Former Inter defender Marco Materazzi discussed his career and time with Inter, as well as the current Nerazzurri squad, in an interview on Instagram live yesterday. His words were noted by Italian media outlet FcInterNews.
First, he discussed which trophy he regrets not winning with Inter.
“The European Super Cup. With the team we had we could have won it, Atletico were within our reach at the time. But something went wrong and we didn’t manage to be good enough to win that trophy as well. That would have meant climbing to the Olympus of football at the level of Barcelona which was our incentive.
“We were also talking about it with Julio Cesar who won one, two, three, four, five, six trophies and we wondered if we could ever get to the goal of winning them all and in 2010, step by step, we could see the finish line.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t get the last one, but five out of six, it’s true that we are not like Barcelona.”
The player nicknamed Matrix then discussed what the secrets of success are.
“There’s no rule or law. It takes passion, listening a little to leaders on the pitch because we all have a Messi or the Maradona at home and we hurt our children. And then it takes a bit of luck, one out of a million comes once or twice.
“Then the will does a lot. It happens to everyone that a coach doesn’t notice you, but everyone must go onwards and have the aspiration to get to play at certain levels regardless of competition. Everyone’s path is different, the important thing is passion.”
Materazzi spoke about how much he misses playing football professionally.
“It’s like a class at school. You make friends and you don’t get along with everyone, it’s normal. But it takes the utmost respect, the locker room is a sacred place. What’s important is the result, which you get even with respect for everybody.
“We had a group of friends, not all in the same way. Javier Zanetti had a relationship with Cordoba, I had a relationship with Chivu and Stankovic, but on the field it was a sporting war against everyone. We were united.
“Is there a particular player you disagreed with? There never was. You know me, I’m honest.”
The former Nerazzurri defender spoke about if he has a favourite shirt out of the ones he swapped with other players.
“Probably not, I have so many that I’m jealously saving them. I have Van Bommel’s and Henry’s, which are from the two finals, but the most important ones are the ones I wore, the Treble ones. The rest don’t count for much.”
Materazzi discussed whether he would have joined AC Milan or Juventus later on in his career.
“I respect the choice Vieri made by going to Milan and Lucio going to Juve, when you’re a foreigner it’s different. I wouldn’t have gone to either of them at the end of my career out of respect for the fans.
“Milan before the 2006 World Cup? I probably would have gone there out of pride to play with Maldini and Nesta but then I wouldn’t have played at Inter. Lippi told me to play at the World Cup, then Facchetti told me to stay.
“I’d have gone there on a three and a half year contract, not for the money. In the end it worked out well for me, I became an Inter fan, I won a World Cup and a Club World Cup with Inter and I’m in Inter’s history.
“Which didn’t happen to Matthaus or Oriali, people I respect so much.”
He spoke about the World Cup, which he won with the Azzurri in 2006.
“I kissed the trophy, I hit it, I did everything because it seemed unreal, I had to feel it wasn’t fake. Once you feel like it, you want to do everything because it doesn’t feel real.”
Materazzi discussed which trophy was heavier, the World Cup or the Champions League trophy.
“For weight I’d say the World Cup, it’s at least 4-5 kg. But I put my daughter in the Champions League trophy, then I put her down because I was afraid of breaking the arms. We went back to Milan at dawn, it was 6 a.m. because Pandev had anti-doping tests. There were so many fans, thank goodness we didn’t arrive at night otherwise we wouldn’t even have been able to enter the San Siro.”
The 46-year-old revealed that there weren’t many differences in the locker room behaviour of Roberto Mancini and Jose Mourinho.
“No, they are two people who know how to behave. They’re demanding, but they let live. José knew what he wanted, we knew what he wanted. Mancini had been a great player and he knew how to make us feel good, then luck and quality make the difference.”
The Lecce born defender spoke about his hug with Mourinho after the Champions League final.
“If he’d got on the bus with us, he’d never have gone to Madrid, I’ll just say that. In Italy we would probably have won another Scudetto. Maybe not another Champions League, it’s a special tournament, but in Italy we would have dominated.
