Stories of the faithful: title collector and Inter lover Javier Zanetti

Javier Zanetti has won numerous trophies throughout his career. All of them in the jersey of a single club, his beloved Inter Milan. It was here that he spent the vast majority of his football career and where he ended it in 2014.

Javier Zanetti was born on 10 August 1973 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He first played in the youth categories for Independiente, but then the club got rid of him due to his smaller stature. So he headed to Talleres, where after a year he started to play for the first team.

Zanetti spent only one season with Talleres, who were playing in the second league at the time. After that he went to Banfield, where he impressed so much that Inter Milan took him after two years. And here Zanetti spent the next 19 years.

During that time Zanetti became the player with the most starts for Inter in the club’s history. No wonder, then, that the fans liked him so much that he became a club legend in their eyes. But besides starts, Zanetti also collected successes.

On the domestic scene he enjoyed twelve titles, namely five times with Inter he dominated the Italian league, three times the domestic cup and four times the Super Cup. On the European stage, he also won the Champions League, UEFA Cup and Club World Cup with Inter.

It wouldn’t take much for Zanetti to have Olympic gold in his collection. However, at the Summer Olympics in the United States, his Argentina surprisingly lost to Nigeria in the final, taking only silver. The decisive goal was not scored until the 90th minute. Zanetti also won two silver medals at the South American championships.

Otherwise, Zanetti has experienced everything there is to experience in his career. His number of starts for Inter has reached 615. He served as captain for several years and was always loyal to the club.

But Zanetti is also a favourite of fans of other clubs. He wasn’t a tricky player by any means, but on the other hand he was one who never missed a match and ran a lot of mileage in matches. Even at an advanced age.

Javier Zanetti’s last season was in 2014, when it was announced in advance that it would be his last. He played his last game on 18 May 2014 at the Chievo stadium, to which Inter also lost 2-1. However, Zanetti’s big farewell to the fans came a week earlier in a home game against Lazio.

Javier Zanetti remained loyal to Inter even after the end of his playing career. He became vice-president of the club, a position he still holds today.

Sources: Transfermarkt, One Football, Inter Milano