From 'headbutt' to head coach: the fall and rise of Marco Materazzi

WHAT COMES to your mind when I throw this name at you, Marco Materazzi? Well, I'm assuming the first thought is the 'Headbutt'. The episode that occurred at the 2006 World Cup finals between France and Italy has gone down as one of the most controversial incidents in the history of football.

There is also a statue of the act in Paris. The headbutt overshadowed all the achievements of both the players involved, Materazzi and Zidane.

But our focus here is on the former Italian centre back. You can call Materazzi a legend for his football club Inter Milan, where he spent most of his footballing career. He has also had a short stint in the English Premier League with Everton. Was definitely part of the 2006 Italy squad that lifted the World Cup.

But all these are not spoken often about him, it's all about the headbutt. The inception of Indian Super League gave him a new face, as a coach of Chennaiyin FC. He has been associated with the team since 2014.

His approach does bring the similar flavour as he did during his playing days. The aggressiveness and being tactical in his approach. This is was his first time experimenting as a coach and well it has payed off pretty well.

Firstly when he was appointed, nobody thought the end result would be such a hit. The team looked solid with the mix of foreign and Indian players but the only doubt that lingered in everyone's minds was is Materazzi the right person to do the job?

The star players in the first season included Mikaël Silvestre, Francesco Franzese etc. Materazzi himself was a player and coach for the first season. And he proved everyone wrong.

He didn't led the team to a title victory but Chennaiyin finished as the table toppers in 2014. That proved a lot and he made a statement. Thanks to the Brazilian Elano who finished as the highest goal scorer for them with a total of 8 goals.

It was also seen that he was the guy who liked to take risks and go against the flow. He came back for the second stint with CFC but this time just focusing on the coaching bit. And what followed next in the season is history.

Materazzi led the team to their maiden ISL title, thanks to the rampaging duo of Elano and Stiven Mendosa. They were unstoppable and playing football at different level altogether.

The Indian players like Jeje, Jayesh Rane (no denying it, these players were stars already in the national circuit) got more exposure to the game and a great learning experience. It was a team effort put across by CFC but mainly orchestrated by the deadly combo on the field.

The final between FC Goa and Chennaiyin FC saw a crazy match being unfolded but some ugly things also happened later which has cost both the teams. Talking specifically about CFC, the scenes turned out so bad that Elano refused to comeback which was a fair deal.

But what added to their misery was Mendosa too decided not to come back. This left the CFC side handicapped to some extent.

Yes, CFC have signed two crucial players in John Arne Riise and Hans Mulder but they still miss that firepower Elano and Mendosa brought to the field.

The current season, Chennaiyin didn't start the way they wanted to but last night's performance against FC Goa, Materazzi has shown that his team is back to winning ways and will live upto their expectations.

But irrespective of where Chennaiyin FC ends up in the points table this season, one thing is for certain, there will be a different picture in all the minds of the football fans at least in India about Materrazi.

Indian Super League may have a lot of flaws but it has certainly kept aside one flaw that always was hand-in-hand with Materazzi.

I'm not saying that the headbutt incident will be completely forgotten but the point I'm trying to make is that, Marco Materazzi has a new feather on his cap and it's a positive one. 

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