F.C.

Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale (pronounced in n jo n l ) or [2] simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan outside of Italy, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy. They have spent their entire history in the top flight of Italian football, known as Serie A since 19291930. Internazionale have won 30 domestic trophies, including the league 18 times, the Coppa Italia seven times and the Supercoppa Italianafive times. From 2006 to 2010, the club won five successive league [3] titles, equalling the all-time record. They have won the Champions League three times; two back-toback in 1964 and 1965 and then another in 2010; the second most of any Italian club after their local rivals A.C. Milan. The last completed an unprecedented (for an Italian team) continental treble with the [4] Coppa Italia and the Scudetto. The club has also won three UEFA Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup. Inter's home games are played at San Siro, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The stadium, [5] which is shared with rivals Milan, is the largest in Italian football, with a total capacity of 80,018. Milan are considered one of their biggest rivals, and matches between the two teams are called Derby della [6] Madonnina, which is one of the most followed derbies in football. As of 2010, Inter is the second-most [7] [nb 1] supported team in Italy, and the eighth most supported team in Europe. The current president and [10] owner of Inter is Massimo Moratti. The club is one of the most valuable in Italian and world football. It was a founding member of the now-defunct G-14group of Europe's leading football clubs as well as its [11] replacement, the European Club Association.
Contents
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1 History

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1.1 Foundation and early years (19081922) 1.2 After early years (19221960) 1.3 Grande Inter (19601968) 1.4 After Helenio Herrera era (19681990) 1.5 Dark times (19902004) 1.6 Resurrection & back to back titles (2004present)

1.6.1 Revival (20042008) 1.6.2 Modern history (2008present)

2 Colours and badge 3 Stadium 4 Supporters and rivalries 5 Players

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5.1 First team squad 5.2 Out on loan

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5.3 Youth team squad 5.4 Notable players 5.5 One-club men 5.6 Retired numbers

6 Technical staff 7 Presidents and managers

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7.1 Presidential history 7.2 Managerial history

8 Honours

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8.1 National titles 8.2 International titles

8.2.1 World-wide titles 8.2.2 European titles

9 Club statistics and records 10 FC Internazionale Milano as a company 11 Kit manufacturers & Shirt sponsors 12 See also

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12.1 Historical information 12.2 Lists 12.3 Records and recognitions 12.4 Economic rankings

13 Notes 14 References 15 External links

History
Main article: History of F.C. Internazionale Milano

Foundation and early years (19081922)

The club was founded on 9 March 1908 as Football Club Internazionale, following a "schism" from the Milan Cricket and Football Club (44 members). A group of Italians and Swiss (Giorgio Muggiani, a painter who also designed the club's logo; Bossard; Lana; Bertoloni; De Olma; Enrico Hintermann; Arturo Hintermann; Carlo Hintermann; Pietro Dell'Oro; Hugo and Hans Rietmann; Voelkel; Maner; Wipf; and Carlo Ardussi) were unhappy about the domination of Italians in the Milan team, and broke away from them, leading to the creation of Internazionale. The name of the club derives from the wish of its founding members to accept foreign players as well as Italians.

The club won its very first Scudetto (championship) in 1910 and its second in 1920. The captain and coach of the first Scudetto was Virgilio Fossati, who was killed in World War I.

After early years (19221960)

Giuseppe Meazza has made 408 appearances for Inter. He is the all-time top scorer of the club, with 284 goals

In 1922 Inter were in Group B of the CCI First Division and came in last place after picking up only 11 points in the season. Inter remained in the top league after winning two salvation play-offs. In 1928, during the Fascist era, the club was forced to merge with the Unione Sportiva Milanese and was [12] renamed Societ Sportiva Ambrosiana. They wore white shirts around this time with a red cross emblazoned on it. This shirt design was inspired by the flag and coat of arms of the city of Milan, which in turn derives from the flag of the patron saint of Milan, St. Ambrose and dates back to the 4th century AD. The new upcoming President Oreste Simonotti decided to change name to Associazione Sportiva Ambrosiana in 1929. However, supporters continued to call the team Inter, and in 1931 new president Pozzani caved to shareholder pressure and changed the name to Associazione Sportiva AmbrosianaInter. Their first Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) was won in 193839, led by the great legend Giuseppe Meazza, for whom the San Siro stadium is officially named, and a fifth league championship followed in 1940, despite an injury to Meazza. After the end of World War II the club re-emerged under a name close to their original oneFC Internazionale Milanowhich they have kept ever since. Following the war, Inter won its sixth championship in 1953 and the seventh in 1954.

