Paganin: "My childhood Inter dream came true"

APPIANO GENTILE – Antonio Paganin, who spent five years at Inter, was in our studios this evening to recount his Nerazzurri experience for Memorabilia.

Paganin had an important spell at Inter, in which he managed to win two UEFA Cups.

"After a couple of seasons at Udinese I was approached by Inter," he began, "which was a dream come true as I was an Inter fan. Fighting for the title was magnificent.

"I can still remember well how we essentially lost the Scudetto at the Marassi. The UEFA Cup win in the final against Roma was our redemption. It was an incredible first season for me in Milan, crowned off by lifting a European trophy.

"We had players like Lothar Matthaus, Jurgen Klinsmann, Nicola Berti and Aldo Serena. My first experience in Europe was a memorable one.

"Giovanni Trapattoni wanted to bring me to Inter, but then we had Corrado Orrico who preached a modern brand of football, based on zonal marking."

Osvaldo Bagnoli was next at the Nerazzurri helm after Orrico.

"From his first season, I remember the fantastic comeback from a team that, with all due respect, had great quality but not enough to win the league. He got 120% out of everybody: it's not an accident he led Genoa to victory at Anfield against Liverpool."

The 1993/94 season epitomised the crazy Inter of those years.

"The team seemed to be playing on two levels: we won the second European trophy of my time at Inter but we looked frightened in the league. I remember when Salzburg hit the post twice after Wim Jonk's goal. The roar of release upon victory went some way to making up for a difficult season."