Former Inter midfielder Luis Suárez spoke to Milano based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport today ahead of the Nerazzurri’s league clash against Juventus tonight.
First the 84-year-old Spaniard spoke of an infamous date concerning the two sides, which he still views as more important than tonight’s game.
“May 5, 2002. Our fall was more ruinous also because it was linked to two episodes that were more unique than rare.”
The former Inter and Barcelona midfielder then discussed an event that occurred between the two sides during his time with the Nerazzurri.
“A strange thing happened in the locker room before the kick-off whistle. The referee Francescon came in and gave us an unheard of speech: ‘Guys, I don’t want to see any diving in the area and know that in any case I have no intention of giving you a penalty because I don’t want to be the one to decide the championship.'”
“A promise he kept, at 0-1 we suffered two penalty fouls without the referee intervening. One on me, the other on Sandro Mazzola.”
Finally, Suárez discussed the end of the Grande Inter.
“We had returned from the tremendous disappointment of Lisbon, where we had lost the Champions’ Cup after suffering a comeback from Celtic. The team was evidently tired by the long season at the top of the standings, in the last month the advantage over Juve had been reduced to only one point.”
“We went to Mantova sure to win, but after that defeat, we were eliminated even in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia by Padova. It was really cruel to end the season of triumphs like that.”
