Article by John Manenti
The 60s in the Bel Paese were subsequently coined as “mythical”, as characterized by the “Boom economic” of which Milan is undoubtedly the industrial and financial capital, a well-being that also reverberates in the world of sport and, in particular, of football, with the two Milanese formations – the Rossoneri of Milan and the Nerazzurri of Inter – dominating the scene both nationally and internationally in a decade in which the “Old lady” black and white is in a waning phase, from which it will soon recover in the next …
And at the helm of the two Clubs there are two important entrepreneurs, the publisher Angelo Rizzoli for Milan and the oilman Angelo Moratti for the “cousins”with the latter taking over the leadership of the Nerazzurri from Carlo Masseroni in 1955, but forced, he being ambitious by nature, to “bite the brake” for the awards seven years of Presidency stingy of Trophies, while the city rivals won three Scudetti and above all, they become the first Italian team to lift the prestigious Champions Cup, overcoming Benfica 2-1 at Wembley in May 1963.
This Rossoneri triumph puts them in the background the return of Inter to celebrate the Scudetto at the end of the 1962-’63 season, nine years after the last occasion with Alfredo Foni on the benchfor what it was is “l’ultima chance” offered by Moratti to coach Helenio Herrera who, having taken charge of him in the summer of 1960 after the successes obtained in Spain with Barcelona, had failed in the first two years to bring any trophy to the Nerazzurri showcase, so much so that Moratti was oriented towards the choice by Edmondo Fabbri, an operation that never materialised…
Cornered, the “Dry” demonstrates the goodness of the choice winning the aforementioned 1963 Scudetto with 49 points and a 4-point margin over Juventus and 6 points over Milanto then, the following year, emulate the Rossoneri by keeping the coveted Champions Cup in Milan, at the end of a Tournament immune to defeats and with the seal of 3-1 in the Final in Vienna against Real Madrid at the end of a cycle that had led him to win the Trophy for 5 consecutive editions (1955-’60).
Challenge with “You meringues” which took place on May 27, 1964 and to which Inter could also have matched the encore in the Championship, but ended all the same on equal points (54) with Bolognaa played play-off match is required on June 7, 1964 at the “Olympic Stadium” in Rome and which sees the rossoblùs prevail 2-0 trained by Doctor Fulvio Bernardini …
For the following season, the Nerazzurri management makes only three, but crucial, market moves, that means promote the 19-year-old midfielder Gianfranco Bedin to the first team – destined to take away Franco Zaglio’s place during the season – for later signing the 23-year-old striker Angelo Domenghini from Atalantaalready in the national team, and therefore, without prejudice to the immovable points of the “foreign package” the Brazilian Jair Da Costa and the Spaniard Luis Suarez, opt as third player from a foreign Federation on the Spanish Joaquim Peirò, taken from Turin after establishing himself at home in the ranks of Atletico Madrid, in place of the German Horst Szymaniak, sold to Varese.
Objectively reinforced compared to the previous seasonInter can therefore aim decisively to hit the Scudetto/Champions Cup pairing which would assume an undoubted”historical value” at these latitudes – in addition to having to face the Argentines of Independiente, winners of the Copa Libertadores with the Intercontinental Cup up for grabs – path that begins with the first leg in Avellaneda on 9 September 1964, with the Nerazzurri losing 0-1 due to a dubious goal signed by Rodriguez at game time, as the ball does not seem to have entirely passed the goal line…
Defeat that Inter redeems himself two weeks later at San Siro with a 2-0 win signed by Mazzola and Corsobut the rules of the time did not take into account the goal difference, so it was necessary a third playoff match which takes place on September 26, 1964 at the “Santiago Bernabeuin Madrid and that an Inter with several absences – having to do without Burgnich, Jair and Mazzola – however, he manages to make his own thanks to a network of Corso in extra time.
The first Trophy of the season was posted on the showcase and exempted, as holder, from the first round of the Champions Cup, Inter had no difficulty eliminating the Romanians of Rapid Bucharest in the round of 16 (6-0 and 1-0, with braces in the first leg from Jair and Mazzola and sharp from Domenghini in the return …), which means returning to the field in February 1965 with a lot of formations still in contention which includes the Germans from Cologne, the English from Liverpool and, above all, the twobig” of Spain and Portugal, that is Real Madrid and Benfica Lisbon …
This update of the Tournament allows Herrera’s team to concentrate on the Championship which, conversely, it sees the nerazzurri separated by 5 lengths at the end of the first round from the rossoneri cousinsmoreover authors of an astonishing departure e certified by 30 points in the standings resulting from 13 wins and four draws and +4 in the English averagewhere one considers how Inter have, in fact, suffered only one defeat, 0-3 in the derby with doublet by Lodetti and acute by Amarildo.
