Javier Zanetti marches on in Inter’s darkest hour

By Gary Armstrong

The legends are leaving in droves. Owen. Scholes. Van Bommel. Metzelder. Carragher. Beckham. But at the age of 39, the career of Javier Zanetti goes on, despite a ruptured achilles tendon.

Vastly under-appreciated on British shores, Javier Zanetti is rightly acclaimed for his contribution to Inter and Italian football since his arrival from Argentina in 1995. Underlining the full back’s unquestionable spirit and love for the game, Zanetti – Inter’s record appearance holder having played in 847 matches – has vowed to pull on the famous black and blue jersey once more at the age of 40 and to return from an injury that is likely to see him spend 6 months on the sidelines at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.

Inter, embroiled in what is arguably their greatest crisis of the last 20 years, need their talismanic full-back now more so than ever before. An abominable record has seen the Nerazzuri slump to a lowly 9th place finish, which is their lowest in Serie A since the their ill-fated season of 1993/94. It’s also the first time that they have not qualified for European competition since 92/93. Meanwhile, old adversaries Milan, and in particular Juventus, appear to be going from strength to strength, leading the Italian game while Internazionale trail in their wake, several positions beneath them.

All eyes will be on club president Massimo Moratti in the coming weeks, in anticipation of the removal of manager Andrea Stramaccioni. Such a move would represent the fifth occasion that Moratti has wielded the axe on his managerial team in the post-Mourinho era. Moratti has moved to fend off speculation about the future of his coach in recent weeks, stating his preference to settle such matters at the close of the season. Given Moratti’s recent trigger-happy attitude to firing previous incumbents in the Giuseppe Meazza dugout, coupled with the abysmal league form that Inter have shown in the second half of the season, it would be no surprise to see Stramaccioni, who at 37 years old is 2 years younger than Zanetti, shuffled out of the Internazionale exit door. Resultantly, Zanetti, aided by a few experienced colleagues, will be left to pick up the pieces from another dramatic episode at the San Siro and attempt to rebuild the club once more.

Buenos Aires born and bred, Javier Zanetti began his footballing career in his homeland, making his debut with lower league side Talleres aged 19. Twenty years later, having spent the majority of his career in Italy, Zanetti can boast a personal trophy cabinet which includes winners medals for 5 Serie A titles, 4 Coppa Italias, 1 Champions League, 1 UEFA Cup and 1 World Club Cup.

On the international front, Zanetti has appeared for his national team on 145 separate occasions, the last of which came in 2011, including appearances in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. Controversially, Zanetti was excluded from the Argentine World Cup squads of 2006 and 2010 by managers Jose Peckerman and Diego Maradona respectively. In spite of these arguably inexplicable omissions, Zanetti is Argentina’s record cap holder, having played 30 games more than nearest challenger to the throne Roberto Ayala and is also 14th on the list of all-time highest international cap earners in World football. It is easy to hypothesize about what could have been for Zanetti and his nation had both Peckerman and Maradona not overlooked his seemingly obvious talent.

Zanetti’s inclusion in Pelé’s ‘Fifa 100’ list of the game’s greatest living footballers is yet another testament to the Argentine’s incredible career. How those at Independiente must now wince at their decision to disregard a 15 year old Zanetti on their belief that the youngster was far too small to make the grade in the professional game.

What the 5 foot 10 inch Zanetti may lack in physical stature, he has certainly made up for in terms of spirit, determination and stamina, qualities that earned him the nickname “El Tractor” in Argentina on account of his trademark lung-bursting runs up and down the right wing. In Italy, Zanetti has not only gained plaudits and the admiration of the Internazionale faithful for his energy and longevity at the heart of the Neazzuri defence, but also for his dependability and leadership qualities which have transcended across an incredible 15 different managerial teams in the Inter dugout and hundreds of team-mates including former World Player of the Year winners Ronaldo, Luis Figo and Fabio Cannavaro.

Zanetti in fact represents the bridge between countless Inter generations, the one constant within the walls of the Giueseppe Meazza who has seen it all, in the process witnessing so many exasperating Milan derby defeats and yet so many moments of euphoria and elation upon getting one over their neighbours and fierce city rivals. In many regards, Javier Zanetti is Mr Internazionale.

However, Zanetti is far more than just the representation of his rusty dressing room peg and his worn out black and blue shirt. At the age of 39, on the training ground, on the pitch and on the ball, Zanetti still oozes quality and the technical proficiency that forced the Inter Directors of 1995 to pluck the youngster from relative obscurity in South America. Like his British-based peer Ryan Giggs, Zanetti may have lost a yard or two of pace in recent years, but he certainly hasn’t lost the natural ability that makes team-mates 20 years his junior stand back and look on in awe. As the old footballing cliché alludes to, class is very much permanent and no more so than in the case of Javier Zanetti.

Many admiring and heart-felt quotes on the career and contributions of Javier Zanetti have circulated around the footballing globe in the past decade, yet for Inter fans perhaps the most poignant words are the ones spoken by the man they refer to as “Il Capitano” prior to his 600^th Serie A appearance in March of this year:

“I am proud to be part of this great family that is Inter.”

The thousands of Inter fans who have watched Javier Zanetti from the steep stands of the San Siro throughout the past three decades will be praying that an integral member of the Inter family makes a full and speedy recovery and that once more they can witness their favourite adopted son burst up the right flank in the black and blue of Internazionale. The club will certainly need a leader going forward.