JAVIER ZANETTI (INTER) EXCLUSIVE

Nobody has symbolised Inter’s years of struggle like Javier Zanetti, but he finally got to celebrate the Scudetto with the captain’s armband. Dominique Antognoni met a Nerazzurri legend

Captain Courage We’ve known Javier Zanetti for 12 years. He is always happy to help, we have never seen him turn down an interview or request for a comment and he almost exclusively says positive things. “I do not live to give you headlines,” he once said. Well, at the end of the game with Roma, the match that could have seen him celebrate the Scudetto on the field with the captain’s armband for the first time, he did not want to speak with anyone. He even pushed away the Sky Italia television microphones in a less than courteous manner. He was furious. We understand his feelings as this is the player who has suffered the most at Inter, with the longest time at the club and who put himself in the firing line during the dark moments. It may be a coincidence, but the first Coppa Italia won with Roberto Mancini on the bench – the most important – saw Zanetti in Germany with his national side. It was Ivan Cordoba who lifted the trophy. We meet him at his restaurant, El Gaucho, close to the Navigli area of Milan. It only serves Argentine meat and is always packed to the rafters.

Captain CourageCaptain Courage We’ve known Javier Zanetti for We’ve known Javier Zanetti for W12 years. He is always happy W12 years. He is always happy Wto help, we have never seen Wto help, we have never seen Whim turn down an interview Whim turn down an interview W or request for a comment and he almost exclusively says positive things. “I do not live to give you headlines,” he once said. Well, at the end of the game with Roma, the match that could have seen him celebrate the Scudetto on the field with the captain’s armband for the first time, he did not want to speak with anyone. He even pushed away the Sky Italia television microphones in a less than courteous manner. He was furious. We understand his feelings as this is the player who has suffered the most at Inter, with the longest time at the club and who put himself in the firing line during the dark moments. It may be a coincidence, but the first Coppa Italia won with Roberto Mancini on the bench – the most important – saw Zanetti in Germany with his national side. It was Ivan Cordoba who lifted the trophy. We meet him at his restaurant, El Gaucho, close to the Navigli area of Milan. It only serves Argentine meat and is always packed to the rafters.

Wor request for a comment and he almost exclusively says positive things. “I do not live to give you headlines,” he once said. Well, at the end of the game with Roma, the match that could have seen him celebrate the Scudetto on the field with the captain’s armband for the first time, he did not want to speak with anyone. He even pushed away the Sky Italia television microphones in a less than courteous manner. He was furious. We understand his feelings as this is the player who has suffered the most at Inter, with the longest time at the club and who put himself in the firing line during the dark moments. It may be a coincidence, but the first Coppa Italia won with Roberto Mancini on the bench – the most important – saw Zanetti in Germany with his national side. It was Ivan Cordoba who lifted the trophy. We meet him at his restaurant, El Gaucho, close to the Navigli area of Milan. It only serves Argentine meat and is always packed to the rafters.

Javier Zanetti Club: Inter Born: Buenos Aires (Argentina), 10/8/73 Position: Defender/Midfielder Ht/Wt: 1.78m/75kg Serie A debut: INTER 1-0 Vicenza, 27/8/95 Season Club Div Apps Gls 1993-94 Banfield A 37 1 1994-95 Banfield A 29 3 1995-96 Inter A 32 2 1996-97 Inter A 33 3 1997-98 Inter A 28 1998-99 Inter A 34 3 1999-00 Inter A 34 1 2000-01 Inter A 29 2001-02 Inter A 33 2002-03 Inter A 34 1 2003-04 Inter A 34 2004-05 Inter A 35 2005-06 Inter A 25 2006-07 Inter A 36 1 International debut: Chile 0-3 ARGENTINA, 16/11/94 International apps/gls: 102/6

Javier, how does it feel to win your first Scudetto? It’s my second, actually. It is true that we won it in the summer after the scandal and did not celebrate the way we should have, but it remains a Scudetto. It was the moment in which I felt truly proud to be an Interista, even more so than before. We were not involved in the biggest scandal in the history of football and are in fact the cleanest ones out there. We deserved that title because the others cheated. This Scudetto is different, but still strange in its own way... Why strange? Juventus are in Serie B for their own faults, Milan were penalised because they broke the rules. Theirs were small infractions, but were still wrong. We always won our games, played very well and entertained the fans. In previous seasons we were unable to find consistency, but this time we always beat the little clubs, both at home and away. In the past we didn’t used to win at Empoli, Parma, not to mention the fact we got victories against all the major sides on our travels – twice in Rome, Florence, Palermo, both derbies. Why did you win this year and not the others? Because never before in recent years has one team – and I don’t just mean Inter – had so many talents in a single squad. Esteban Cambiasso was injured? In comes Olivier Dacourt. Hernan Crespo unavailable? Bring in Julio Cruz. Is Fabio Grosso unwell?

Javier, how does it feel to win your first Scudetto? It’s my second, actually. It is true that we won it in the summer after the scandal and did not celebrate the way we should have, but it remains a Scudetto. It was the moment in which I felt truly proud to be an Interista, even more so than before. We were not involved in the biggest scandal in the history of football and are in fact the cleanest ones out there. We deserved that title because the others cheated. This Scudetto is different, but still strange in its own way... Why strange? Juventus are in Serie B for their own faults, Milan were penalised because they broke the rules. Theirs were small infractions, but were still wrong. We always won our games, played very well and entertained the fans. In previous seasons we were unable to find consistency, but this time we always beat the little clubs, both at home and away. In the past we didn’t used to win at Empoli, Parma, not to mention the fact we got victories against all the major sides on our travels – twice in Rome, Florence, Palermo, both derbies. Why did you win this year and not the others? Because never before in recent years has one team – and I don’t just mean Inter – had so many talents in a single squad. Esteban Cambiasso was injured? In comes Olivier Dacourt. Hernan Crespo unavailable? Bring in Julio Cruz. Is Fabio Grosso unwell?

