by Beppe Severgnini
The first merit of the players, a magic happened between them. Simone Inzaghi is surprising everyone, Inter always knows what to do. On the same step of the podium is Marotta who built the team on zero parameters. And Zhang studied football
At the end of a meeting with students at the Novello high school in Codogno on Monday morning, a girl approaches: Ready for tonight’s match? I answer: well, Udinese-Inter is interesting, but it doesn’t seem like an epochal transition to me. I was wrong: the victory – and the subsequent almost exaggerated celebrations on the pitch – marked a change of season. This one’s over, let’s think about the next one.
Last championship, at the Friuli stadium, Inter took the lead, then lost badly (3-1). This time they went down, and won (1-2). After conceding a daring goal – Inzaghi’s adjective, which didn’t mean comical – the team reacted ferociously. On the final shot from the indomitable Lautaro, the Udinese goalkeeper pushes the post: three of them wearing the orange shirts pounce on the rebound. One of them, Frattesi, scores goals. it is from these details that the players are judged.
The construction of a love is the title of a beautiful song by Ivano Fossati; I propose to Roberto Vecchioni, Luciano Ligabue, Enrico Ruggeri, Rose Villain and other musical Nerazzurri players to compose The Construction of a Success. There’s a lot to sing this year. In the second round, so far, eleven wins out of twelve matches, thirty-one goals scored, only six conceded. Impressive.
A lot of credit goes to the players. It is clear that a formidable harmony has been created within the team. Barella has stopped protesting, Lautaro plays calmly, Bastoni and Dimarco are growing visibly. Frattesi agrees to enter during the match when, in fact, he is a starter for the national team. Even the hand of Riccardo Ferri, my fellow citizen, can be seen: an older brother disguised as a team manager. Of course, winning helps you win, but every now and then a magic occurs that transforms additions into multiplications. Napoli, last year, a good example.
Simone Inzaghi is also surprising everyone (even himself, probably). The nervous management of a high-level team, in any sport, is complicated. In the case of football – surrounded by expectations, dreams and collective hysteria – it becomes very difficult. Inzaghi, the most vocal speaker in Italian football, has become really good, and seems to have clear ideas. On the pitch, Inter always give the impression of knowing what to do.
On the same step of the podium is Beppe Marotta. His well-known competence, his contagious calm, his admirable parsimony: he built the winning team on zero parameters (Sommer, Acerbi, Mkhitaryan, Calhanoglu, Thuram). With his lake-like smile, the CEO can mislead those who don’t know the Lombards and mistake simplicity for naivety, politeness for insecurity, calmness for resignation. Marotta started out as a warehouse boy in Varese when he was a teenager. He has seen everything in his career, of course, but talking to him you get the impression that he is still amazed and having fun.
Special mention goes to young Zhang Kangyang — Steven Zhang, chez nous — whatever happens in May when his Oaktree loan expires. When he arrived at Inter (2016), he knew nothing about football: he didn’t even watch the matches. But he learned by listening to those who knew more than him (Marotta, Ausilio, Zanetti, Antonello). Luigi Di Maio did something similar, in a very different field: appointed Foreign Minister, he put himself in the hands of expert diplomats (primarily, Ettore Sequi). You learn everything: football like foreign policy.
Finally, a medal for valor goes to the fans: especially to those who fill the stadiums (not just San Siro!). Their interventions — interventions, sounds good! — have been decisive, especially in difficult moments: the construction of this year’s success starts from last season’s defeats in the championship (twelve!). The blue-black hearts understood: it was a stretch of fog, beyond it the sun shone. The climb to the Champions League, which reached Istanbul, convinced everyone that the team was there. From then on everything was easier. Knowing how to wait, even in football, for a virtue.
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April 10, 2024 (changed April 10, 2024 | 07:20)
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2024-04-10 05:21:10
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