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Rui Costa and Materazzi – Best Sports Photo Ever?

April 12, 2005 – The second leg of the Champions League quarter finals which pitted Inter Milan against AC Milan, back when Inter were still the biggest losers around. Milan were leading 1-0 in the game and 3-0 in aggregate, en route to a Semi Final clash with Lyon. Inter got a few chances, and in the 71st minute all hell broke loose. Esteban Cambiasso’s goal was disallowed, and flares and missiles came flying out of the Inter fans stands onto the pitch. One of them eventually hit Dida, AC Milan’s keeper, and the game was over. The pitch looked like Armageddon. The moment caught by the camera, of Rui Costa and Marco Materazzi leaning on each other, watching (enjoying?) the chaos, is amazing, brilliant, by mistake.

Image: Source

It makes you realize that it’s just a game, that people play it for money and fun, and there are those who take it much more seriously. Dead serious, unfortunately, at times. Passion, hatred, devotion – When they go over the limit, the sport itself and the reason for being in the stadium gets pushed aside and forgotten. To this day, this photo is still the background on my computer. Reminds me in one shot all the good and bad about soccer, rivalries and fans.

Peter Fisher

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27 responses to “Rui Costa and Materazzi – Best Sports Photo Ever?”

  1. But, doing this type of things like setting things on fire, can’t be called sports spirit. If is spreading to all types of sports and entertainment and needs to be controlled. However, the photograph looks interesting.

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  2. I think that’s the point Venkata. Sometimes, the true spirit of the sport is lost, but photographs like this show us that the sun is still there; even on the cloudiest days.

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  8. Just looks like two guys wearing a couple sports jerseys… Nice pic, but the nearly complete lack of anything sports related diminishes the “best” aspect of the photo…

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  10. The contrast is brought out even more by the fact that it’s materazzi. The inter ultras that were throwing the flares revere him like a god.

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  13. […] http://sportige.com/best-soccer-photo/ Esta imagen de Marco Matterazzi (Inter de MilĂĄn) recostado en Rui Costa (AC Milan) es una de las clĂĄsicas en batallas del fĂștbol, sucediĂł en la Liga de Campeones 2005 cuando el AC derrotaba 3-0 en el agregado al Inter y anularon un gol a Cambiasso, las bengalas no dejaban de caer y los dos jugadores se pararon a observar el fuego continuo del estadio. […]

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  14. It’s an interesting story and picture but …. best sports photo ever? Surely there must be others out there that capture the drama, thrills and heartbreaks of sporting events much better than this?

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  21. This is a pretty picture, but it comes nowhere close to the picture of Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston in terms of power and emotion

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  24. […] During a Champions League clash between AC Milan and Inter Milan, Dida, AC Milan’s goalkeeper, was struck by a flare from the Inter stands. The game was later abandoned after the referee stopped the match, as Inter fans didn’t stop throwing flares to the pitch. That game also produced Peter‘s favorite soccer photo ever. […]

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  25. Such a great picture. All those complaining about a lack of excitement are missing the point. This picture shows the weird world of football, beauty and uglyness.

    Suppose you either get it or you don’t. Helps to have an understanding of Italian football.

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