Scoring the winner within the Derby di Milano at simply 19 years of age, proper on the day of your Serie A debut. Can it get any higher than that for a footballer?
Maybe it can not, as that certainly turned out to be the best level in Giuseppe Minaudo’s profession. On April 6, 1986, this Sicilian-born midfielder – a product of Inter’s youth academy – netted the one purpose of the day a couple of minutes after setting his foot on a Serie A pitch for the primary time, because the Nerazzurri prevailed over Milan within the Derby della Madonnina.
It was Minaudo’s derby, but it surely was additionally the primary that Silvio Berlusconi watched from the San Siro stands, having simply acquired the Rossoneri from the financially struggling Giussy Farina.
“I gave Berlusconi his very first soccer disappointment. Adriano Galliani would remind me of that each time I met him,” Minaudo later recalled in an interview with main Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
His purpose turned a fairly uneventful derby in a fairly uneventful marketing campaign right into a day to recollect, a minimum of for the Inter followers.
The 1985/86 Serie A season was certainly a transitional one for each the Milanese sides, as they had been nowhere near battling for the Scudetto. If there was one staff within the metropolis masking themselves with glory, that was basketball powerhouse Simac Olimpia Milan, who had been honored proper earlier than the derby as they’d simply conquered the Italian title.
Inter and Milan ended a disappointing sixth and seventh within the Serie A desk, with solely Inter having the ability to a minimum of snatch the final spot for subsequent season’s UEFA Cup.
Talking of which, the UEFA Cup – that was one other supply of main regrets for the Nerazzurri throughout that season. Only a few days earlier than the derby, Inter had ended their European run within the cup semi-finals, dropping 5-1 in additional time to Actual Madrid and thus squandering a 3-1 lead they’d constructed on the San Siro two weeks earlier than!
Mario Corso, a legend from the Grande Inter of the Sixties, was their coach. He had changed Ilario Castagner earlier within the season, being promoted from his youth membership supervisor job.
On the opposite aspect of the pitch, Nils Liedholm, one of many best Rossoneri gamers himself, was within the Milan dugout for his third and closing stint as their head coach.
The lineups included each the Baresi brothers – Franco, a Milan legend, and the older, lesser-known Giuseppe, who performed for Inter as a substitute. The 1982 World Cup heroes Marco Tardelli and Alessandro Altobelli wore Inter’s black-and-blue jersey. Milan answered with the likes of Paolo Maldini and Mauro Tassotti, who could be the spine of the Rossoneri’s successful cycle in just some years.
However there have been additionally some notable absentees. One other 1982 icon, Paolo Rossi, was ending his profession at Milan. Pablito had scored each the Rossoneri targets within the reverse fixture a number of months earlier, however this time he was injured.
So was Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, essentially the most harmful amongst Inter’s strikers. The German picked up a hamstring damage throughout warm-up, and Corso needed to shortly deploy Luciano Marangon in his place.
When Marangon additionally acquired injured within the first half, the Nerazzurri coach had no different possibility than turning to the younger Minaudo, whom he knew since his days in command of the Primavera – the youth membership.
He gave him some easy, clear directions: “Maintain calm and keep near the purpose once we cross the ball.”
The 19-year-old lad did take heed to him. Within the 77th minute of a fairly boring sport – a lot in order that Corriere della Sera’s title the next morning would learn “The Derby Is Useless” – Pietro Fanna took a free kick from the left nook of the pitch.
Andrea Mandorlini headed the ball proper into Giuliano Terraneo’s left put up, however Minaudo was fast to pounce on the rebound and slot it dwelling from shut vary for the Nerazzurri’s winner.
What a debut. It regarded like the start of a dream for Giuseppe Minaudo.
Nonetheless, his profession by no means actually took off. After his derby exploit, he struggled to get taking part in time at Inter and, after two years, determined to maneuver elsewhere. Udinese, Atalanta, and Torino had been the primary locations of his lengthy wandering throughout the Italian peninsula, which led to 2003 within the beginner divisions.
He went down in Serie A historical past as a one-goal surprise – a meteora, because the Italians say. He did rating a number of extra targets, however everyone remembers him just for that stunner within the Derby della Madonnina.
Minaudo doesn’t have any regrets, although:
“I had the profession that I deserved,” he admitted in the identical interview with the Corriere. “I used to be not a champion that might play with Inter for ten years. However I did play in Serie A.”
That’s greater than many footballers can say, and humbler than many could be.
MATCH SCORECARD
April 6, 1986 – Serie A 1985/86 Spherical 27
INTER – MILAN 1-0
SCORER: 77′ Minaudo
| INTER: Zenga, Bergomi, Mandorlini, G. Baresi, Collovati, Ferri, Fanna, Tardelli, Altobelli, Brady (85′ Cucchi), Marangon (46′ Minaudo) (Lorieri, Bernazzani, Marini) Coach: Corso | |
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MILAN: Terraneo, Manzo, Maldini, F. Baresi, Di Bartolomei, Tassotti, Icardi, Wilkins, Hateley, Evani, Virdis (Nuciari, Mancuso, Russo, Bortolazzi, Carotti) Coach: Liedholm |
REFEREE: Mr. Redini from Pisa
