Inter Milan defender Stefan de Vrij feels that winning the Serie A title is a moment that represents why he is a footballer.
The 32-year-old spoke to Italian broadcaster SportMediaset, via FCInterNews, after the Nerazzurri clinched the title with a derby victory against city rivals AC Milan.
Now it’s official. Inter are Serie A champions for the 2023-24 season.
The Nerazzurri had previously won the title in the 2020-21 campaign.
The last couple seasons have seen the team fail to win the title. They lost in heartbreaking fashion on the last day of the season in 2021-22 – and then last season were miles behind Napoli.
But now, Inter have won their twentieth title. And with it, they can now sew the second star above the crests on their shirts.
A 2-1 win against Milan in a fiery derby was enough to make sure of that.
There were three red cards in what proved to be a dramatic conclusion to the evening.
But when referee Alessandro Colombo blew his final whistle, the Inter players and staff came streaming onto the pitch to celebrate not just the derby win, but the title.
Stefan De Vrij: Serie A Title Celebrations “The Moments Why We Become Footballers”
Speaking after clinching the title, de Vrij beamed that “There’s so much joy, so much happiness.”
“These are the moments why we become footballers,” the Netherlands international continued.
“We always want to be able to experience these kinds of emotions,” he added.
“We’ve had a lot to celebrate over the last few years.”
This is de Vrij’s second Serie A title since he joined Inter.
The Dutchman arrived from Lazio in the summer of 2018. He has played under three different coaches – Luciano Spalletti, Antonio Conte, and Simone Inzaghi.
De Vrij has also won the Coppa Italia twice, and the Supercoppa Italiana on three occasions with Inter. And the Nerazzurri have reached the Europa League and Champions League finals.
