Dream comes true for stalwart Zanetti
Published: Monday 17 May 2010, 10.44CET
Javier Zanetti will realise a long-held ambition when he captains the José Mourinho-inspired FC Internazionale Milano in Madrid, his 700th game for the Italian club.
by Paolo Menicucci
from Milan


Javier Zanetti earned a fifth Serie A title on his 699th appearance, but his 700th game for FC Internazionale Milano could be the most special of all.

The 36-year-old joined Inter in summer 1995 from CA Banfield in his native Argentina. He was among the first two signings under new club president Massimo Moratti, with the other, CA Independiente forward Sebastián Rambert, arriving with a higher profile than the young right-back. However, unlike his compatriot, who never appeared in Serie A, Zanetti proved the real deal and is set to captain Inter in Saturday's UEFA Champions League final against FC Bayern München in Madrid.

Should he play as expected, he will move to within 58 games of Giuseppe Bergomi's record of most competitive appearances for Inter, though for now Zanetti is only focused on lifting Europe's most prestigious club trophy. ""Yes, this is a very important moment because I have been dreaming of this final for a long time", and it will happen right now with this beautiful team," Zanetti told UEFA.com. "I hope we will be in our best form to play this final, and to win it."

Obviously this is not only his personal dream, because Inter have not lifted the trophy since doing so for the second time in 1965. "After waiting for so long, everybody has been dreaming of this final," Zanetti said. "We have managed to get this far by beating strong teams and being made to suffer, but in the end I think we deserve it."

On 3 April, suspension meant Zanetti sat out the 3-0 home win against Bologna FC, forcing him to miss his first league game since 28 October 2006 – 137 consecutive Serie A matches. Indeed, it ended a run of 167 competitive appearances. So when he was one booking from a ban ahead of the semi-final against FC Barcelona, the cruel possibility of missing the showpiece crossed his mind; but not for long.

"I didn't really think about that, because I was so focused on the match," Zanetti revealed. "I told my friends 'I prefer to reach the final and risk missing it', which would be very disappointing, but the objective for all of us was to reach the final. Luckily I wasn't booked."

His experience will be handy at the Santiago Bernabéu, having scored a brilliant goal to help Inter beat S.S. Lazio 3-0 in the UEFA Cup showpiece 12 years ago – their last European final. "It was my first honour, a great memory; in Paris against an Italian team," he recalled. "For us it was an important objective back then, and for me it was very important to score in a final."

This time around, however, he will also have to think about defending, especially considering Arjen Robben's great form. "We are talking about a real winner, who has done very well not only in the Champions League but also in the German championship," Zanetti said. "He's someone who needs to be covered well. I also had to face Messi, which wasn't easy. I hope we can control [Robben] well."

After beating the likes of Chelsea FC, PFC CSKA Moskva and Barcelona en route to the final confidence could not be higher, and Zanetti believes this has much to do with José Mourinho. "He's a great personality and he's able to transmit that personality to the team," he said. "We have improved in many respects, but I think that is the most important."

“Yes, this is a very important moment because I have been dreaming of this final for a long time”.Javier Zanetti

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现年36岁的萨内蒂是1995年夏天从阿根廷的班菲尔德来到国际米兰，他是莫拉蒂上任初期头两笔签约之一，另一个则是阿根廷独立队的前锋兰伯特。然而被广泛看好的兰伯特却没有一次代表新东家征战意甲联赛的出场数据，倒是萨内蒂留守国米长达15年。萨内蒂在国际米兰的第699场比赛中赢得了第五座意甲联赛冠军奖杯，而他的第700场比赛将会是最特别的一场---欧洲冠军联赛的决赛。
日前萨内蒂在接受欧足联官网采访时表达了他对大耳朵杯的渴望，“是的，这是非常重要的时刻，因为我已经梦想决赛很久了，现在梦想终于成真了。我希望我们能以最佳的状态出现在伯纳乌，并能取得最后的胜利。”曾经红极一时的大国米时代，却45年没有再次染指这项欧洲足坛的最高殊荣。作为队长，萨内蒂谈到，“等待了如此之久，全队上下都对冠军充满了渴望。我们一路走来击败了众多强大的对手，也经历了种种挫折，我想是到了赢得冠军的时刻了。”
半决赛对阵巴塞罗那，萨内蒂再吃一张黄牌就将无缘决赛，但以大局为重的他表示，“我并没有过多的考虑那个问题，因为比赛才是重要的。我告诉我的朋友们宁可冒险也要把国米带入决赛，尽管到那时我会有些失望。幸运的是最后没有吃牌。”
1998年5月6日进行的欧洲联盟杯决赛，国际米兰在巴黎王子公园球场3比0战胜拉齐奥，那是国米上一次参加欧洲赛事的决赛。此役智利杀手萨莫拉诺第5分钟的进球让球队取得领先，下半场第60分钟萨内蒂的抽射和第70分钟罗纳尔多钟摆式的晃动成为历年来经典之作。12年后萨内蒂回忆道，“联盟杯是我获得的第一个荣誉，那是一段非常美好的回忆。对国米来说冠军是目标，而就我个人而言，能在决赛中进球更是非常难忘。”
展望周六的对手，萨内蒂认为自己必须首先做好防守，尤其是现在拜仁罗本的状态这么好。“拜仁非常强大，他们在冠军联赛表现出色，在德甲更是无人能敌。”萨内蒂说道。“之前我曾对付过令人头疼的梅西，如今我希望能在比赛中再接再厉控制住罗本。”
意甲五冠王这是一个追平了尘封达75年的记录，而如今国米有望实现65年前的辉煌，萨内蒂认为这些都是穆里尼奥的功劳，“他是个非常有个性的人，这种性格感染了全队。在他接手球队后，我们在各个方面都取得了进步，不过其中信心的增长才是最重要的。”
(本文来源：网易体育 作者：Celtic)

2K分看好萨内蒂。。

zanetti如果能继看死messi后再看死robben，那真就在37岁高龄当选世界最佳左后卫了:D

萨队，我挺你啊。

让马拉多纳纱布去~~~~~

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说真防裸奔比防没戏难吖，给打爆就杯具了

萨内蒂的稳健是让人最放心的地方，相信萨队有一场完美的比赛！

顶一下世界第一右后卫

37岁，国米700场，祝萨队好运·····

posted by wap, platform: UC

国米如果夺冠后，我们的4号能拿个欧洲足球先生不？