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| In eleven years at the helm of Internazionale, chairman Massimo Moratti has burned through approximately €700 million (US$869 million) on over 200 players in a personal quest to bring glory to his club. It hasn't quite worked out as intended: a solitary UEFA Cup, acquired in 1998, together with two more recent trophies -- the 2005 Coppa Italia and, in the same year, the Italian Super Cup, is hardly a great return on such a gargantuan investment. Indeed, this yield seems yet stranger given the immense caliber of the names that have worn the Inter shirt without turning it into a regular contender for the major European and domestic club titles. These include the almost incomparable Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos of Brazil, France's Laurent Blanc, Netherland stalwart Clarence Seedorf (who has won three Champions League winner's medals, but none of them with Inter), Turkish World Cup stars Emre Belozoglu and Okan Buruk, and Chile's Ivan Zamorano. All have arrived and departed the Nerazzuri without lasting impact. However, the great irony is that Moratti's first signing -- and at least initially one of his most unheralded -- has almost certainly been his best. Javier Zanetti wagering arrived at Internazionale in 1995 as a 21 year-old from anonymous Banfield, a minor team that even many in Zanetti's native Argentina are unfamiliar with. He has gone on to become one of the greatest players in the history of a very illustrious club, as well as establishing himself as a central element of the Argentina first eleven. Zanetti has many elements to his game. While he does possess a turn of pace and some dribbling ability, it is his tactical awareness, positional astuteness, and flexibility that have won him so many admirers. Zanetti shot to prominence in 1998, when Inter won the UEFA Cup in breathtaking style against compatriots Lazio in Paris; Zanetti netted an outstanding goal, a rasping drive from outside the penalty box as his team powered past their Roman rivals, 3-0. Later that summer, Zanetti was instrumental in Argentina's victory over England at Saint Etienne in the last sixteen of France '98, scoring with a superb shot from an ingenious set-play, which tied the score at two goals each, Argentina eventually prevailing on penalties. Now Inter captain -- he supplanted legendary defender Giuseppe Bergomi, the last Internazionale skipper to lift Lo Scudetto (in 1989) -- Zanetti has proven to be something of a magnet for his countrymen, who in his presence have flocked to join the club. Presently, Inter have no less than seven Argentine internationals on their books aside from Zanetti: defenders Nicolas Burdisso and Walter Samuel; midfielders Juan Sebastian Veron, Santiago Solari, Esteban Cambiasso and Kily Gonzalez; and striker Julio Cruz. This Argentine colony have over 300 international caps between them -- Zanetti has over 100 of them to his name -- and except for Veron, who has fallen out of favor with Argentina coach Jose Pekerman, and Solari -- all of them are in contention for first team places at this summer's World Cup. Zanetti has also proven that, unlike so many of the world's rich, he has a highly-developed social conscience. In response to Argentina's recent economic crisis (1999-2002), which threw millions of people into poverty, Zanetti and his wife Paula set up the PUPI Foundation, a charity which aids social integration by assisting some of the poorest children in Argentinean society by giving them educational opportunities, as well as taking care of their nutritional requirements. For this, Zanetti has been recognized by the municipality of Milan, who awarded him the Ambrogino d'Oro for this sterling initiative. In short, Javier Zanetti, one of Internazionale's finest servants, will be one of the star attractions at Germany 2006 in what will almost certainly be his final World Cup. But whatever Argentina achieve this summer, they can be sure that they have one of football's most accomplished players, both on and off the pitch, sporting their shirt. | ||
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