InterLegend: Ronaldo ‘IL Fenomeno”

Some have called him the best player to have ever played on a football pitch. Others called him a Phenomenon, the likes of which the world will never ever see again. No matter what you think of him, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima will always be regarded by every football fan as one of the greatest ever players in the sport’s history. Having played for our beloved Inter, Ronaldo has also cemented himself as a legend at the club that very few forwards will be able to be compared to, let alone best.

InterLegend: Giuseppe Bergomi

Giuseppe Bergomi like Inter’s other two great captains, Giacinto Facchetti and more recently Javier Zanetti was fiercely loyal to his beloved Inter.  For many years Bergomi held the record for most appearances for the Nerazzurri, though he has recently lost this achievement to the forever young ‘il Capitano’ Zanetti who is still adding to his impressive total.

Bergomi was born in Milano on the 22nd December 1963, His career as a defender began at a young age when he started training with Inter’s first team at the age of just 16 and made his full professional debut a year later.  He went on to spend 20 years with the Nerazzurri, for many years wearing the captains armband.

From a young age Bergomi wore a moustache that earned him the nickname that he was affectionately known as “Lo zio” (“the uncle”).  In his 20 years with the mighty Inter he made an astonishing 519 appearances in Serie A scoring 23 goals, which isn’t a bad tally when you consider he played as a right back or center back.  The loyalty he showed during his years with Inter only earned him a single Scudetto in the 1988/89 season when Inter won their 13th title beating the legendary Maradona era Napoli by a huge 11 points.  This title was testament to the defensive capabilities of Bergomi and Inter as there was only 19 goals conceded and they only lost two games in the league.  The Scudetto win also led to Bergomi lifting the Italian Supercoppa too.

InterLegends: Giacinto Facchetti

Giacinto Facchetti:

When we first thought of creating Nerazzurri World’s new Inter Legends section, we felt it appropriate to start with a player who is not only a legend of Internazionale Milano F.C. but of world football as a whole, Giacinto Facchetti.

Facchetti and his love affair with Inter:

It might be surprising to some, but Facchetti actually started his footballing career playing as a striker. With his hometown club, Trevigliese, Giacinto was deployed as striker and played with them from 1956 until 1960.

Having been discovered and recruited by legendary Inter coach Helenio Herrera, Facchetti was persuaded to change his role into a full-back. A position that he would make his own and give his unique distributive stamp. He was able to use his height and strong body to become one of the most decisive, effective and well-rounded defenders in Italian football. His exemplary attitude on the pitch was demonstrated by the fact that he had only receive one red card throughout his career, and even that was for the minor offer of applauding the referee in an ironic manner!