TRIESTE – The last time Inter went to the city of the beautiful Piazza Unità d'Italia - with its "Caffè degli Specchi", in the land of Italo Svevo and the Mitteleuropa culture - was a summer evening, 20 July 2005, at the Stadio Nereo Rocco for a Trofeo Tim game. 45-minute games, a win over AC Milan on penalties, a 1-0 win over Juventus with a goal from "Oba Oba" Martins and the Nerazzurri lifted the mobile phone trophy.
The important history though, is that of the classic encounters with Triestina. The first in a title-winning season, 1929/30, 4 March, when the then-Ambrosiana won 2-1 with goals from Antonio Blasevich (born 1902, a Croatian midfielder, a star, 96 appearances and 41 goals) and Pietro Serantoni (born 1906, from Venice, also a midfielder, 164 appearances and 58 goals), before a local lad Deo Baldi pulled a goal back. The last competitive game was in 1958/59, and finished 1-1. Antonio Valentin Angelillo opened the scoring before Sergio Santelli – a legend for the Alabardati, as he scored Triestina's last goal in Serie A (2-2 away at Padova) on 7 June 1959 - replied.
Opened on 18 October 1992, as Fabio Monti wrote in the Corriere della Sera, the Stadio Nereo Rocco twice hosted Inter in the UEFA Cup in 2001, following the ban on the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza after the crowd trouble during Inter v Alaves. First, Inter v Brasov, 20 September, 3-0, with goals from Stephane Dalmat, Mohamed Kallon and Luigi Di Biagio, the day in which Ronaldo returned to first team action – coming on for Adriano – after 525 days without playing; the second, Inter v Wisla Krakow, 18 October, 2-0 with a double from Mohamed Kallon.
Today, in the context of the 2011/12 league season, a new chapter will be written in the Nerazzurri's history in Trieste.
