Soccer: unlikely heroes lift Italy
Grosso and Materazzi crucial to World Cup glory (see related soccer coverage on site) (ANSA) - Rome, July 10 - Italy owes a hefty chunk of its World Cup success to two unlikely heroes from a squad packed with top international stars .
While strikers like Alessandro del Piero and Francesco Totti were expected to set the tournament alight a month ago, unfashionable defenders Fabio Grosso and Marco Materazzi perhaps played a bigger part in securing Italy's fourth World Cup .
Palermo left-back Grosso, 28, was plying his trade in the fourth division in 2001 and his inclusion in Marcello Lippi's team raised the doubts of several pundits .
Inter stopper Materazzi, on the other hand, was considered little more than a crude understudy to classier central defenders Alessandro Nesta and Fabio Cannavaro. What's more, he looked out of his depth in his appearances at the South Korea-Japan World Cup four years ago .
But both players are now indelible parts of the nation's sporting history .
After giving away a penalty six minutes into the final with France, Materazzi hit back shortly after, jumping 2.6 meters in the air to head home Italy's equalizer. A similar leap gave the Azzurri the opening goal in the 2-0 group stage win over the Czech Republic. Those two goals make the 32-year-old Italy's joint-top Germany 2006 scorer, along with forward Luca Toni .
Grosso, meanwhile, curled in the late goal that broke the deadlock in the 2-0 semi-final win over Germany and his jinking run led to the penalty Totti transformed to knock out Australia .
Both players fired home penalties in Sunday's shoot-out, with Grosso nailing the decisive spot-kick .
They carried out their defensive duties impeccably throughout the competition too .
"This is (real) soccer, made up of little stories that then become big and involve millions of people," said Serse Cosmi, who coached both players at Perugia .
"Soccer will never die as long as Fabio Grosso and Marco Materazzi exist .
"Maybe no one realizes the value of their goals and their performances yet" .
Both players bloomed late and made the best of circumstance to reach the pinnacle of the soccer world .
Grosso's arrival on the international stage was aided by a scarcity of left-sided Italian players. Materazzi's run in the team came courtesy of an injury to Nesta in the Czech Republic match .
Materazzi also has a bad-boy image, due to his record of involvement in off-the-ball incidents .
In 2004, for example, he was banned for eight matches for punching Siena defender Bruno Cirillo in the face. The ban was one of the longest in Serie A history .
He was also sent off against Australia in Germany 2006, although pundits agreed the foul was not violent and the red card excessive .
British daily The Guardian reported that Materazzi abused Zinedine Zidane to provoke the head-butt that led to the French star's sending off in the final, quoting Zidane's agent .
But the Italian player's father, Giuseppe Materazzi, told ANSA Monday that the Azzurri defender was the one who suffered provocation .
"Head-butting an opponent can never be justified. It should be condemned, even if the person who does it is called Zidane," Giuseppe Materazzi said .
photo: Marco Materazzi
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