He won the Scudetto once and Coppa Italia twice, earning a place in the National Team at the age of 30, winning the World Cup in 1982. As a good midfielder, he was used to fighting and taking nothing for granted, battling for every ball. A glance from him was enough for his players to know what they needed to do and his tigerish eyes never deserted him. That was the situation going into the final. San Siro was boiling over with a great sense of enthusiasm. 80,000 Nerazzurri fans were ready to put an incredibly disappointing league campaign behind them. Inter had to defend the 1-0 lead they picked up in Vienna. They went beyond that, winning by the same scoreline in the second leg and the UEFA Cup was Inter’s. “I only needed to take a look to understand what they were going to do.” It was a happy ending for Marini, who had already seen what was coming in the eyes of his players.
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“Yes, we can do it.” These were the words of Gianpiero Marini a few days ahead of the second leg of the UEFA Cup final against Salzburg. The Nerazzurri’s former Primavera Coach had replaced Osvaldo Bagnoli on the bench of the first team to take charge at the end of the 1993-94 season. The league season finished in a very difficult manner with the team in 13th and the side only just stayed up by the skin of their teeth. But, there was still Europe where Inter had the chance to lift another European trophy. More than tactics, motivation was needed with little time to prepare with a very prestigious honour on the line. Perhaps because of this, Marini seemed liked the right man for President Pellegrini. As a player, he represented the Nerazzurri for almost eleven years between 1975 and 1986.
