MILAN, 12 May 2008 - It was only yesterday, in the 79th minute of Inter-Siena, as Alexander Manninger dived to save his penalty, that Marco Materazzi finally came back down to earth and returned to being a man like any other with his responsibilities and faults. That is because right until seconds before his fateful penalty miss, he had still been the World Cup finalist, the man whose wonderful header had drew Italy level against France. For a whole season Materazzi remained as if suspended in mid-air: the country's hero, the man who had made Zidane lose his head, celebrated in books and advertising spots; the ex-hard man tamed by glory.
BRAVEHEART - He had had an impeccable season in 2006-07: great performances, cool headed even in the brawl in Valencia, a wonderful goal from a perfectly executed overhead kick, another fantastic goal in the Milan derby and the penalty in Siena that clinched the Scudetto. This is what the fans expected from the man elected as their Braveheart: tattoos, hard tackles, the courage to give teams like Milan and Juve a piece of his mind. Materazzi became so accustomed to his role that last year he even attended the party in celebration of Inter's Scudetto win wearing a white tuxedo, different from all his team-mates, something that Fabio Grosso and others did not appreciate. Marco had even grabbed hold of the microphone to address the fans in a way not even the team captain Zanetti had done. To the people who today are pointing the finger of blame in his direction, Materazzi could say just like Jessica Rabbit: "It was you who depicted me like this". It was you who created the bold hero, the man above everyone and everything. Yesterday Marco Materazzi, the slayer of Zizou, the world champion, the Scudetto clincher, simply played out his part. He wanted and should have been once again the man symbol of triumph, the main protagonist.
TIMES - It was quite natural then that with the scored poised at 2-2, Materazzi should launch himself forward in attack, like a Scottish warrior, perhaps also troubled by the thought that it was his bad foul on Locatelli, one of those bad fouls that earned Materazzi a place among the 50 nastiest defenders in the history of the sport as chosen by the Times, that angered the Siena players to such an extent that they eventually rallied to draw their side level. Perhaps with this in mind Materazzi wanted to seek forgiveness. His incursion in the box with excessive zeal eventually ended in an offside, with Materazzi also managing to get in the way of a great goal scoring opportunity for Cruz. Mancini immediately sought an explanation from his player: "What were you doing up there?", but Materazzi never even heard him: he was also looking for a goal to prove to his manager that he was wrong to keep him on the bench so much this season. How can he, the world champion, the hero, be treated so. Materazzi then once again launched himself in attack, this time earning the penalty that could have meant the Scudetto for Inter. The player immediately headed for Kharja, the Siena player who was holding the ball in his hands, pushing Cruz, the usual penalty taker for Inter, out of the way. And as Maicon tried to calm the usually collected Cruz, who has scored many for Inter but will never possess the charisma to be hailed as a hero, and while Zanetti walked around sporting a rather guilty look on his face, Mancini had all the time in the world to say what he would say in his post-match comments: "Cruz is the chosen penalty taker." He did not say anything however because he was confident of a player possessing such determination, who never even trembled when faced with a penalty in the World Cup final. Just like there was probably no one among the Inter fans present at the San Siro who said: "No, not him". On the contrary, the fans pushed Braveheart towards the penalty spot, they wanted him in fact to be the hero once again, precisely like a year before against the same opponents. Then Materazzi will once again take to the microphone and it will be parties all around.
BERLIN - Instead Manninger saved. Then Mancini proceeded to shout and scream and point the finger, but at that point it was already too late and it certainly lacked style, while Moratti also laid the blame: "Materazzi cost us the game." The fans no longer recognised their hero, only the arrogant and selfish 'misser' of a crucial penalty. And so Materazzi came back down from the Berlin sky, once again a man of this earth. But nevertheless a man who has always taken his responsibilities. Some of the more hardcore Inter fans also waited for the player outside the stadium as he was finishing to give a urine sample for the mandatory anti-doping checks. "Well done", they said to him jokingly. And all those people crazy for Materazzi? Not one of them in sight. But this is the way of the world and if Mancini will give him another chance on Sunday, Materazzi will once again be back out there against Cuper's men in search of the goal that will give him redemption, you shall all see. Besides he has no choice as he has simply been depicted in this way: he is either a hero or a nobody.
Luigi Garlando
we will soon have our double!!