‘Inter Calling’ with Veron and Cordoba

MILAN – The Colombian defender, Ivan Cordoba and Argentine midfielder, Juan Sebastian Veron, tell their tales of football, passion and triumphs.

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Their careers crossed paths at Inter and together the two ex-Nerazzurri players were the protagonists of the fourth episode of Inter Calling:

Cordoba: “From the moment I arrived at Inter there were many changes, with Cuper we started to create something different, to strive for important goals and the foundations were laid for an Inter side that could continually be victorious. Every time I think of Veron, I remember that goal in Turin against Juventus in the Super Cup, our second big trophy having at last won the Coppa Italia after so many years. After winning that trophy we told ourselves that we had to keep winning and the Super Cup match was crazy.”

Veron: “I arrived with Mancini and I knew Inter,its history and our goal was to create a winning group. What happened next was totally deserved, worthy of the football we played. There were many coaches and intelligent players who made it possible to build another piece of this Club’s history. That group also had a lot of character, togetherness and respect, when all those come together, you can sense something big is coming.”

That group contained so many talented players:

Veron: “For me, at the time there was a lot of activity in midfield and each player had their own attributes: those who had an eye for goal, those with imagination. Every good team must have a great goalkeeper, good defenders and those up top have to score, and our midfield had a bit of everything. History is made on the pitch and I’m extremely happy to have been part of a great team and amazing Club.” The funniest player? “Christian Vieri was very funny, so was Kily Gonzales, but to win you have to have players that are a bit ‘crazy’, the team has to have a bit of everything. Then there were Toldo, Materazzi and the others.”

Cordoba: “We had Recoba, Mihajlovic and Veron, so we had to score goals. Veron was a reference point for us defenders, because as soon as we recovered the ball he would make himself available and start dictating the game. The strong character of players who always strive to win makes all the difference, like when we played in the streets as kids. Competitiveness in training is essential for the team to always be ready to win together in matches, because it means everyone’s always fighting for each other.”

Cordoba’s leap and Veron’s ball-striking precision are natural qualities that were cultivated through hard work and a passion for the game:

Veron: “My 70m passes? They’re an innate attribute that always improved by having a ball at my feet, practicing passing again and again, just training it over the years. I didn’t have Figo’s dribbling skills or Cordoba’s leap but I knew how to strike the ball well with my long passing. Kicking the ball against a wall, in various ways both slowly and hard, is very useful and when my father took me to practice I always did that and continued to do so as I grew up.”

Cordoba: “My jumping is a natural talent that I enhanced. When I was a kid, I’d always be playing in the street and when I started training my coaches saw this ability and gave me specific exercises for it, such as hanging up a ball and telling me to jump to head it. Another thing that helped me was my ankle exercises, I did loads of them and the repetition created strength and increased my power.”

Several games are etched in the memories of these two ex-Nerazzurri players:

Cordoba: “There are several games that are especially significant for me, the first Coppa Italia was so important because it was a weight off our shoulders and from then on we realised we were capable of winning. We celebrated as if it had been a Champions League triumph. Barcelona vs. Inter was an unforgettable match, and after Thiago Motta’s sending off it seemed to last forever. It was tough, but the moments after the final whistle were incredible, they’ll stay with me forever. It had to happen like that, those semi-finals made us even stronger and in those games the smallest details make the biggest difference.”

Veron: “In every career there are games that could’ve changed a player’s journey. For me that first Coppa Italia was a crucial foundation for what we then went on to achieve.”