Nostalgic Serie A five-team squad: line-up for… Inter | Serie A

Pticking off five players to personify Internazionale as a club is perhaps the way I looked at it, albeit with a late 80s, early 90s bias. Presenting the official Inter Podcast in English means having my head in the archives and therefore delving into the stories of the early days.

The Great Inter team and their recent history fascinates me. The first games I saw were in the late 80s and that means a number of more recent contenders have fallen away. These are the players who embody what it means to be Inter and who are also the best in their positions in that generation.

Walter Zenga

The Spider, as Walter Zenga was called, was a phenomenal goalkeeper and one of the best of his generation. He is Inter through and through: born in Milan, he was Nervous from the start. He was an idol of the club and, not surprisingly, the stars were favourable – he played there for 23 years. During that time he won the Serie A, two UEFA Cups and an Italian Super Cup. Perhaps he should have won more, but Milan had something to say about that.

Zenga was a showman between the posts, his grand gestures and celebrations after a save were all part of his passion and his act. The character and persona were the same and his lightning reflexes and incredible leap meant that, in an era when the best strikers in the world were in Serie A, he was the Azure Blue and Inter’s number 1. Admittedly, when I chose Zenga I had to keep in mind the more recent Júlio César and Francesco Toldo. Perhaps Ivano Bordon, at Inter from 1970-83, deserves a mention and especially Giuliano Sarti (part of the Great Inter team) could have matched him.

Giuseppe Bergomi

I had the privilege of interviewing “Lo Zio” (“The Uncle”) in 2015 and standing alone on the sidelines of the San Siro, he was as impressive as the stadium. The way he spoke was so calm and yet you hung on every word as if everything he said was the undeniable truth. He described the complex task of defending so well that it seemed like it all came naturally. You could see why he was the epitome of a captain, even at such a young age, when he emerged with that enormous moustache.

Bergomi would go on to make over 500 league appearances for Inter and truly represents what it is to pull on the shirt, picking up a few trophies at a time when calcio ruled the world – the Scudetto in 1989 and a Coppa Italia plus three UEFA Cups and an Italian Super Cup.

A quick, hard-working and versatile defender, he could play central defence, right back and sweeper and his football intelligence was hard to match, as he was adept at playing in a variety of systems and tactics. His professionalism and the respect he commands from his teammates show why he is one of Inter’s greatest ever players.

Richard Hall’s interview with “Beppe Bergomi” in 2015

Javier Zanetti

“The Captain”. When we talk about Bergomi and Giacinto Facchetti as the embodiment of what it means to be Inter, Javier Zanetti is right next to them. The ultimate servant of the club, even to this day, “puppy“has a list of accolades I simply don’t have room for – 16 in total – and was the man who lifted all the trophies in the Treble season.

He holds the record for most appearances for the club, an incredible 858. This is even more impressive when you consider how much ground he was able to cover, earning the Argentine the nickname “The tractor“.

There are many players – Roberto Carlos, Facchetti (who almost made this team), Maicon and many more who could take this position – but how can you not have Zanetti? Mister “Forever Young” will always be in the hearts of the Nervous and his leadership and ability to uphold the club’s values ​​make him one of the best, if not the best, player to ever wear the blue and black stripes.

Inter’s Peter Pan never changed his hair: “When I feel my hair is good, it gives me confidence. It’s a question of image, but also of character,” he said. Even his hair had a meaning.

Lothar Matthäus

Where do I begin with Matthäus? If you had seen him in Milan, you would have seen the best in the world at the time. Not as handsome a player as Diego Maradona, but efficient and deadly. This is a man who in the late 80s and early 90s ousted Maradona and Napoli, showing the power of Northern Italy against the flashy Southern Italians.

Matthäus’s direct style and brutal efficiency probably earn him the title of “the most underrated of the best players in history”. He was FIFA’s World Player of the Year at Inter in 1991, when Serie A was the best league in the world. He perhaps didn’t play in the league as long as he should have (or wanted to). However, 40 goals in 115 games proved his importance as Giovanni Trapattoni led Inter back to the top. A Scudetto, a UEFA Cup and an Italian Super Cup were impressive rewards for his time at San Siro. Inter might have won more had he stayed longer – he was at the club from 1988-92 – but his legacy is immense.

Giuseppe Meazza

People might ask: why Meazza? I have a simple answer that comes in three parts. He is still regarded as one of the best Italian sportsmen in history, he is Inter’s all-time leading scorer and the stadium is named after him, so that’s not a bad resume. For all the professionalism and discipline of the players above, there has to be an outlier. Throughout Inter’s history, steel has been thrown at the club while gold has been bought in pieces. For every Álvaro Recoba there was a poor defence, but even before Massimo Moratti, investing in beauty over stability was the norm for Inter. It’s the addictive curse that has always plagued the blue and black half of Milan.

Meazza could have been replaced by Ronaldo (he also played for Milan, so technically he’s vetoed), Diego Milito, Lautaro Martinez and many more, but when you ask for a striker, you ask for this man. You want someone prolific in front of goal, 242 league goals in 365 games tell the story of himself, while he also has three Scudetti and a Coppa Italia to his name. His antics off the pitch were legendary, often turning up late after some “Milan nightlife” only to score a hat-trick. This is the man who embodies the fun side of Inter, and his name conjures up the romantic side of the club for anyone who visits the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.