Grande Inter (19601968)

The Inter team which won theIntercontinental Cup in 1965

In 1960, Helenio Herrera joined Internazionale from Barcelona, bringing with him his midfield general Luis Surez, who won the European Footballer of the Year in the same year for his role in Barcelona's La Liga/Fairs Cup double. He would transform Internazionale into one of the greatest teams in Europe. He

modified a 532 tactic known as the Verrou (door bolt) to include larger flexibility for counterattacks. The Catenaccio system was invented by an Austrian coach named Karl Rappan. Rappan's original system was implemented with 4 fixed defenders, playing a strict man-to-man marking system, plus a playmaker in the middle of the field who plays the ball together with two midfield wings. Herrera would modify it by adding a fifth defenders, the sweeper or libero behind the two centre backs. The sweeper or libero who acted as the free man would deal with any attackers who went through the two centre backs. Internazionale finished 3rd in Serie A his first season, 2nd the next year and first in his 3rd season. And then followed a back-to-back European Cup victory in 1964 and 1965. Herrera earned the title ll Mago, which meant the magician. The code of Herrera's team was the fullbacks Tarcisio Burgnich and Giacinto Facchetti, Armando Picchi the sweeper, Luis Surez the playmaker, Jair the winger, Mario Corso the left midfielder, and Sandro Mazzola who played the inside-right. In 1964, Internazionale reached the Final by beating Borussia Dortmund in the semifinal and FK Partizan in the quarterfinal. In the Final, they met Real Madrid, a team that had reached seven out of the nine finals to date. Real Madrid consisted of the aging stars of the 1950s and a few emerging players that won the European Cup in 1966. It was Sandro Mazzola who stole the show by scoring two goals in a 31 victory. Internazionale won the Intercontinental Cup against Independiente. A year later, Inter repeated the feat by beating two-time winner SL Benfica in the final held at home. Jair was the lone scorer in 10 win. Internazionale won the Intercontinental Cup against Independiente for the second year in a row. By 1967, Jair was gone. Luis Surez was injured and missed the Final. Sandro Mazzola's penalty was not enough to stop Celtic FC from winning the title.

After Helenio Herrera era (19681990)

Following the golden era of the 1960s, Inter managed to win their eleventh league title in 1971 and their twelfth in 1980. Inter were defeated for the second time in five years in the final of the European Cup, going down 02 to Johan Cruijff's Ajax Amsterdam in 1972. During the 1970s and the 1980s, Inter also added two to its Coppa Italia tally, in 197778 and 198182. Led by the German duo of Andreas Brehme and Lothar Matthus, and Argentine Ramn Daz, Inter captured the 1989 Serie A championship. Fellow German Jrgen Klinsmann and the Italian Supercup were added the following season but to little avail as Inter were unable to defend their title.

Dark times (19902004)

The 1990s was a period of disappointment. While their great rivals, Milan and Juventus, were achieving success both domestically and in Europe, Inter were left behind, with repeated mediocre results in the domestic league standings, their worst coming in 199394 when they finished just 1-point out of the relegation zone. Nevertheless, they achieved some European success with 3UEFA Cup victories in 1991, 1994 and 1998. With Massimo Moratti's takeover from Ernesto Pellegrini in 1995 Inter were promised more success with many high profile signings like Ronaldo and Christian Vieri, with Inter twice breaking theworld record transfer fee in this period (19.5 million for Ronaldo from Barcelona in summer 1997 and 31 million for Christian Vieri from Lazio in summer 1999). However, the 1990s remained a decade of

disappointment, and is the only decade in Inter's history in which they did not win a single Italian Serie A championship. For Inter fans it was difficult to find who in particular was to blame for the troubled times and this led to some icy relations between them and the president, the managers and even some individual players. Inter chairman Massimo Moratti later became a target of the fans, especially when he sacked the muchloved coach Luigi Simoni after only a few games into the 1998/99 season, after having just received Italian manager of the year award 1998 the day before Massimo Moratti decided to end his contract. In the 199899 season Inter failed to qualify for any European competition for the first time in almost 10 years, finishing in a poor eighth place.

Javier Zanetti has been captain of Inter since August 1999

In the 199900 season, Massimo Moratti made some major changes, marking once again some highprofile signings. A major coup for Inter was the appointment of former Juventus manager Marcello Lippi. Moreover, Inter were seen by the majority of the fans and press to have finally put together a winning formula. Other signings included Italian and French legends Angelo Peruzzi and Laurent Blanc together with other former Juventus players Christian Vieri andVl dimi Jugovi. Inter were also seen to have an advantage in this season as they had no European "distraction". Once again they failed to win the elusive Scudetto. However they did manage to come close to their first domestic success since 1989 when they reached the Coppa Italia final only to be defeated by Lazio, allowing them to win the Scudetto and domestic cup double. The following season another disaster struck. Inter impressed in the Supercoppa Italia match against Lazio and took the lead through new signing Robbie Keaneand H k n k however, they lost 43. Overall, though, they were looking good for the season that was about to start. What followed was another embarrassment, as they were eliminated in the preliminary round of the Champions League by Swedish club Helsingborgs IF. Alvaro Recoba was given the opportunity to equal the tie with a lastminute penalty, but Helsingborg goalkeeper Sven Andersson made the save. Inter found themselves back at square one as Marcello Lippi, the manager at the time, was sacked after only a single game of the new season following Inter's first ever Serie A defeat to Reggina. Throughout this period, Inter suffered the mocking of their neighbours Milan; Milan were having success both domestically and in

