Legendary former Inter goalkeeper has spoken about his time with the Nerazzurri, and expressed his feeling that the club had not treated him and teammate Gabriele Oriali well at the end of the 1982-3 season.
Speaking in an interview with Italian news outlet ReggioSera.com, the former goalkeeper relates the circumstances of his departure from the Nerazzurri to join Sampdoria in the summer of 1983.
In Bordon’s telling, both he and Oriali were strongly considering offers from Inter’s Scudetto rivals Juventus at the time, but the club acted to prevent them from joining the Bianconeri.
He feels that the Nerazzurri deliberately misled the pair, who they did not intend on keeping on for the following season, but also did not want to take up the Bianconeri’s offer.
He specifically talks about feeling upset with the conduct of Inter directors Sandro Mazzola and Giancarlo Beltrami, who he believes treated he and his teammate unfairly.
The Nerazzurri legend understands the decisions made by the club, but still believes that they could have handled the situation with Oriali and himself better.
Bordon’s words when asked about his greatest regrets during his career:
“Two things above all: as I said before, I would ask [former Italian national team manager Enzo] Bearzot why he didn’t call me up for the 1986 World Cup.
“The other incident dates back to when I was playing for Inter. Both Gabriele Oriali and I were in a period where we could be released. and we were both courted by Juventus.”
“The management of Inter, however, got in the way,” he continues, “delayed, making us imagine the renewal of our contracts and almost until the closing of the market, at which point they declared that they had other plans and finally invited us to look for another team.”
“We had simply been blocked to prevent us from going to reinforce a direct competitor for the Scudetto, and in the end I found myself at Sampdoria and Oriali at Fiorentina.
“After all that Gabriele and I had given to Inter, perhaps we deserved a better treatmentm and today I regret not having had an even more genuine contact with Mazzola and Beltrami, to be able to meet them and blame them for their hypocrisy.”
Reflecting on the incident, Bordon said this:
“Of course, I understand the club game, but after my seventeen years at Inter, maybe they could have behaved differently.
“Mind you, I had a great time at Sampdoria. I found a president like Paolo Mantovani who turned out to be both a great fan and a real connoisseur of football, and I discovered a fabulous fanbase.”
“Three years where I had the honour of winning the first trophy in Sampdoria’s history, the Coppa Italia, with the club.
“I must admit that in all the teams where I played, I collected and still receive the affection of the fans, and this gratifies me for all the efforts made during my career.”
