Legendary former Inter midfielder Evaristo Beccalossi recalls that the Nerazzurri’s 1982 Coppa Italia triumph was bittersweet due to the departure of coach Eugenio Bersellini.
Speaking to Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview published in today’s print edition, Beccalossi explained how the team felt the weight of their coach’s farewell after five successful seasons together.
Bersellini is one of a long line of successful Nerazzurri managers, having won the Coppa Italia twice during his tenure between 1977 and 1982, as well as the Scudetto in the 1979-80 campaign.
The coach won the cup in his first season in charge, and then in his last, and as Beccalossi explained, the players were well aware of the fact that the latter final was to be his last match in charge.
Bersellini left Inter to join Torino the following season, and then Sampdoria and Fiorentina after that.
Beccalossi recalled that “We were a team of friends, of young guys who grew up in the youth sector together, led by a great coach and a great man in Bersellini.”
“The strongest memories for those who were part of that adventure is linked to Bersellini,” he went on.
“In Turin a goal from Spillo [Alessandro Altobelli] was decisive, he did very well to anticipate what the goalkeeper would do,” the former midfielder continued, “but it was a strange victory, especially given the atmosphere in the locker room.”
“Nobody could celebrate it as was only right to celebrate such an important success because we all already knew that this was the last match for Bersellini at Inter,” he recalled.
“Obviously we were happy, but there was no festive atmosphere,” he explained, “far from it.” Beccalossi reflected that “For us it was the end of a cycle, the sunset on a beautiful adventure.”
