and Trapani between 1993 and 1995. Having landed at Perugia, he went on loan to Carpi for a season before returning to the Umbrian capital, but only for a year. In 1998, in fact, he tried his hand at playing in England, with Everton: There too he only remained for one season. The following year he returned to Perugia again, where he played for two years before becoming joining Inter. In ten years with the Nerazzurri, he won five Scudetti, four Coppe Italia, four Supercoppe, a Champions League and a Club World Cup.

He made his National Team debut in April 2001 against South Africa, before going on to take part in the World Cups and European Championships from 2002 to 2008. A left-sided centre back, very strong in the air and good at set-pieces, he became a World Champion in 2006 with the Azzurri, scoring two decisive goals in the World Cup, against the Czech Republic in the group stage and against France in the Final (where he also scored one of the historic penalty kicks). These are his only, precious, goals for the National Team in his 41 total appearances.