Europe. Also throughout this period suffered endless defeats to Milan including a 6 0 defeat in 200001 season. Marco Tardelli, chosen to replace Lippi, failed to improve results, and is remembered by Inter fans as the manager that lost 60 the city derby to Milan in the 200001 season. Other members of the Inter "family" during this period that suffered were the likes of Christian Vieri and Fabio Cannavaro, both of whom had their restaurants in Milan vandalised after defeats against Milan. In 2002, not only did Inter manage to make it to the UEFA Cup semi-finals, they were also only 45 minutes away from capturing the Scudetto, when they needed to maintain a one-goal advantage over Lazio at Rome's Stadio Olimpico. This was the last match of the season, and Inter were top of the Serie A table at kick-off. However, a defeat saw Juventus, who were second, or even Roma, in third place, take the title from them. As a result, some Lazio fans were actually openly supporting Inter during this match, as an Inter victory would prevent Lazio's bitter rivals Roma from winning the championship. Inter were 2 1 up after only 24 minutes. Lazio equalised during first half injury time and then scored two more goals in the second half to clinch victory that eventually saw Juventus win the championship after their 2 0 victory away to Udinese. 200203 saw Inter take a respectable second place and also managed to make it to the 200203 Champions League semi-finals against their bitter rivals Milan. Being tied 1 1 with Milan, Inter lost on the away goals rule. It was another disappointment but they were finally on the right track. However, once again Massimo Moratti's impatience got the better of him, Hernn Crespo was sold after just one season, and Hector Cuper was fired after only a few games. Alberto Zaccheronistepped in, a lifelong Inter fan but also the man who was in charge of Lazio's 42 victory over Inter in 2002, the fans were sceptical. Zaccheroni brought nothing new to the side, apart from two fantastic wins over Juventus 31 in Turin and 32 at the San Siro the season was again nothing special. They were embarrassingly eliminated from the UEFA Champions League in the first round finishing 3rd in their group. Furthermore, they only managed to scrape back into the Champions League by finishing in 4th place by only a point over Parma. Inter's only saving grace in 200304 was the arrival of D j n S nkovi and Adriano in January 2004 both solid players that filled the gap that was left by the departures of Hernn Crespo and Clarence Seedorf.

Resurrection & back to back titles (2004present)

Revival (20042008)

Mancini pictured in 2004 as Inter manager

On 1 July 2004, Inter announced on their official website that they had appointed former Lazio boss Roberto Mancini as new head coach. In his first season Inter and Mancini collected 72 points from

18 win, 18 draw and only 2 loses. On 15 June 2005, Inter won the Coppa Italia, defeating Roma in the two-legged final 30 on aggregate (10 win in Milan and 20 win in Rome) and followed that up on 20 August 2005, by winning the Supercoppa Italianaafter an extra-time 10 victory against original 200405 Serie A champions Juventus (before being stripped of this title). This Super Cup win was Inter's first since 1989, coincidentally the same year since Inter last won the Scudetto before 2006. On 11 May 2006, Inter retained their Coppa Italia trophy by once again, defeating Roma with a 41 aggregate victory (a 11 scoreline in Rome and a 31 win at the Giuseppe Meazza, San Siro). Inter were awarded the 200506 Serie A championship as they were the highest placed side in the season's final league table after points were stripped from Juventus and Milan both sides involved in the match fixing scandal that year. On 14 July 2006, The Italian Federal Appeal Commission found Serie A clubs Juventus, Lazio, Fiorentina, Reggina and Milan guilty of match-fixing and charged the 5 clubs with their respective punishments, (although all charges were later reduced in some capacity). So with the confirmed relegation of Juventus to Serie B (for the first ever time in their history) and the eight-point deduction for city rivals Milan, Inter became favorites to retain their Serie A title for the 200607 Serie A season. During the season, Inter went on a record-breaking run of 17 consecutive victories in Serie A, starting on 25 September 2006 with a 41 home victory over Livorno, and ending on 28 February 2007, after a 11 draw at home to Udinese. The 52 away win at Catania on 25 February 2007 broke the original record of 15 matches held by both Bayern Munich and Real Madrid from the "Big 5" (the top flight leagues in Italy, England, Spain, France and Germany). The run lasted for almost five months and stands among the best in European league football, with just Benfica (29 wins), Celtic (25 wins) and PSV Eindhoven (22 wins) bettering the run. Inter's form dipped a little as they scored 0 0 and 22 draws against relegationbattlersReggina and slumping Palermo (respectively), the latter game featuring a second-half comeback after Palermo went up 20 at half-time. They could not keep their invincible form near the end of the season as well, as they lost their first game of the domestic season to Roma in the San Siro 3 1 thanks to two late Roma goals. Inter had enjoyed an unbeaten Serie A run for just under a year. On 22 April 2007 Inter won their second consecutive scudetto and first on the field since 1989when they defeated Siena 21 at Stadio Artemio Franchi. Italian World Cup winning defenderMarco Materazzi scored both goals in the 18th and 60th minute, with the latter being a penalty.

Zl

n Ib himovi and Mario Balotelliagainst Palermo in 2009

Inter started the 200708 season with the goal of winning both Serie A and UEFA Champions