Giuseppe Bergomi

Beppe Bergomi watched Inter as a child, playing for them at the top for 20 years and his career nearly reaching the new millennium.Eugenio Bersellini fell in love with the player from a football perspective straight away. Showing maturity well past his years, the 16-year-old was handed his debut against Juventus in the Coppa Italia. He then scored in the derby at the age of 17, before then triumphing as a starter in the World Cup final aged 18. Amazingly, he then enjoyed playing in another World Cup when he was 35. During his time at Inter, he secured one legendary Scudetto and three UEFA Cups. From Altobelli to Ronaldo, passing through to Matthäus, Bergomi was the ideal conductor for 20 years at the Nerazzurri, always playing with calmness, intelligence and a smile.Beppe developed as a player with Inter and in Serie A, which soon became the strongest league in the world. Every Sunday, he would face opponents such as Maradona, Van Basten, Mancini, Baggio, Voller and Laudrup. In 1989, Trapattoni’s Inter left them all behind, with the heart of their iron defence inspired by the Academy. This was made up of Walter Zenga, Giuseppe Bergomi and Riccardo Ferri, with Andrea Mandorlini there to protect them and the intelligent Andy Brehme present to encourage smart forays forward.He began his career as an effective right full-back, before then becoming a sweeper for Gigi Simoni, who resembled the likes of Bersellini, Trapattoni, Bearzot and Cesare Maldini. All different coaches who understood how important it was to have a figurehead like him both out on the pitch and also in the dressing room. Firm but rough (he received 12 red cards in his career), when playing he demonstrated intelligence and charisma, as well as heart and technique.With a strong moustache present from an early age, Gianpiero Marini told him in the dressing room, “You look like my uncle” - a nickname that subsequently stuck.His record appearances for the Nerazzurri, 756, had seemed unbeatable at the time, only for his natural heir, Javier Zanetti, to successfully break it. Bergomi was captain of Inter and captain of the National Team, enjoying some Magic Nights during Italia 1990, but ultimately failing to lift the trophy on home soil - the biggest torment for that specific sporting generation, Bergomi included.He is now one of the top pundits in Italy and brings to the microphone exactly what he shown on the pitch: fairness, morality, analysis and passion.

Beppe Bergomi lived through Inter as a child, and then went on to take us right to the top for twenty years, practically guiding the Club into the new millennium. Eugenio Bersellini was truly taken aback by this serious young boy, a boy who already seemed like a man, so much so that he gave him his debut at the age of just 16 years old against Juventus in the Coppa Italia. At 17, he scored a goal in the Derby. At 18, he was a World Champion, putting in a superb performance as a starter in the World Cup final. At 35, he was still loving his football in fine form at the 1998 World Cup. In the midst of all this came a whole career at Inter, a legendary Scudetto and three UEFA Cups lifted high to the sky. From Altobelli to Ronaldo, with Matthäus in the middle, Bergomi was a true constant for the Nerazzurri for 20 years: always calm, always intelligent and always with a smile on his face. Beppe grew up alongside Inter and Serie A, which went from being just a national league to one of the biggest championships in the world, one where his opponents each Sunday would go by Maradona and Van Basten, Mancini and Baggio, Voller and Laudrup. Inter left them all in their wake in 1989, with Trapattoni at the helm, and the heart of that iron defence stemming from our Youth Academy: Walter Zenga, Giuseppe Bergomi and Riccardo Ferri, with the shrewd Andrea Mandorlini lending a hand and the genius of Andy Brehme providing a transition to dangerous attacks. He started off at right-back, initially playing in a zonal marking system, and finished off as a sweeper. He was a warrior in Gigi Simoni’s defence, a man similar to Bersellini, Trapattoni, Bearzot and Cesare Maldini: all of the coaches who best understood how important it was to have a point of reference like him both on the pitch and in the dressing room. Disciplined but fiery (with twelve red cards across the course of his career), he brought charisma, clearness of mind, heart and a set of smart feet whenever he stepped out onto the pitch. From a very young age, he always sported a seemingly outdated moustache. “But you look like my Uncle,” Gianpiero Marini told him one day in the dressing room. The nickname stuck with him ever since. His Nerazzurri record for appearances seemed unbeatable, with 756 games played for the Club, and it was only another monument like Javier Zanetti, his natural heir, who could ever overcome it. Captain of Inter, he also donned the armband for the National Team at Italia ’90, as Italy fell short in their quest to win the home World Cup on those Magical Nights in 1990. Today he’s one of the most popular football commentators in Italy, bringing to the microphone exactly what he brought to the pitch each time: precision, moral rigor, analytical skills and more than anything, passion for the game. Giuseppe Bergomi remains the youngest debutant in Inter’s history, beginning to carve out his place in Nerazzurri history that first day he stepped out onto the pitch in a Nerazzurri shirt in 1980. From that day forward, he would never take off our shirt. He was just 16 years and 39 days old when Bersellini gave him his debut away to Juventus in the Coppa Italia. The date was 30 January 1980, and the boy born on the outskirts of Milan in Settala never looked back. His legs never trembled, not even when he starred in Italy’s World Cup triumph at the age of 18 in ’82. They used to call him “Zio”, and that’s how all us Inter fans knew him. Serious, reliable, strong. Defender, icon, captain. He arrived at Inter a boy, but in his 20 years at the Club he became a man lifting trophies with the captain’s armband. That record-breaking Scudetto, a unique achievement from the ‘80s, and those UEFA Cups in the ‘90s.