Читать книгу Calcio: A History of Italian Football - John Foot - Страница 63

Calciopoli changed everything, almost overnight, in 2006 – including the understanding of Inter’s past. Suddenly, the team, its managers and its presidents had an overarching explanation for years of disastrous failure. They had been robbed and now that the championship was ‘honest’, they were the best team by a long way. A record 17 wins in a row in the 2006–7 season, and a scudetto that saw Inter crush all their rivals (and which included two derby victories) seemed to prove this theory right. But things were not so simple. For one thing, Inter’s closest rivals were either in Serie B (Juventus) or had point deductions to deal with (Fiorentina and Milan). Patrick Vieira and Zlatan Ibrahimovic – key players in the 2006–7 season – would never have come to Inter if Juventus had not been relegated. One very good year was not quite enough to wipe out 17 seasons of bad memories. Some championships had clearly been ‘stolen’, most notably that of 1998, but on the pitch Inter had been second, or third, or fourth best on many occasions, and Moggi could not be blamed for everything. Calciopoli was an extremely useful alibi, but it could not disguise all the failings of the past. Moreover, some Inter fans were worn out by constant disappointment. They had, as comedian-fan Paolo Rossi (not to be confused with the player) put it, ‘forgotten how to celebrate’.

Inter finally clinched the first title (won on the pitch) in 18 years in April 2007. Parties followed all over Italy, Inter’s players danced on the roof of their team coach and Adriano stayed up all night (for once with official permission). Many of Inter’s fans underlined the ‘clean’ nature of their victory as they sang ‘Vinciamo senza rubare’ (we win without stealing) in Piazza Duomo. While most commentators admitted that Inter had been vastly superior all season (the last time a team had won with five games left was in 1947–8 – Il Grande Torino), there were many who tried to undermine this scudetto. Pavel Nedved said that the sight of Ibrahimovic and Vieira celebrating had ‘made him feel sick’. Ibrahimovic himself claimed to have won ‘four championships in a row’, forgetting perhaps that Juve had lost the previous two thanks to calciopoli.

Inter’s crushing victory was built on solid foundations and excellent signings but many critics underlined the lack of Italian players in the Inter squad. The only Italian to play regularly was Marco Materazzi – who continued his World Cup form – while the hero of Germany Fabio Grosso lost his place early on and played a bit-part role. Despite two championships in a row, Moratti’s team would have to prove themselves once again against all-comers. They finished with a record points total, having played 38, won 30, drawn 7 and lost just 1 game. It was difficult not to argue that they had ‘killed’ the championship, but Juventus were on the horizon, and the next season would reveal if a new Grande Inter really had been born.

During the 1980s Inter’s long-term decline – as a big club without the ability to win trophies – was masked for a time by the disasters which befell Milan. For the first six years of the 1980s, Inter fans gloried in Milan’s fate – which included a relegation to Serie B after a betting scandal, a president on the run from justice, and another relegation, this time after a terrible season. Inter lorded it over their rivals throughout this period. For a time, the butt of all the jokes were the red-andblacks, not Inter. And then Berlusconi came along.