Former Inter striker Christian Vieri discussed his time with the Nerazzurri and Brazilian star Ronaldo in an interview in today’s print edition of the Italian magazine SportWeek, produced by Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.
First, he spoke about former Nerazzurri forward Ronaldo.
“That’s my weak point. I went to Inter to play with him. He’s a great guy, generous, like when he gave me penalty kicks so I could win the top scorer award. I love him, our friendship is strong, authentic. We talk to each other whenever possible. In the summer I stay in Formentera for a long time, and when I want to say goodbye to Ronie I just have to reach Ibiza at one in the morning and go to the Casino, he’s there.”
He then spoke about his relationship with another former Nerazzurri player, Alvaro Recoba, and how the pair have a friendly rivalry playing tennis.
“His wife Lorena can’t take it anymore. She asks me to let him win so he would calm down. In order to challenge me, when I lived in the U.S.A., he would do Montevideo-Miami-Montevideo in a few hours, he would play, lose and go home. Joking aside, Chino is special, to give me a hand with the Bobo Summer Cup he used to travel very long distances even when he only had a few days to play. The other night I was looking back at my Inter goals and I realised that at least 60-70% of the goals I owe to Chino.”
Vieri spent six years of his long career with Inter, from 1999 to 2005. In that time, he won a Coppa Italia, but failed to win a league title with the Milanese club. He made 190 appearances for the Nerazzurri across all competitions, for a total of 14,434 minutes. In that time, he scored 122 goals and provided nine assists, being a consistent part of the squad during his time in Milan. Vieri had a good relationship on the pitch with both Ronaldo and Recoba, which made him popular amongst fans.
