‘Inter Calling’ with Moriero and Colonnese

MILAN – Moriero and Colonnese were the protagonists of the third episode of ‘Inter Calling’, the Inter TV series that hosts a couple of Nerazzurri legends to chat every week. These two ex-players spent three seasons together at Inter from 1997 to 2000, during which time they lifted the UEFA Cup together having beaten Lazio in the final alongside an extraordinary squad:

Moriero: “The two of us both played for Roma and Napoli at different times, and then we played together at Inter. Our squad was unbelievable, with players who always gave their all for the shirt and their teammates, as well as a coach who knew how to maintain a healthy spirit in the locker room.”

Colonnese: “We’re still in touch and we're always there for each other. We’re still like we were on the pitch: united, a real team, with so much quality and compassion for one another. It’s true we had a phenomenon, Ronaldo, but everyone worked hard for each other. Moriero was incredible on the wing, there weren’t many players like him.”

There were so many protagonists both on and off the pitch, several iconic matches and numerous incredible goals:

Moriero: “Playing with great champions is much easier, you can read the game better and already know where the ball is going to come from or where to put it: for example, I remember the pass played for Ronaldo’s goal in the Derby, it was all instinctive. Of course Ronaldo was the icing on the cake of that Inter side, but there were also many other top players. The match against Strasbourg was historic, it was such a tough game with Djorkaeff, Simeone and Ronaldo all being man marked, but we managed to produce an incredible comeback. Moscow was crazy, the pitch was covered in mud, it was freezing and our warm-up lasted three minutes. Ronaldo went up to the Coach and said to him, “Don’t worry, I’ll win this one for us” before proceeding to glide across the mud and wreak havoc.”

Colonnese: “The match against Real Madrid in 1998 showed how far ahead of our time we were, because every player could cover any area of the pitch. We were a difficult team to read, and we played in a great way with fantastic players and excellent teamwork.”

Among the most interesting anecdotes were Moriero’s arrival at Inter, and the pre-match songs to pump up the team:

Moriero: “We used to sing before going out to play, while Bergomi was very focussed pre-game, instead we’d get pumped up that way, even before the UEFA Cup Final or other big games, like the comebacks and the Derby.” My arrival at Inter? “Galliani called me asking me to go to AC Milan, and after the medical examinations I went back to Lecce and received Mazzola’s call. And as soon as he said “do you want to come to Inter?”, images of Zanetti, Ronaldo, Zamorano and Berti flashed into my head and I said yes straight away. I remember that training sessions would last two or three hours, we’d eat together, play foot-tennis tournaments and all do basic technical work at the end. I used to put myself on the right and start crossing balls in for Cholo and Zamorano, the Coach then asked Zanetti to play on the left, and being an excellent professional he said yes and had a great season while giving me the chance to express myself.”