Materazzi was a late entrant to the realms of senior international football, making his debut for Italy in a friendly against South Africa in April 2001 at the age of 27. He has since become highly-regarded by the Italian squad and went to the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals as cover for Alessandro Nesta and Fabio Cannavaro, making one substitute appearance, and UEFA EURO 2004â„¢, where he played in the Pyrrhic victory against Bulgaria. Has remained regular understudy in 2006 World Cup qualifying.
