Marco Materazzi would like his reputation back

Somehow all along we all knew that the great 2006 Zidane headbutt controversy would end up in the courtroom. It was only a matter of who would be suing whom. First up in the jurisprudence parade is Marco Materazzi, the victim of the headbutt, if you will.

The Matrix, whose reputation before the World Cup was one of honor, dignity and passivity on the pitch, has gotten his lawyers all pumped up so that they can sue a few British tabloids. His reasoning is quite simple. They printed allegations that he said all kinds of things to Zidane that set the Frenchman into a fury. Those allegations were apparently not true and now Materazzi can’t walk down the street without someone besmirching his reputation.

His lawyer, Steven Heffer, said: “He is taking legal action to clear his name.”

Mr Heffer added: “Marco Materazzi is issuing claims in the High Court against three newspapers, the Sun, the Daily Mail and the Daily Star for damages for libel and an injunction.

“He is left with no alternative as all three newspapers have failed to correct or apologise for their false reports of the incident.

“Marco has suffered enormous damage to his reputation as a result of the press reports.”

Clearly having a few tabloids publish an apology more than a year later will make us all forget Materazzi’s role in the incident and help us remember him as the saint that he has always been. After all, he was simply joking around.