And gap that widens to 7 points in the second leg, when Inter sensationally falls 2-3 in Foggia and Milan, with former Nils Liedholm at the helm who took over Nereo Rocco who moved to Turin, Mantova rules 2-0 at the San Siro, but a sort of “harakiri” although unthinkable under the circumstances, or that the Technical Director Gipo Viani convinces José Altafini to return from Brazil where he had remained due to disagreements with the managementworthily replaced by Paolo Ferrario, until then author of 9 goals …
having “ruined the group” proves harmful to the Rossoneri’s destiny, while Inter begins a steamroller march by putting together a series of 6 consecutive victories that leads them, on the eve of the return derby scheduled for 28 March 1965, to have reduced the margin from his cousins to just 3 points, while in the Champions Cup the obstacle of the Quarters against the Scottish Glasgow Rangers is overcome with the 3-1 (goal from Suarez and two goals from Peirò …) in the first leg at San Siro and the defeat with the slightest gap (0-1) in the second leg.
The outcome of the derby is a sort of sentence, Inter won 5-2, even if Milan didn’t give in and still maintain a slight advantage (48 points to 47) just four rounds from the endwith the Nerazzurri, on the other hand, called to the most important crossroads of the season, made up of challenge against Liverpool in the semifinals, Englishmen who had eliminated Cologne only by drawing lots after three matches all concluded (0-0, 0-0 and 2-2) in a draw, with the pot also matched in the quarterfinals Real Madrid and Benfica, a challenge from which the Lusitanian team emerges clearly victoriouscapable of annihilating the “blancos” for 5-1 at the “Luz Stadium” and then limit the damage with the 1-2 of the return …
But let’s go back to Liverpool and, in particular, to the suggestive Anfield Road where the two teams face each other on 4 May 1965 for what was an evening to forget for the Nerazzurri who, after having equalized Hunt’s opening goal with Mazzola, they suffer two more goals from Ian Callaghan and Ian St. John for a 3-1 win which is undoubtedly not easy to come from in the second legwhich takes place on the following Wednesday 12 May, albeit with the unceasing support of the almost 80 thousand at San Siro, also galvanized by the clear affirmation in the Championship 6-2 against Fiorentina early on Saturday …
The fears they vanish already in the first quarter of an hourwith first Corso to unlock the achievement with his classic “dead leaf punishment” from the edge of the area which surprises Lawrence, an English fullback who then gets the ball blown by an astute intervention by Peirò while he is about to postpone, then tap a Facchetti complete the work at the exact end of the hour of playprojecting himself forward and concluding a triangulation started by Mazzola and continued with an ingenious back-heel by Corso to the definitive 3-0 which certifies the second consecutive Final for the nerazzurri.
Waiting for them, at the final act set for Thursday 27 May 1965 in his own San Siro Stadiumhowever there is a Benfica which is in its fourth Final in 5 years – after imposing himself in 1961 and 1962 and being defeated, as mentioned, by Milan in 1963 – and above all with a roadmap that saw him score something like 27 goals in the 8 games played, driven by the attack duo formed by Eusebio and Torresauthors of 9 goals each …
In the meantime, however, the Scudetto race is still open and Inter crowns its “dream week” going to win 2-0 in Turin against Juventus and, upon returning to the locker rooms, receive the news that Milan have “committed suicide” losing with the same score at the San Siro against Romafor overtaking in the standings which remains unchanged (51 points to 50) two days from the conclusion on the eve of the European Final.
I am in 90 thousand to meet in the stands of a San Siro packed like never before, with the race direction entrusted to the Swiss Gottfried Dienstand Herrera having to reluctantly give up Domenghini (often also employed in the role of center forward …) to field all three foreigners available – a circumstance that can be implemented in continental events, while in the Championship there is a limit to only two of them – but the announced show collides with the conditions of the pitch due to a violent storm that hit the Lombard capital making the field to the limits of practicability …
With the two formations, therefore, encountering extreme difficulty in developing adequate ways of playing, what is decisive is a single episode that materializes towards the end of the first half of the game, when Jair, having received the ball just inside the penalty area, lets go of a diagonal shot that is anything but irresistible, except that goalkeeper Costa Pereira incredibly lets the ball pass between his legsso that the same slowly rolls into the net.
Clearly, there would be plenty of time to fix it, but the hopes of the Lusitanians are definitively extinguished just before the hour of play when the same extreme defender is forced to leave the field due to injury, replaced between the posts by defender Germano since at the time there were no substitutions and it was therefore an easy game for a well-organized team like the Nerazzurri to let the last half hour pass without excessive worries and be able to celebrate the second consecutive triumph in front of his own audience …
The dispute of the Final on Thursday means that Inter obtains the postponement of the championship match against Catania to Tuesday 1 Junewhich becomes a sort of catwalk given that Milan had not gone beyond the 0-0 draw against Genoa in the Marassi, for a 5-1 which, the following Sunday, adds the draw for 2-0 against Turin enough to guarantee the conquest of the Scudetto …
And it can therefore be affirmed without fear of contradiction that in those 10 days (from 27 May to 6 June 1965) the myth of the “Grande Inter” …