Marco Materazzi's U.S. Lecce Revolution

This is a tribute to Marco Materazzi Piero di Canzo on the back of his competitive managerial debut with U.S. Lecce. At the beginning of his career, Materazzi played with various Italian teams in Serie B and Serie C, and with Premier League side Everton. He spent two periods with Perugia (1995–98 and 1999–2001) and signed for Internazionale, in 2001 for €10 million. A threat in the air, he was renowned as a prolific goal-scorer for a defender as he broke the Serie A record for most goals scored by a defender in a season in the 2000–01 season. With Inter he has won a number of major honours including five Serie A titles, one Champions League, three Coppa Italia, and the Supercoppa Italiana three times.He is known for his very aggressive style of play which has led him to having more than 60 yellow cards and 25 red cards. He was on the receiving end of the infamous Zinedine Zidane's head-butt in World Cup 2006 Final.

TIM Cup 2nd Qualifying Round

"(Team talk) Marco Materazzi: You better win or else you wouldn't want to see me later!"

Line ups:

Final result: US Lecce 1-1 Andria (Andria won on penalty shoot out)

Match Stats:

A match which US Lecce dominated in terms of scoring opportunities and dominance but their wastefulness cost them. An early goal by Rolando Zarate on the 6th minutes with a simple tap in after a well worked move was canceled out by a superb 30 yards shot by Riccardo Innocenti on the 30th minutes. US Lecce keep probing and create some good scoring chances to no avail. In the end, Andria won the match in the penalty shoot out.

"(Team talk) Marco Materazzi: What was that? We are the favorite for god sake! Defenders, you did well and limit their chances. Midfielders, you create some good opportunities but I would love for you to keep the ball better. Forwards, where were you shooting boots?!"

(Team Meeting) Marco Materazzi: "Buongiorno lads! Now that we've played all of our pre season friendlies, I reckon it's a good time to look back and talk about it. In case any of you guys are having memory troubles, here is the results of our pre season friendlies."

Marco Materazzi: "I have to say the results were alright. There were some good performance but the problem is there were signs of inconsistency. I mean you lot can be brilliant one day, scoring goals against a much more illustrious team and in the next match, put on a really drab performance. I know there were a lot of you guys here are still trying to adapt and settle in, but we were expected to win the league this year, so you better work your socks off yeah? Now lets go to the training ground and work our arse off!"

Reporter: Marco, are we going to see any deadline day signings for your club?

Marco Materazzi: We are done with our transfer dealings. I am pleased with the squad that I have now and I believe we will have a real go at the league title.

Reporter: You've been really busy in the transfer window. Signing 9 players and offloading 5 players. Do you think that the team will be able to gel in time?

Marco Materazzi: We'll have to see about that. The thing is the squad finance was in need of some massive improvements when I came. The wage structure were totally off. The only solution was a massive squad revamp.

Reporter: With most of your signings being experienced players, do you mind telling us what the future holds for US Lecce?

Marco Materazzi: I understand if the fans were concerned about my transfer policy. But they need to trust me. I am all for promoting youth and giving youth the chance to play, but at this moment, the club is not in the right state to do that. Given time, I will surely bring some good young players in.

Reporter: Thanks for your time Marco. Ciao!

Marco Materazzi: Ciao!