Hugo, Ricky and Rodrigo. We’re all with you

MILAN – It’s the big one for football fans. The iconic Maracanã will play host to Germany v Argentina as the showpiece event to crown a memorable World Cup. Since 12 June we’ve seen a lot of Nerazzurri players in action and it’s no surprise that Inter are joint-third with Manchester City in terms of players involved in tonight’s final (Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have seven and four representatives respectively). We would therefore like to wish Rodrigo Palacio, Hugo Campagnaro and Ricardo Alvarez the best of luck on behalf of everyone at the club and all the fans. Regardless of the result, this will go down as a memorable night in their careers. Inter have been involved in every World Cup final since 1982. That year Bergomi, Oriali and Altobelli treated Italy to an unforgettable evening. In 1986 it was the turn of Karl-Heinz Rummenigge whose West Germany side fell just short to a Maradona-inspired Argentina. Four years on and three German Nerazzurri avenged that defeat against the Albiceleste. In 1994, when Brazil won the trophy in the blazing heat in Pasadena, the Italy side they beat that day featured Inter icon Nicola Berti. 1998 saw a Nerazzurri derby between Djorkaeff’s France and Ronaldo’s Brazil, with Youri emerging triumphant in his homeland. Ronaldo though did get his hands on the trophy in 2002, beating Germany in Japan. Marco Materazzi played a critical role in the 2006 final in Berlin, heading in a towering equaliser. Finally, Wesley Sneijder ended the last World Cup as top scorer and tried to cap an unforgettable season that had seen him win five trophies with Inter. Iniesta though settled the final and Spain were victorious.

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