A real football legend. Javier Zanetti, born in Buenos Aires (Argentina) in 1973, his nickname is El tractor ("the tractor"), almost twenty years spent in Inter, friendly and nice personality, that he can deserves an Oscar. The beauty of 1114 official matches played, of which 858 with Inter jersey. He is also the foreign with the most appearances in Serie A (615). 16 trophies won with Inter F.C. five championships, four Italian Cups, four Italian Supercups, a UEFA Cup, a Champions League and a Club World Cup. Less filled his victories with the Argentine national team, with which he triumphed only in 1995 in the Panamerican games, a sort of Olympic games of the American continent, with the seleccion jersey has played 145 games.
Exemplary behavior inside and outside the field, always smiling and friendly, those who know him or have something to do with him have unanimously described him as a golden person, calm and kind, always ready to help others people as soon as possible. Pelé included him in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 best living footballers compiled on the occasion of FIFA's centennial, in 2011. During the delivery of the Golden Foot, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award as "Football Legend". His friends call him Pupi, a nickname given to him by a coach who trained his brother when he was in Argentina.
A single love for him, his Inter, a historic captain of the same team from Lombardia and idol of Nerazzurri fans, a long lasting story that still sees him at the forefront of the Milanese club as vice president. A player who could play multiple roles during the games, as a defender, could adapt himself to midfielder without any problem. The Argentinian teams Talleres de Remedios and Banfield were his first and only teams before Inter, at the time of his beginnings in the rectangle filed, from 4 to 8 in the morning he delivered milk and then went to training.
In the summer of 1995, Inter society bought Zanetti together with Rambert, an Argentine striker reputed a phenomenon that instead turned out to be a total flop, did not play any game in Serie A, only one match in the first round of the UEFA Cup and one in the Italian Cup without score even a single goal. Javier, the day of the presentation to the press of the two players, was not even recognized by the journalists who participated to that presentation. From October 2006 to April 2010, Zanetti has played 167 consecutive games in Serie A and Champions League, thanks to an excellent physical form due to a strict diet. In 19 years in Italy he was expelled only once in Serie A, during his entire career he was only expelled 3 times.
Inter F.C. society showed him his esteem and gratitude by retiring his shirt number 4 forever. He took part and organized many charitable initiatives, in 2002 he created the Fundación P.U.P.I. together with his wife, a non-profit organization based in Buenos Aires, which is responsible for providing financial support to disadvantaged children and their families. His major footballing goal that he obtained was the treble of 2009/10, in which he won the Serie A Championship, the Italian Cup and a Champions League that had been missing on the Inter team for the past 45 years. On 20 October 2010 he was 37 years old and 71 days, scoring the 1-0 temporary goal against Tottenham (his team won with the result of 4-3), he became the oldest player to have scored in the Champions League.
About him, Ryan Giggs, a former Manchester United player, expressed quite clearly:
He was the most difficult opponent that I have ever met. I met him for the first time in '99, in the Champions League quarters. He was right-defender and I was left wing. He impressed me with his qualities: quick, powerful, intelligent, expert. I've played against him twice. He was the toughest opponent ever. A complete champion.
As usual I leave you with some images that contain a lot of the most beautiful skills of this great person and player, which deserves the maximum respect and reflects almost everything that is good in the world of football, a real example for the young players today.
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