MILAN - Five seasons at Inter, from 1996/97 to 2000/01, with 41 goals in 149 appearances: Ivan Zamorano Zamora, also known as "Bam Bam". Remembered in particular for his deadly aerial ability. He once stated in an interview that for him scoring was like an orgasm, which only served to further boost his number of female fans. Both a sex symbol as well as a tireless worker, this Chilean was born on a bus on the outskirts of Santiago on 18 January 1967. On the night of the 1997/98 UEFA Cup win against Lazio in Paris, he opened the scoring (Ronaldo and Zanetti also found the net). He wore the number 9 upon his arrival, but then had to give it up to Ronaldo. However, he found a creative solution by wearing 1+8: the number 18 officially, but for Inter fans he was another 9. He left the club when he realised he was no longer needed, leaving him in tears on a winter’s day.
"After leaving Inter I played two years in Mexico, then I played for six months with Colo-Colo in Chile, which has always been my favourite team in South America. Then I stopped. I said goodbye to football and started my own activities. I deal with sport, health and education, and I’m also working for the university." He returned to Santiago, Chile, but often travels to Buenos Aires. With the good blessing of all of his adoring female fans, Ivan eventually tied the knot with an Argentine. The couple share three children: 16-year-old Blu, 8-year-old Mia Pascale, and 6-year-old Ivan de Maria. "The youngest has the most fighting spirit, which is something he inherited from me. He already plays football. Right now it’s just a game for him, so I let him enjoy himself."
Looking back in time, is it possible to choose your greatest moment with the Nerazzurri?
"That would be hard to say, but perhaps the night in Paris when we won the UEFA Cup and I scored a goal. Yes, I’d have to choose that one. I’m truly grateful to all the teams I played with, but I have a particularly strong bond with Inter, which is also thanks to their incredible fans. I have to say thanks to Massimo Moratti for five fantastic years, which have really never ended. Every time I go back to Italy everyone makes me feel at home."
Five years…
"I left so many years ago but it feels as if I had never gone away at all. It didn’t happen that way for me in Madrid, and the same goes for Colo-Colo. I remember when I left how the club paid homage to me. Giacinto Facchetti gave me a shirt, the one I turned into a 9 with the 1+8, and they chanted my name in the curva. When I made that run from the centre of the pitch to the curva I cried like a baby as they chanted my name. It was something incredible and something I felt deep down inside. That’s something that never happened to me anywhere else."
Any regrets?
"Never having worked for Inter! [laughing]"
Can you make any World Cup predictions?
"I’ll be shocked if Brazil don’t win! They’re the favourites, but then you have Spain, Germany, Argentina, and then Italy, perhaps Chile, Colombia. It’s why you play the game though. You can say what you like, but it’s not your history or your shirt that wins it for you. The World Cup is the same challenge for everyone. You play it match by match, and I hope Chile turn out to be the surprise team."
