Imagine being a side character in your own story. Imagine not being a factor in your own narrative. And imagine that even people on your side dislike you, hate you, or simply don't care about you. For Materazzi, that is not something he needed to imagine ever since Zidane had headbutted him.

Materazzi's Prespective

Materazzi did admit that he did insult Zidane by insulting his sister, however, he did not really understand Zidane's reaction to his words since his words are tame in comparison to other things said in Serie A. But, most importantly, Materazzi was also baffled by the way he was treated as a human at that moment.

It's very important to remember that it was Zidane who started that exchange of words between the two. And according to both, Zidane did say that Materazzi would need to wait to get his shirt after the game. Materazzi took that as a sign of disrespect as it came off as smug or disrespectful in his eyes, which is something we may or may not see the same as he did.

However, there is something we could agree about.

Materazzi wasn't shown respect

Not only in that incident, but in the media overall. You see, no one cares about Materazzi. Even people on his side weren't really on his side, but rather just against what Zidane did. Most articles that were on his side called what he did despicable before using that as a jumping point to attack what Zidane did. It was treated the same way Eric Cantona's kicking a fan. Zidane may or may not have intended to belittle Materazzi, but, the media definitely did.

Materazzi is actually quite the accomplished player if you're unaware. He is part of Mourinho's Inter Milan won the Champions League final in 2010 and even featured for a few minutes in the match. He also has five Serie A titles to his name. If we were to compare the two in terms of titles, Materazzi isn't behind Zidane, in fact, he did win more league titles.

So, treating him as such a nobody and making this story all about Zidane is disrespectful. It is often forgotten that if it wasn't for Materazzi himself, Italy might not have even made it to the extra as he was the one who score Italy's goal to draw the score.

Materazzi is not a star

As mentioned before, Materazzi got a 3 match suspension while Zidane got 2 for that interaction. So, either headbutting a player's chest without the ball is in fact only slightly worse than insulting on the pitch, or Zidane was given a preferable treatment. It may not seem like the length of the suspension matters but it does.

When you revisit the incident online, it will always show that there is very little difference between what each person did as having the difference in punishment only be one match then it could mean one of two things:

• The headbutt was just as light as the insult

or

• The insult was bad enough that it warranted a headbutt. Something that is only slightly worse than the insult.

The fact of the matter is that if FIFA had punished Zidane with a large fine or given him a more severe punishment then Materazzi's image might have actually been seen better. Or he would be redeemed in the eyes of the media and people watching as it would mean that in the eyes of experts Zidane's actions weren't only *slightly worse than Materazzi's.

In Conclusion

Materazzi's actions toward Zidane were instructions from his coach. What he said was only a response to what Zidane instigated. Simply put, he didn't have his cake and he didn't eat it too. His aftermath shows us what living in a star's shadow is like as the incident will always be "Zidane headbutted some player" and "Zidane's actions weren't so bad as he got virtually the same punishment as the other guy" making Materazzi a spectator in his own story. Or, more precisely, the story of how Zidane got a red card in his last match in the World Cup final. Materazzi, much like Marco Amelia and Daniele De Rossi, was also there.

Materazzi might not get anyone's sympathy, but there's definitely something rotten about the way he was treated.

Sources

Materazzi wins British libel damages over Sun's claims about Zidane head-butt

An apology but no regrets from Zidane

And Materazzi's exact words to Zidane were...
Headlining the head-butt: Zinedine Zidane/Marco Materazzi portrayals in prominent English, Irish and Scottish newspapers
Remembering Zinedine Zidane's Headbutt and the 2006 World Cup Final
Zinedine Zidane 'would rather die' than apologise to Marco Materazzi
World Cup questions: what did Zidane's head-butt in Berlin mean?
Why Do We Seem to Thrive on Hero Destruction?
What Sport Tells Us About Life: Bradmans Average Zidanes Kiss And Other Sporting Lessons
Why Gigi Buffon, not Marco Materazzi, is to blame for Zizou’s red card vs Italy