Javier, how does it feel to win your first Scudetto? It’s my second, actually. It is true that we won it in the summer after the scandal and did not celebrate the way we should have, but it remains a Scudetto. It was the moment in which I felt truly proud to be an Interista, even more so than before. We were not involved in the biggest scandal in the history of football and are in fact the cleanest ones out there. We deserved that title because the others cheated. This Scudetto is different, but still strange in its own way... Why strange? Juventus are in Serie B for their own faults, Milan were penalised because they broke the rules. Theirs were small infractions, but were still wrong. We always won our games, played very well and entertained the fans. In previous seasons we were unable to find consistency, but this time we always beat the little clubs, both at home and away. In the past we didn’t used to win at Empoli, Parma, not to mention the fact we got victories against all the major sides on our travels – twice in Rome, Florence, Palermo, both derbies. Why did you win this year and not the others? Because never before in recent years has one team – and I don’t just mean Inter – had so many talents in a single squad. Esteban Cambiasso was injured? In comes Olivier Dacourt. Hernan Crespo unavailable? Bring in Julio Cruz. Is Fabio Grosso unwell?

42 Calcio Italia June 2007
Javier Zanetti believes he can continue playing at the San Siro for another five years

Behold Maxwell. Problems for Ivan Cordoba? Here’s Nicolas Burdisso. Then if you have people like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Douglas Maicon, Marco Materazzi, Luis Figo and Dejan Stankovic, it’s easy to win. Speaking of Maicon, he stole your place. Let us be clear, he was so good that it was my duty to hand him my position. We changed systems and I played further forward. Maicon is a formidable player, I’ve never seen someone settle so quickly into Italian football. What about Ibra? He is the European Ronaldinho, he is our Kaka. In fact, he’s even better than the Milan man. But Mancini is right, not even he realises just how much he can still improve. Where do you get all this energy? From the desire to always train hard and give my all to do justice to the team and this club, which has given me so much on a personal level. This Scudetto belongs to everyone, including all the loyal Nerazzurri fans. You must have dreamed for many years of the Scudetto. I was twice within reach of it in 1998 and 2002. Those were terrible blows. To this day I don’t understand what happened on May 5, 2002, against Lazio. We were incapable of running or reacting after the break. We were just paralysed. I would never have imagined real fear of victory, but on the corner kick that led to Diego Simeone’s goal we couldn’t even jump. It had all started so well, then Karel Poborsky’s equaliser destroyed us. I felt sorry for then boss Hector Cuper, as he gathered so little having worked so hard. Just think, after that day he took us almost to the Champions League Final, where we were eliminated by Milan on away goals at the San Siro, as arbitrary as the toss of a coin.

Was that the darkest moment? One of many, unfortunately. The night against Alaves, the one at Villarreal. I cried like a baby after the semi-final loss to Milan. And the greatest times? Few, if we consider I’ve been here since 1995... Do you remember your first day at Inter 12 years ago? Yes. It was raining hard. My presentation was on the Martini terrace and Giacinto Facchetti, Luis Suarez, Antonio Valentin Angelillo and Giuseppe Bergomi were waiting for me. It was a big challenge for me, I was very young and I had just arrived from Argentina. For me it was like being reborn, I knew I would be entering a completely different reality from what I was used to. I was coming to a kind of football I had only seen on television, and which I knew was the most difficult. Were you expecting to become captain of Inter and stay here for so many years? No. Frankly, I was expecting to show my value. I knew I was joining an ambitious and very important club with a great history. I knew it would be tough to stay at a high level, but thanks to the hard work I have put in every day down the years, I feel even more of an Interista today. You probably feel a bit more Italian after being here for so many years... Certainly. I have felt happy here since the start. Italy has given me a lot and I have to thank this country for the doors it has opened for me. We must talk about Massimo Moratti... We have been close since the moment I arrived. He often invited my wife Paola and I to dinner at his house and by now we are old friends. Many times we’d try to understand what was happening at Inter, why the others always won and we never did. With the

When he arrived in 1995, little did Argentine youngster Javier Zanetti know he’d end up becoming a club legend

Luciano Moggi scandal, we figured out quite a few things. We analysed the events, but something was always missing to really see the core reasons behind them. Name a friend you’d like to have by your side for the Scudetto celebration. Ivan Zamorano. Then Simeone and Juan Sebastian Veron. Speaking of which, if one day Mancini should decide to move on, I’d like Diego to be on the bench. He will be an incredible Coach. What effect does it have on you seeing Ronaldo at Milan? With him Inter made a huge leap forwards. I remember before his arrival we played with 35,000 spectators, with him in the side the average was 71,000. Overnight we became a global phenomenon, as everyone was watching us. The first year was incredible. But his return here would not make sense. At Milan he is a regular starter, rightly so, but who could find space for him at Inter now? What do you think of Mancini? Perhaps we played our best football in his first year, when we constantly notched up draws. Now we have a lot of class, but win thanks to our strength. Last season there was a period of truly magical football with Figo and Veron. Mancini has understood exactly what he needs to do to combine success and entertaining play, so we have reached a whole new dimension, a superpower. Javier, the years roll by for all of us... I don’t notice and hope that shows through. I run the same as 10 years ago – in fact I’ve improved, as I don’t hog the ball so much. Joking aside, I am amazed at the fact I’m 34-years-old. I look at Paolo Maldini and encourage myself, as I have another five years of career ahead of me. Do you think I’ll be able to win more Scudetti and hopefully even the Champions League before then? We hope so.

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