Inter Milan: Difference between revisions
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{{Football squad player|no=89|nat=Sweden|name=[[Goran Slavkovski]]|pos=FW|other=from youth team}} |
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Revision as of 15:49, 10 August 2006
| Full name | Football Club Internazionale Milano SpA | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Nerazzurri (the Black-Blues) La Beneamata (the Cherished) Il Biscione (the Big Grass Snake) | ||
| Founded | March 9,1908 | ||
| Ground | Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, Italy | ||
| Capacity | 85,700 | ||
| Chairman |  Giacinto Facchetti | ||
| Head Coach | Roberto Mancini | ||
| League | Serie A | ||
| 2005-06 | Serie A, 3rd (1st) | ||
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Football Club Internazionale Milano is an Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, which plays in the Serie A. It is more commonly known as Inter, and often named Inter Milan in foreign countries. The club wears the recognisable blue and black stripes, with the current sponsors Pirelli on their shirt. As the result of penalties for Juventus and AC Milan resulting from a match fixing scandal, Inter Milan are the current Serie A Champions after the 2005/2006 season.
History
Pre First World War
The club was founded on March 9, 1908 following a schism from the Milan Cricket and Football Club, now known as AC Milan. A group of Italians and Swiss (Muggiani, Bossard, Lana, Bertoloni, De Olma, Hintermann Enrico, Hintermann Arturo, Hintermann Carlo, Dell'Oro Pietro, Rietmann Ugo, Hans, Voelkel, Maner Wipf and Ardussi Carlo) were unhappy about the domination of Italians in the AC Milan team, and broke away from them, leading to the creation of Internazionale. From the beginning, the club was open to foreign players and thus lived up to her founding name. The original nickname of the team in Italian was La Beneamata, the cherished.
The club won its very first scudetto (championship) in 1910 and its second in 1920. The Captain and the Coach of the first scudetto was Virgilio Fossati, born in Milan and brother of Giuseppe Fossati (who won the second Inter championship). Unfortunately Virgilio Fossati died during the First World War.
Between the Wars
During the turbulent period between the First and Second World Wars, Inter was forced to change its name to Ambrosiana and then to Ambrosiana-Inter in order to accommodate the requests of Benito Mussolini's regime. In the fascists' view, the name "Internazionale" had Communist connotations. However, Ambrosiana was still used to winning ways and captured its third league championship in the new Italian first division, Serie A, in 1930. Following that, a fourth league title was won in 1938, Inter's first Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) was won in 1940 and a fifth league championship followed in 1940. In 1942, the club reverted to its original name, Internazionale Milano.
La Grande Inter
Following the war, Inter won its sixth championship in 1953 and the seventh in 1954. Following these titles, Inter was to enter the best years of its history, affectionately known as the era of La Grande Inter (The Great Inter). During this magnificent period, the club won 3 league championships in 1963, 1965 & 1966. The most famous moments during this decade also include Inter's 2 back-to-back European Cup wins. In 1964, Inter won the first of those tournaments, playing against the famous Spanish club Real Madrid. The next season, playing in their own stadium, the San Siro, Inter won their second European Cup against Portuguese outfit Benfica. During those years many great players wore the Neroazzuri shirt: Luis Suárez, Giacinto Facchetti, Sandro Mazzola, Angelo Domenghini, Mario Corso. The owner and president of the team was Angelo Moratti, father of the current owner. He offered enormous amounts of money to buy Eusébio and Pelé; both players agreed to move to Inter, but politics intervened. The military dictatorships of Portugal and Brazil both refused to sanction the moves, and both transfers fell through. In 1967, Inter lost 1-2 in the final of the European Cup against Celtic F.C..
1970 to date
Following the golden 1960s, Inter managed to win their 11th league title in 1971 and their 12th in 1980. Inter were defeated for the second time in five years in the final of the European Cup, going down 0-2 to Johan Cruyff's Ajax Amsterdam in 1972. During the 1970s & 1980s, Inter also added to its Coppa Italia tally the second and third cups in 1978 and 1982 respectively. Inter won another league championship in 1989, and most recently in 2006 after being handed th title due to the match fixing scandal (see below) bringing their total tally of scudetti to 14. They sit third in the all-time list of most wins of the league championship, behind Juventus F.C. (27) and A.C. Milan (17).
Internazionale has also won the UEFA Cup on 3 occasions, all of them in the space of seven years. The first was in the 1990-91 season in a two-legged final with AS Roma. In 1993-94, Inter did it again, this time against Austrian side Casino Salzburg. In a record third UEFA Cup victory, in the 1997-98 season, Inter beat SS Lazio in a one-match final played in the Parc des Princes, Paris.
In the 2004-05 season Inter won the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) against AS Roma and followed that up by winning the Supercoppa Italiana (Italian Super Cup) against Juventus F.C. at the start of the 2005-06 season. On 11th May 2006, Inter retained their Coppa Italia title again against AS Roma, in a two legged match, with a result of 1-1 in Rome and 3-1 back home.
