MILAN – "Look, you’ve got the No. 5 on your chest." The date is 21 November 1948 and Aldo Campatelli – the iconic Inter midfielder – is climbing the short staircase that leads to the San Siro pitch ahead of the Nerazzurri’s Serie A Week 11 clash with Livorno.
Next to Campatelli, who has over 200 Inter appearances under his belt, is a 21-year-old lad from Aiello del Friuli preparing to make his debut for the Nerazzurri. His name is Vincenzo Bearzot, though everyone calls him Enzo. And in his excitement at his impending Inter bow, Enzo has managed to put his jersey on back to front.
Bearzot would go on to spend an initial three years at Inter, having been signed from Pro Gorizia after two seasons in Serie B. Inter were Bearzot’s favourite club – his childhood idol was none other than Campatelli and the young Bearzot even slept with a photo of his future team-mate under his pillow. He had been discovered by the Nerazzurri in a friendly played just a few months earlier, in the summer of 1948.
Bearzot’s father Egidio – a bank manager in Cervignano del Friuli – would have liked to have seen his boy become a doctor or pharmacist, but Enzo’s talent on the pitch took over. He would make a total of 19 appearances during his spell with the Nerazzurri, finishing twice second and once third in Serie A.
His time at Inter had a lasting effect on Bearzot’s professional and personal life. Indeed, it was on the No.3 tram that he met Luisa, the woman that would become his wife of over 50 years. And as if that wasn’t enough, Bearzot also discovered his third great passion – after football and pipe smoking – on a summer tour of the United States: jazz music.
As it happened, Bearzot’s departure from Inter in 1951 was merely a farewell. After three seasons at Catania and two at Torino, Bearzot returned to the club for another season in 1956. By then he was a more mature, characterful player and he wasted no time in showcasing his physical attributes, aerial ability and tactical intelligence. This was the Inter side of Karl Lennart Skoglund, Benito Lorenzi and Giorgio Ghezzi, with Bearzot slotting in at central midfield alongside future Nerazzurri manager Giovanni Invernizzi. The team secured a fifth-place finish in Serie A, but Bearzot was sold to Torino at the end of the campaign.
Bearzot spent the next seven seasons at Torino, finishing his career with the Granata. Enzo learned a great deal from the great Nereo Rocco in the Torino dugout and quickly built a reputation with the supporters as a fearless leader – it was at the Stadio Filadelfia that he sustained the third broken nose of his career, leaving him with a distinctive profile.
Enzo began his management career with the Torino youth teams before taking charge of Prato and later entering the Italy coaching set-up. He was Italy U23s coach for six years between 1969 and 1975, before working in tandem with Fulvio Bernardeschi – another former Inter man – and later taking on the mantle of the senior team himself.
Bearzot went on to write his name in the history books as Italy clinched World Cup glory with a 3-1 win over West Germany at the Santiago Bernabeu on 11 July 1982. Three Nerazzurri players donned the Azzurri jersey in the win: Alessandro Altobelli, who came on in the second half to score Italy’s third goal, Gabriele Oriali, who bossed the midfield, and an 18-year-old Giuseppe Bergomi.
Bearzot had thrown Bergomi into the fray in the second-round group match against Brazil following an injury to Fulvio Collovati and never looked back. In Madrid, Bergomi played with calm and poise, limiting German captain Karl-Heinz Rummenigge – the man he would later spend three years playing alongside at Inter – to the bare minimum.
Despite Bearzot’s relatively short spell at Inter, his love for Inter and the city of Milan never ceased. A loyal man on the pitch and away from football, Bearzot lived in Milan until his death in 2010.
Roberto Brambilla
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