Ahead of Inter’s match away to Bologna tomorrow, Inter legend and former club captain Giuseppe ‘Beppe’ Bergomi has recalled the Nerazzurri’s 4-2 win away to Bologna back in 1997, a match in which Ronaldo scored a rather memorable goal.
“It wasn’t easy to get an away win in Italy back then, just as it still isn’t easy today. But I had never seen anybody like Ronaldo before and I’ve never seen anybody like him since: his skill at high speed remains something brilliant and inexplicable,” he remarked in an interview with Inter’s official club website.
“It was really rainy that day in Bologna and the pitch was heavy. But Ronaldo’s skill had no limits. Just consider what he would go on to do in the Uefa Cup against Spartak Moscow; that pitch was a mix of snow, mud and sawdust.
“I remember my first training session with Ronie: we were playing a little match, I tried to anticipate his movements but he just controlled the ball on his chest and passed it over my head and before beating Pagiluca with a deft touch in mid-air. We all looked at each other and knew that ‘El Fenomeno’ had arrived.”
He concluded by speaking about that goal: “Massimo Paganin was marking him; he had just left Inter to join Bologna. That moment went down in history: a dummy with his right foot to beat his marker then a strike with his left to beat Brunner at his near post. Ronaldo made it look easy.”
