Simone Perrotta reflects on his 40^th birthday, what he misses about football and not being told he’s got a statue in Ashton-Under-Lyne.

“Today I will run a Half Marathon, then spend the rest of my birthday with my family,” the former Roma hero told Il Giornale.

His greatest career moment was winning the World Cup with Italy in 2006, but he names another close to his heart.

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Words: Gaby McKay

In years to come, Simone Perrotta will be a pub quiz answer.

Which three World Cup winners hail from the Manchester suburb of Ashton-Under-Lyne?

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Marco Materazzi claims Inter legend Giacinto Facchetti stopped him from joining arch-rivals Milan before the 2006 World Cup.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday evening, Materazzi also revealed why Inter never took a team photograph alongside the five trophies they won under Jose Mourinho.

“Milan? I stayed thanks to Facchetti, he looked after me and didn’t allow me to go to the other side,” explained the former Italy defender.

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Zinedine Zidane admits he is “not proud” of the infamous World Cup Final headbutt on Marco Materazzi.

The current Real Madrid Coach saw his last match end in ignominy when sent off for headbutting Italy defender Materazzi in the chest during the 2006 Final.

Zizou sat down to watch some career moments for Telefoot and this incident was in the compilation.

“I am not proud. I am not proud of what I did,” confessed Zidane.

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Today is the 44th birthday of former Juventus, Milan and Italy striker Filippo Inzaghi.

Famously described by Sir Alex Ferguson as having been “born offside”, Super Pippo was in fact born in Piacenza, and he started his career with the Papaveri.

Following loan spells with AlbinoLeffe and Verona, the striker made his breakthrough with Piacenza in the 1994-95 season, scoring 15 goals in 37 Serie B games.

That form earned a move to Parma, but after one frustrating season Inzaghi was sold to Atalanta.

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Cristian Zaccardo has had “lots of offers” due to his LinkedIn advert, and will donate a Sport Business scholarship.

The 2006 World Cup-winner caused a stir when he advertised his services on the job website, but the right-back has no regrets.

“I’ve already found a team,” Zaccardo said in a LinkedIn update.

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World Cup-winner Cristian Zaccardo is looking for a new club on LinkedIn - “I could play two more years at high levels”.

The right-back last played for Vicenza in Serie B, but they finished 20th last season and were relegated to Lega Pro.

“I’ve cancelled the contract that tied me to the vicenza until June 2018,” Zaccardo wrote in both Italian and English on the job site.

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Words: Luca LaPorta

On this day in 2006, Italy beat France 5-3 on penalties in Berlin, winning their fourth World Cup.

After beating hosts Germany in a nail-biting semi-final, the Azzurri had a tough task in knocking off Zinedine Zidane’s powerful French side.

The match started in probably the worst way possible for Marcello Lippi’s men. The referee awarded France an extremely controversial penalty kick in the seventh minute of the match, in which Zidane calmly put past his former Juventus teammate Gianluigi Buffon.

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On this day in 2006, Italy beat Germany 2-0 in the World Cup semi-final, in one of the best matches in modern times.

The Azzurri had beaten Australia and Ukraine in the knockout stages, but faced a daunting task in Dortmund against the hosts.

Marcello Lippi’s men had the first chance of the game, but Jens Lehmann smothered the ball at Simone Perrotta’s feet after a clever pass from Francesco Totti.

Bernd Schneider should have put Die Mannschaft ahead, but he fired over Gianluigi Buffon’s crossbar.

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On this day in 2006, Luca Toni struck twice as Italy beat Ukraine 3-0 to reach the World Cup semi-final.

Having come through a nervy final group game with the Czech Republic, the Azzurri defeated 10-man Australia in the Last 16.

Fabio Grosso went down rather theatrically under Lucas Neill’s challenge, and Francesco Totti converted with the last kick of the game.

That set up a tie with Andriy Shevchenko’s Ukraine in Hamburg, and it took Marcello Lippi’s men just six minutes to break the deadlock.

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