Former Inter coach Alberto Zaccheroni discussed his early passion for the Nerazzurri and how it faded in an interview with Italian media outlet GianlucaDiMarzio.com yesterday afternoon.
“My career as a footballer ended early, because there was the family hotel to watch. My father called it Ambrosiana, the old name of Inter.
“He would have liked to call it Internazionale, but there was already one in Cesenatico. I used to go to bed and only think Nerazzurri. I knew everything about Inter in the 1960s.”
He then touched on how that passion for the Milanese club faded as he got older, when he was managing Bologna and his father came to see him live at the stadium.
“And there at the Dall’Ara, that very day, I stopped supporting Inter. I realised this because I didn’t cheer the goal and I celebrated Bologna’s goal.”
The 67-year-old Zaccheroni managed Inter from 2003 to 2004, following the departure of Hector Cuper. He failed to impress in Europe but guided the Nerazzurri to fourth in the league table, qualifying them for the next season’s Champions League.
This wasn’t enough to retain his role, and he was replaced with Roberto Mancini by president Massimo Moratti.
He was most successful in charge of AC Milan, where he won the league title in the 1998/99 season. Zaccheroni also guided Japan to an AFC Asian Cup in 2011.
His most recent work was managing the United Arab Emirates team in 2017 to 2019, seeing them reach the semi-finals of the AFC Asian Cup.
