Former Inter midfielder Cristiano Zanetti has shared his belief that the infamous events of May 5 2002 would have been avoided had Inter had both Ronaldo and Christian Vieri available to them for the duration of the campaign and not just part of it.
On the above date, Inter went into the final day of the 2001/02 season leading the title race but lost the Serie A after a defeat to Lazio and other results going against them, namely Juventus’ as the Bianconeri pipped Inter to the title by two points. Second place that season ended up going to Roma.
Despite the popular belief that this was the day that Inter lost the 2001/02 title, Zanetti has shared his belief that he and teammates had actually lost the title due to their performances in the week leading up to the final game of the season.
“It was a strange match. However, we did not lose the Scudetto on May 5. Lazio were very strong. They had Nesta, Nedved, Crespo, Stankovic and Veron. In short, they were a great team,” he explained in an interview with Italian news outlet IlPosticipo.it.
“We lost points in the previous match days, for example at home against Atalanta. It was destiny, we can’t do anything about it.
“There is regret because Simeone scored, a former Inter player, yet he scored that goal. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. We gave our all in that season, we played all year without two phenomenons in Ronaldo and Vieri. For some it was almost incredible to be ahead of Juve and Roma in May.”
The former Italian national team player then added: “Nicola Ventola and Mohamed Kallon worked miracles despite being young.
“When Ronaldo and Christian Vieri returned they gave us a big hand and if they had been available from the beginning, that season would have been over before it started.”
