The Derby of Italy

The recent 141st 'derby of Italy', so-called from the historical rivalry between Inter Milan and Turin¹s Juventus, produced controversy in its two goals, two red cards and as charged an atmosphere as Italian club football can produce, but could it challenge the Old Firm derby as the best in the world?

The San Siro stadium was a sell out but the official attendance of 77,000 was far higher with every space, including aisles and exits, crammed, allowing no visible stewarding past the section entrances. I was seated, once I was able to remove the person who tried to steal my seat, in row ten of the middle of the three tiers, in line with the eighteen yard box with Inter's curva, the home end, on the same level to my near left behind the goals.

As the kick-off approached, the whole ground, with the exception of the Juventus fans behind the far goals, raised A3 cardboard banners to make a huge blue and black flag, while the curva let off yellow balloons and flares as the teams entered the stadium. I know that flares will never be allowed at Ibrox but, flares excluded, the organised show of colour in the stadium was immense; the huge world wide television audience would have no doubt who was the home team.

In comparison to an Old Firm game there are more similarities than a fixture with teams from different cities may suggest. Inter fans don't outnumber Juventus fans in the city of Milan as would be thought. While the atmosphere may not have a religious dimension, it is more than obvious to a neutral observer that there is no love lost between the teams, an atmosphere aided by the fact that each team has only one home game against the other.

The cosmopolitan background of the participants (this game included players from Columbia, Uruguay, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Turkey, France and Croatia) has not diluted this hatred, in much the same manner as the Old Firm game has not lost any of it's verve since the clubs widened their signing policies. The Saturday night 8.30 kick-off will not however be replicated in this season's Old Firm fixtures.

There is certainly more than just an historic rivalry between these two teams and last season¹s final twist of the Serie A season gave Juventus yet another Serie A title as Inter, in what would be Ronaldo¹s last game in the nerazzuri, lost to Lazio on the final day. The disdain between the two clubs is regularly stoked by comments by the people currently running Inter and Juve. This aspect of the rivalry, manifesting itself within all areas of the Italian media, is something that I hope never hits Glasgow. While our current regime does not defend the Club¹s interests in a manner that please our fans, publicly attacking rivals brings no long-term benefits.

The game itself started at a furious pace although the tension appeared to diminish the standard of football. As the game progressed Juve attacked with more purpose with Alessandro Del Piero cleverly making space while, Edgar Davids, Mauro Camoranesi (a young Argentinean right sided midfielder signed from Verona) and, especially, Pavel Nedved intelligently probed from midfield. Inter, without the guile in midfield had steel in a back three of the Uruguayan Ivan Cordoba, think Graham Roberts with pace, Fabio Cannavaro and Marco Materazzi, signed by Walter Smith at Everton. Inter¹s efforts were concentrated on long balls to the twin target men of Christin Vieri and Hernan Crespo, with support coming from the Uruguayan Alvaro Recoba on the left and Javier Zanetti, Inter¹s inspirational captain, on the right.

Clear opportunites were in short supply in the first half with a few early efforts from long range by Nedved at one end and Crespo at the other barely troubling Juve¹s Gigi Buffon or Inter¹s Francesco Toldo. Toldo, Italy¹s second choice goalkeeper behind Buffon was first to shine tipping Del Piero¹s curler over as the first half closed. The only other highlight of the hard fought first half was a last-ditch last man tackle by Ivan Cordoba as Lilian Thuram, known to the Rangers fans from his time at Parma as well as when starring for France, turned defence into attack from right back as Juve¹s more purposeful possession gave them the edge over the period.

As the teams left the field the noise was as deafening as when the game kicked off. Marcello Lippi, the Juventus coach who failed to replicate his success in his first spell at Juventus when he moved to Inter, receiving a torrent of abuse from the Interisti as he walked from his dugout to the tunnel, which was extended on the pitch at the home end corner. The singing by both sides being led by the ultras, the Italian organised fan groups, with the madder element of the home support hanging off the side of the second tier orchestrating the songs with megaphones. The organisation by the ultras in Italy throughout a game is exceptional, although this can lead to a lack of spontaneity and humour in the songs and chants.

Juventus dominated the early part of the second half as they had done in the first with Del Piero denied twice in close succession by the towering Toldo. Inter fought back and Crespo¹s diving header should have opened the scoring, the Argentinian marksman bulleting a header over when it looked easier to score. At the other end Marcelo Salas shot weakly after good work by Del Piero before Buffon saved bravely when Inter¹s Vieri was put through; the subsequent snapshot by Crespo, who robbed the Juventus keeper, somehow hitting a post when the open goal beckoned.

An exciting goalless draw seemed inevitable until the 87th minute when from the right Mauro Camoranesi skipped by Francsco Coco, Inter¹s left wingback, and fell in the box as he ran across the hapless defender. Collina, the only Italian referee anyone knows, had been exceptional up to that point and having consulted his linesman awarded the penalty in what was the first real incident of controversy of the game. Television evidence proved the bald whistler had again got it right, although few referees would in my opinion have had the steel to give Juventus, a team with a recent reputation for benefiting from dubious refereeing decisions, a penalty so late in such an important game. The Inter fans perceived injustice at Juve¹s award was demonstrated with a crescendo of mock clapping, which stopped suddenly as Del Piero¹s penalty hit the top corner of the net.

Francesco Toldo saved soon after the restart from Del Piero but all sense of order disappeared in the second minute of injury time as two late substitutes clashed and a melee ensued. Domenico Morfeo of Inter and Antonio Conte, the once balding international midfielder who must share Advocaat¹s ³hair² consultant, both meriting their expulsions for typical derby antics as they came to blows. The ensuing handbags could have seen more sent off, with at least a caution due for Buffon who ran more than half the length of the pitch to get involved.

Five minutes into injury time and parity was restored as Francisco Toldo¹s presence in the Juventus box at a last gasp corner caused panic, leading to his counterpart Buffon to spill the ball onto the ground, from which it somehow spun over the line. The scoreboard gave the goal to the keeper Toldo, although no one near me even ventured to guess the scorer through the mayhem they were witnessing. The strong Juventus protests were in vain and the game drew to a close as Buffon, the enraged bianconeri keeper, ferociously kicked various objects that had been thrown in his direction into the air as he was mocked by the home fans.

I left the San Siro to a wave of singing with Inter fans¹s recent anthem non molare mai (literally, never give up) being intertwined with ³Toldo-gol, Toldo-gol, Toldo-gol², the Inter goalie¹s surname replacing Christian Vieri¹s nickname of Bobo in the shouts of the relieved home fans. The goal was subsequently given to Vieri, who will also soon take his song back from his international teammate, although the big striker will be annoyed that he has still to beat Juventus in his prolific career. A draw was a fair result with Juventus dominating possession yet Inter having more chances.

So after all the excitement how does the Italian derby compare to the Old Firm game?

This game turned out to be a classic in late drama and not all of these games could live up to this (my first Italian derby was an inept 0-0 in Turin¹s Delle Alpi stadium) but the passion, atmosphere and sheer spectacle are hard to beat. The last derby fixture I attended, before this game at the San Siro, also finished with another injury time goal; tremendous as this derby of Italy was it didn¹t beat Hampden in May.

Non mollare mai!

Orso