Marco Materazzi was surprisingly nice about Zinedine Zidane, but blasted Rafa Benitez. “He thought he knew everything, but was afraid of his own shadow.”
Marco Materazzi was surprisingly nice about Zinedine Zidane, but blasted Rafa Benitez. “He thought he knew everything, but was afraid of his own shadow.”
The former Inter defender spoke to television show Undici about his time at San Siro with two very different Coaches.
“Jose Mourinho is the Number One. He makes sure players feel completely involved in the project. In Madrid, after the Champions League Final, he told me that he was leaving and the bench went to Benitez.
“I never got on with Rafa. He even made me remove from my locker the photographs of my happiest moments with Mourinho and Marcello Lippi.
“He thought that he knew everything, but instead he was afraid of his own shadow.”
Benitez was able to win the Club World Cup, but parted company with Inter straight after the tournament.
Ahead of tomorrow night's Italy-France friendly, Materazzi also looked back at his infamous altercation with Zidane in the 2006 World Cup Final.
"Zidane will always have a special place in my heart. After all, he helped me win a World Cup. I don't think about the headbutt, only the trophy I lifted later that night."