GUATEMALA – Inter Club Guatemala became the first Inter Club in Central America when it was founded earlier this season after club president Jose Guillermo Salazar Rodriguez decided the country needed an official body to bring together local Nerazzurri fans.
Here, Jose explains how he became an Inter supporter.
How and why did you become an Inter fan?
"I became an Inter fan at the end of the 1990s. I was seven years old and crazy about Ronaldo, who’s still my favourite player of all time. When he signed for Inter I started watching them play and began to feel a bond with the club. My mum noticed my passion and bought me the 1999/2000 season match kit, which I still have today – it’s the first shirt I owned and Inter are my favourite team in the whole world. That was the start of my journey with Inter and now I have set up Inter Club Guatemala with my friends in order to support the team and get other Nerazzurri fans in the country involved."
Apart from Ronaldo, which Inter player have you felt the biggest bond with?
"Javier Zanetti. On an emotional level, I think he’s the player that you feel most connected to. He represents the meaning behind F.C Internazionale, of the Brothers of the World slogan. He proved and is still proving that a foreigner can love an Italian team and that’s why he’s loved by the foreign fans, because we share the same spirit. Zanetti embodies team values: unity, integrity and heart."
How important is being an Inter Club member to you?
"It’s a way of showing my support for the team and my love for Inter. It helps me feel closer to the team and makes me an official Inter fan. Thanks to the club, I’ve been able to make new friends who I can share my passion and create new experiences with. Being an Inter Club member is about supporting the team at all times, no matter where you are in the world."
Inter Club members are the lifeblood of support for the Nerazzurri around the world: why not get together with your friends and open your own Inter Club?
