Beppe Bergoni turns 60: happy birthday, Zio!

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 won one legendary Scudetto, three UEFA Cups and the Supercoppa Italiana.

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 number of 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.

Since 2020 he has been a member of the Inter Hall of Fame: a prestigious and inevitable recognition for someone who has lived a whole life with Inter, with such extraordinary achievements.

Today, he turns 60: to the Uncle, from the whole Nerazzurri family, best wishes for a happy birthday!