Though Inter have not been able to win the Scudetto for the past 14 years, Inter were awarded the 2005-06 Serie A championship because of the match fixing scandal. The Italian Federal Appeal Commission on 14th July 2006 found Juventus, Lazio, Fiorentina and AC Milan guilty of match-fixing. Also, with the relegation of Juventus and the point deduction for AC Milan, Inter look to be strong favorites to finish in first for the 2006-07 Serie A season.
Match Fixing Scandal
Due to the match fixing scandal in which the number 1 and number 2 teams (Juventus and AC Milan respectively) were involved, Internazionale became league champion for the 2005/2006 season. This was the first time since 1989 that they were recognised as league champions.
Other historical information
Inter has never been relegated to Serie B (second division) in their near-century of existence, a fact the fans hold in high regard. As of 2006, Inter's 98-year run in the top flight is one of the longest of any club in the world. Inter's fans never tire of reminding the fans of intercity rival A.C. Milan that their club has been relegated twice, despite winning three more scudetti.
Until recently, rivals Juventus were the only other club to have spent their entire history in the top flight of Italian football. However, their role in a match-fixing scandal resulted in their relegation on July 14, 2006.
The current honorary president and owner of Inter is Massimo Moratti. His father, Angelo Moratti was the president of Inter during the golden era of the 1960s. Massimo, trying to emulate his father's great success, has spent a great deal of money to bring some of the world's best players to the club in an effort to win the scudetto on the field for the first time since 1989.
Inter is also member of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs.
Rivalry
Inter have two very great rivalries. The first is obviously with cross-town arch-enemies A.C. Milan. The rivalry is especially heated since Inter broke off from A.C. Milan. Inter was seen as the middle-class club (nicknamed "baüscia", a Milanese term meaning "braggart"), whereas A.C. Milan was the working-class team (nicknamed "casciavit", meaning in the Milanese dialect both "screwdriver", with reference to the working-class, and "awkward") and was mostly supported by migrants from Southern Italy. During the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's Inter was the more successful club, however in recent times Milan has been the more dominant team.
Inter's right-wing aligned Ultras groups (such as the Boys S.A.N. & Vikings) are known for their politically based rivalry with several clubs whose supporters are left-wing aligned, particularly with those of Atalanta B.C. & A.S. Livorno Calcio.
Another major rival of Inter is Juventus. Matches between these two teams are called the "Derby d'Italia", primarily due to the fact that, as mentioned, Juventus was the only other club to have never been relegated prior to 2006. However, this rivalry will likely be put on hold due to the match fixing scandal that rocked Italian football in 2006. Juventus was originally slapped with a 30-point deduction which would have effectively consigned it to Serie B for at least two years short of a miracle. However, Juventus was able to get its point deduction lightened to 17 points on appeal, making it much more likely that the Juventus-Inter rivalry will be renewed in 2007-08.
Inter supporters also have a major rivalry with Spanish club Real Madrid F.C. The two teams have faced each other many times in the latter stages of European Cups in the last 50 years. Inter have also been invited to play Real Madrid in the Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu, traditionally the last pre-season match for Madrid.
- Final European Cup 1963/64 - Inter vs Real Madrid 3-1
- SF European Cup 1965/66 - Real Madrid vs Inter 1-0; 1-1
- QF European Cup 1966/67 - Inter vs Real Madrid 1-0; 2-0
- SF European Cup 1980/81 - Real Madrid vs Inter 2-0; 0-1
- QF Cup Winners' Cup 1982/83 - Inter vs Real Madrid 1-1; 1-2
- SF UEFA Cup 1984/85 - Inter vs Real Madrid 2-0; 0-3
- SF UEFA Cup 1985/86 - Inter vs Real Madrid 3-1; 1-5 dts
- Trofeo Santiago Bernabeu 1993 - Real Madrid vs Inter 2-2
- Qualification European Champions League 1998/99 - Real Madrid vs Inter 2-0; 1-3
- Trofeo Santiago Bernabeu 2001 - Real Madrid vs Inter 0-1
San Siro
The stadium in which Inter plays is called Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, also known as San Siro (since the stadium is in the "San Siro" district). It is considered among the most beautiful football venues in the world. It was previously simply known as San Siro, but a new name was adopted in 1980 after Giuseppe Meazza's death. Meazza was a famous player for FC Internazionale in the 1930s and also played for AC Milan for a brief period of time. As a player, he won two World Cups for Italy (in 1934 and 1938) and, alongside Giovanni Ferrari, remains one of only two Italian players to have ever won the FIFA World Cup on two occasions. As a result, he is revered amongst the Interisti (Inter fans) and was honored by having one of the most famous football stadiums in the world named after him. The stadium seats 85,700 (the biggest in Italy, 2nd in Europe and 9th in the World) and plays host to both FC Internazionale and A.C. Milan. It should be noted though that most Milan fans call the stadium the San Siro, while most Interisti call it the Giuseppe Meazza, because Meazza played most of his glittering career at Inter, despite a short spell at Milan.
Players
Current first team squad
As of July 2006 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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