Zanetti leading Inter revival
On Sunday night Javier Zanetti led the Inter players out for the Milan derby and almost two hours later could be seen cavorting across the pitch with his team-mates after a 1-0 victory that has blown the Italian title race wide open.
Six points now cover the top five and Inter must be among the favourites after a run of seven wins in their last eight games.
The turnaround since they lost at home to Juventus at the end of October has been astonishing. Inter were close to the relegation zone, but it seems that Claudio Ranieri has resuscitated the team that won the treble.
Nine of Sunday’s side were in José Mourinho’s victorious Champions League team and Inter won with a goal from Diego Milito, who scored twice in that final against Bayern two years ago. Milito’s form since then has fallen off so badly that in December he won Italian football’s least coveted trophy — the Bidone d’Oro, or Golden Dustbin — awarded by fans to the worst player of the year.
The Bidone d’Oro curse is usually fatal. Previous title-holders include Rivaldo and Adriano (three times) so Milito was justifiably exultant when he slotted the ball home early in the second half. It was just the sort of goal that made him one of the deadliest strikers in Europe two seasons ago, when he scored 30 in 52 games, and again fittingly it came as a result of a lung-bursting run and cross from his fellow-Argentinian Zanetti.
It was an average game, littered with mistakes. The ball only reached Milito via a horribly sliced clearance from Milan right-back Ignazio Abate. But Zanetti’s inspirational energy and Milito’s ice-cool finishing were two of the hallmarks of Inter’s treble triumph.
Another factor was their ruthless defence — a little too ruthless for some tastes — and that is back with a vengeance.
At the start of the season Inter let in nine goals in three games against Palermo, Novara and Napoli. Since October they’ve conceded just two. On Sunday their most intimidating defenders, Maicon, Lucio and Walter Samuel, were close to their best. The Milan strikers, Pato and Ibrahimovic, had barely a kick, although Ibrahimovic received one or two from Samuel, who has always tended to stretch the rules. His nickname is The Wall, but it’s often a wall with spikes. Zanetti by contrast has an amazingly good disciplinary record to go with his record-breaking number of appearances.
Sunday was match number 776. That’s just for Inter: in total Zanetti has now played over 1,000 games, including a record 145 for Argentina. In his 17 seasons in Italy he’s received only two red cards — the first in a cup tie in 1999, the second just a few weeks ago after a mistimed challenge in the league game against Udinese.
“Uncompromising” is the platitude of choice for Argentinian defenders, but Zanetti is genuinely uncompromising in the sense of being totally professional, totally committed but also disciplined and fair towards opponents. Six months short of his 39th birthday, you would expect his timing would have gone, you would expect him to be struggling for pace. But he seems capable of continuing forever: The Tractor by name and by nature.
So a huge boost for Inter, although players and manager are refusing to talk about the title, and a demoralising defeat for Milan, not least because Ibrahimovic was found wanting once again in a big game. Their other striker, Pato, kept at Milan at the insistence of owner Silvio Berlusconi, was whistled off the pitch when he was substituted.
Milan had two-thirds of possession, but neither the inspiration to penetrate the Inter defence nor the accuracy to take advantage of their occasional chances. Their one crumb of comfort is that league leaders Juventus were held at home by Cagliari. But that will be even more encouraging for Inter, who are on a roll and who could even pinch Carlos Tevez from under Milan’s nose.
Ranieri however seems quite content to stick with the players he’s got: 2012 could yet turn out to be the year of the veteran.
