“Nineteen years and 856 games with the shirt of Inter. Record of consecutive games played: 186. Only once sent off for a second yellow card. This is the captain, Javier Zanetti, a man who would be better defined in his own language: hombre vertical, a man in one piece, with his back straight, proud and honest. A champion that has been able to bring Inter to the top of the world and managed to do it with tenacity, elegance and sportsmanship,” this was the description that was made of the current vice president of Inter, guest on Alex Zanardi’s program ‘Sfide’ aired last night on RAI-3. “I never gave up. My story is the story of Inter. I was proud to wear the Nerazzurri shirt and also the captain’s armband. And the more difficulty I encountered the more I felt like an Interista”, Javier Zanetti opened.
BEGINNINGS – “Dad asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. My dream was to become a footballer and after being discarded by Indipendiente I went to play in Talleres instead of giving up. I was bought by Banfield and finally I got the call to the national team.”
ARRIVAL AT INTER – “Passarella called me and said he had received a fax in which it said that I had been bought by Inter. I arrived in Milan passing between the fans and journalists as if I were one of them. Then I could be seen on the balcony and I was surprised. I had only a plastic bag with me with the football boots it it.”
QUARREL WITH HODGSON – “I was angry for a substitution. I was playing well, I wanted to play and win the final (The UEFA Cup against Schalke lost on penalties, ed.) Hodgson told me something and said something to me. So we began to quarrel.”
GOAL AGAINST LAZIO IN THE FINAL OF 1998 – “I yelled to Simeone to leave the ball, I closed my eyes and kicked hard. It ended up in the top corner of the net.”
MAY 5 – “On the way to get to the stadium it seemed like we were in Milan. Rome was colored black and blue. In the second half, when we were supposed to win that game, just the opposite happened. We ended up in tears. On the plane there was great sadness. But that was the proof that you should not give up. To get to win you have to go through the defeats.”
THE RELATIONSHIP WITH FACCHETTI – “I spoke often with him and he told me what it was like to wear the Inter shirt. There was a very strong bond, even with his family. His presence was very important for all of us.”
DEDICATION TO FACCHETTI – “A few days before the Super Cup final against Roma (won 4-3 by Inter who remounted the initial 3-0 lead held by Giallorossi, ed), Facchetti had told us to give everything in that game. After the draw we realized that it would be just enough to win it. After the game I called Facchetti in the locker room telling him that we had kept our promise to him. Ten days later he passed away. Terrible news. There was a great sadness in the world of football. People like Giacinto are few.”
ON MOURINHO – “I was going to Argentina for the holidays, I was at the airport when I received a phone call: ‘I am José Mourinho, you are the captain of Inter, I want to tell you that I’m your new coach’. It had never happened to me before that a coach called me to announce that, it was something that I really appreciated.”
SEMI-FINAL AGAINST THE BARCELONA – “At that time I had problems sleeping. The problem was the return. They had many champions that could change the game. Then we ended up with a man down, at the Camp Nou, against monsters. It was really very complicated, but we went beyond our means. We gave more than our hearts to reach the final. In the last 5 minutes, after their 1-0, Camp Nou was a pit. In the 91st minute they scored the 2-0 , I looked at Samuel and I thought ‘we’re out’. We did not realize that the referee had whistled for hand ball. After that suffering, there was the joy of playing the final of the Champions League.”
ON THE TREBLE – “I am devoted to Santa Rita and May 22 it was Santa Rita. The night before the match Cordoba and I lit a candle and instead of sleeping we watched as it kept burning. At the end of the match I wanted to hug every fan who was there with us. I was no longer myself, my face was transformed. A dream had come true for me.”
Source: fcinternews.it
