MILAN – Argentine writer Osvaldo Soriano once wrote that “football has many mysteries that cannot be explained by reason”. And perhaps nowhere else is the mystery of football better epitomised than in the Milan derby – a match which defies all logic and is determined by the hand of fate, manipulating coaches and players as a puppeteer does his marionettes.
And so it was that on 6 April 1986 fate nudged Mario Corso to change the life of a 19-year-old boy who had been born in Sicily and grew up supporting Inter.
Giuseppe Minaudo hadn't played a minute of Serie A football before that day. The Derby della Madonnina was taking place on a Sunday, four days after Inter had beaten Real Madrid 3-1 in the UEFA Cup semi-final first leg.
When Karl-Heinze Rummenigge was injured during the warm-up, Mario Corso – who had replaced Ilario Castagner in the Nerazzurri dugout in November – was forced to make a change and brought Luciano Marangon into the starting line-up. But he had to come off himself at half-time with a hand injury. Fate had thus made two clear moves.
During the interval, with the game still goalless, Minaudo was knocking the ball about on the pitch with a few team-mates when he got the news that would change his life: “Get warmed up, Corso is putting you on in place of Marangon.”
Corso knew the boy well having coached him for just over a year during his time in charge of the Primavera, the reins of which he had handed to another former Inter player, Arcadio Venturi, when he was called to take over the first team.
Two months before that derby, on 10 February 1986, Venturi – with Minaudo in the team – had guided Inter U19s to Viareggio Cup success, beating a Sampdoria side boasting the likes of Maurizio Ganz and Gianluca Pagliuca in the final.
Giuseppe could cover virtually any role in midfield and Corso trusted him despite his slight figure and lack of experience. He wasn't renowned for his aerial ability but Corso told him to go up for set pieces and try to cause problems for the Rossoneri rearguard.
Minaudo suddenly found himself catapulted into the biggest game of his life alongside idols he had previously cheered for such as Alessandro Altobelli, Beppe Bergomi, Riccardo Ferri, Walter Zenga and Giuseppe Baresi. He was up against players like Paolo Maldini, Mauro Tassotti, Franco Baresi Agostino Di Bartolomei. It was the end of the Nils Liedholm era (he would be replaced by Fabio Capello in the spring of 1987) and the start of Silvio Berlusconi's reign – it was the first derby since he became president on 24 March 1986.
But this was Minaudo's derby.
In the 77th minute fate laid its cards out for all to see. Pietro Fanna curled in a free kick from the left, Andrea Mandorlini rose to meet it and headed against the post. The ball dropped a yard or so from the goalline where Minaudo was the first to pounce and smash the loose ball into the net. 1-0 to Inter and the Meazza erupted.
There would be no more goals: the derby was won by a young Sicilian lad who had been an Inter fan all his life, on his Nerazzurri debut.
A truly unforgettable day for Giuseppe didn't finish there. After the match, this shy derby hero appeared in the press room. Peppino Prisco came over to him, called the attention of the gathered journalists and, brimming with Nerazzurri pride, declared: “This is the boy from our academy who won us the derby!”
In that moment, his achievement now consecrated by one of the greatest Interisti of all time, Minaudo's destiny was fulfilled. He had made derby history. It didn't matter that his career then took him elsewhere, to lesser stadiums far away from Milan and the spotlight that was cast on him on that April Sunday in 1986. His goal was pure Inter pride personified, and that's why it will never be forgotten.
Davide Zanelli
