Even angels have something to learn, and football has a lot to teach. And as Angelo knew all too well, the game can provide a good lesson for any industrialist. The world in the 1960s was an industrial one, and Milan, coming off of a war and a reconstruction, was the capital of that world. Angelo Moratti, who was born in Somma Lombarda on 5 November 1909 and became Inter president on 23 May 1955, learned to choose: players, managers, investments and coaches – Helenio Herrera, in particular.
Together they won two league titles, two European Cups and two Intercontinental Cups. In less than four years – a vertiginous rate – they climbed to the top of the world. This is the saga of the ‘Grande Inter’ side. He handled human resources, as the term is used today, and the budgets. Because it was him, the players signed blank contracts, and within the family they remember when the saga began, one night when he declared,"Now we’ll do this for real." And from there they went on to win everything.
You often hear that football has changed a lot since from the 1960s to today. And many things certainly have changed. It was at the beginning: Adriano Celentano was singing ‘24,000 baci’, the Beatles were ringing in the British musical revolution, La Scala was hosting the first productions of many famous operas, and Milan was a symbol of elegance.
But some things never changed over the years: the intuition to seek out a foreign coach and players such as Suarez or Jair; to invest in the youth academy with players like Mazzola or Facchetti; to choose a leader like Picchi as captain; to hang on to talents like Corso. And other things, such as his generosity in negotiations and his total unwillingness to compromise, never changed either.
Certainly the pace of the matches was anything but calming. Just look at the trio in September of 1964: on the 9th against Independiente in Argentina (with the hosts winning 1-0); Inter’s 2-0 victory on the 23rd; then the Nerazzurri’s 1-0 victory in Madrid on the 26th, thanks to a goal from Corso.
Angelo was that door to the future. And Inter would never have become what they did without their guardian angel.
