The Nerazzurri blew the chance
of securing the Scudetto for the second week in succession when
they could only manage a 2-2 draw with Siena at San
Siro.
The villain of the piece for the
home side was Materazzi, who having won a spot-kick late in the
game, pushed aside regular penalty taker Julio Cruz, only to see
his effort saved by Alex Manninger.
Inter President Massimo Moratti
was spotted up in the stands blaming Materazzi for the draw, while
Coach Roberto Mancini also revealed in his post-match interview
that the hardman shouldn’t have taken the penalty.
Il Messaggero says that
several Inter players were furious with Materazzi for stealing the
ball from Cruz, and some of them could be overheard accusing the
34-year-old of "always wanting" the spotlight and trying "to be the
main character".
Cruz is said to have angrily
confronted Materazzi, to which the World Cup winner apologised for
his actions.
Indeed Materazzi also said sorry
during an interview with Sky after the match.
“I’m sorry, I should have let
Julio take it and I’ve apologised to him,” the former Perugia man
declared.