“He’d made that professional choice from before, I went into the locker room and told him to stay. He left us Inter fans with something difficult to repeat. Did we say anything about Madrid? I tried until the very last moment. I just said, ‘look who you’re leaving us with.’
“In fact, the following year was a year to forget, we won the Club World Cup and the Coppa Italia but because we were strong, we were an incredible group.”
He discussed if former teammate Samuel Eto’o ever spoke to him about his fight with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
“Samuel loves me like a brother. He never said anything to me, he knows my thoughts. I sent him a message to tell him to come, he asked Albertini for confirmation on my number and answered ‘coming’. He had already won a Treble, then the same with us. Imagine the satisfaction for him.”
Materazzi spoke about former teammate Ronaldo.
“I had the honor to be in the locker room with him, he was an incredible guy and he was a phenomenon. He’s perhaps the only one in the world of those I’ve ever played with who was a phenomenon. We had a great time together.
“Then it was better not to even meet him at practice or go out with your legs crossed. My regret is that I didn’t enjoy him for too long and I’m always asking Colonnese how his first years at Inter were, a mix between CR7 and Messi.
“It was unique and for me they are among the five strongest ever. When I see videos of Ronaldo, I get excited, the other day I saw the goal in Moscow in the UEFA Cup, he went between two players, against physics. He was an incredible player.”
He refused to talk about the 5th of May 2002.
“It’s better not to remember it.”
Matrix touched on his former teammate Walter Samuel.
“I was lucky enough to play with all the strongest, Walter was one of them. Although we were two left-footed players, we understood each other just by looking at each other.
“It was impossible to go past him, he was really fast and experienced. In Madrid, where football is different, it didn’t go well, but then he proved to be among the strongest in the history of football.”
He didn’t think that Milan Skriniar would struggle to adapt to coach Antonio Conte’s back three.
“He’s strong and fast, but in the 4-man defense he has more points of reference. He’s done well in the past two years, but Conte is the best that can teach him this formation.”
Materazzi discussed Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni.
“He’s strong, he’s got a foot, and he’s smart. He can be the captain of the future, I like him a lot. Then he has great quality, he’s Italian and an Inter fan, that counts.”
The 2006 World Cup winner spoke about former Inter striker Diego Milito.
“Diego is a very calm, very humble person. He was a great player, he scored goals in every competition and against every team. He showed us this during the treble. We knew that he could invent something on his own, you never finished a game 0-0 with an attack like that.”
The Lecce born defender spoke about the 2010 Ballon d’Or.
“I would have given it to Sneijder because the Netherlands also made it to the World Cup final and he scored five goals. In addition, he assisted Robben against Spain. Wes was decisive for us and for his national team.”
He spoke about former Inter striker Adriano.
“He wasn’t crazy. He could have won 2-3 Ballon d’Ors, he was really devastating. He was a quiet man. His father’s death didn’t help him. After the goal against Real I exclaimed “where did they find him?”
“He threw a washing machine at the goal. If he had stayed with us instead of going to Florence, he could have given us a big hand that year. Without taking anything away from Kallon and Ventola who gave us so much.”
Materazzi discussed how Inter sold many players last summer in order to rebuild the squad.
“I won’t judge anything, I abstain because it’s not fair to those who made decisions. I thank Icardi for the goals he scored, probably the last six months hadn’t been handled well by both sides.
“It’s the results that count, and as of today the team is having a great season. Now the ‘safety car’ has come in, the Champions League will come in and they will take away Juve’s energy, it will be nice to start from scratch with the league. You have to believe in the season, even more so in these conditions, whoever makes the least mistakes will win.”
Matrix touched on the attacking partnership of Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez.
“They complete each other, they are one of the best duos in Europe, even if they lack a little something to get to the top. Cristiano-Dybala, Benzema-Bale and the others are very strong duos. Then there’s Conte, one of the best, who can tell what’s missing to win. For now, he has done a great job, now it has to be completed.”
Finally, Materazzi spoke about his love for the Curva Nord.
“I will thank them all my life, I was adopted by them. I am one of them and hated by all the others. There is a relationship that goes beyond everything, it is unique. I will always have love for those who supported me.
“I’m going to see a game there, I owe it to those who have been asking me for so long. I’ve already played seen one match there, the derby.”
