Dejan – The Dragon

Spectacular goals, peerless technique and a true Nerazzurri heart: born in Belgrade on 11 September 1978, Dejan Stankovic celebrates his 48th birthday today. Deki spent nine years in Nerazzurri colours, from January 2004 to 2013, making 326 appearances, scoring 42 goals and lifting an incredible 15 trophies: one Champions League, one FIFA Club World Cup, five Scudetti, and the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana four times apiece. Those achievements also earned him a place in the Club’s Hall of Fame, fitting recognition of his deep bond with the Nerazzurri. To mark his birthday, Internazionale Morning Club looks back on his Inter journey through the story of one unforgettable match: the 4-3 derby victory over AC Milan on 28 October 2006.

Take a moment to picture the goal you would most like to score if you were a footballer. Your first thought is probably the right one: a goal from the halfway line. Perhaps even on the volley. Now imagine not merely dreaming of it, but actually doing it. And then doing it again in a Champions League quarter-final. This is no dream. This is Dejan Stankovic.

And yet, on reflection, perhaps there was no single position in which Dejan Stankovic was irreplaceable. He could play anywhere in a flat 4-4-2 or a midfield diamond. Look at it just as objectively, however, and it becomes impossible to leave the Serbian midfielder out of any all-time Inter XI. Indeed, he is almost always there. He went straight into the Club’s Hall of Fame in 2019, receiving more votes than any other midfielder.

It is difficult to name an aspect of the game at which Deki did not excel. We have already mentioned his shooting: there were plenty of goals, and they always seemed to matter. Four came in derbies, for starters. Two arrived during the 2009/10 Champions League campaign, helping Inter emerge unbeaten from testing group-stage encounters away to Rubin Kazan and at home to Dynamo Kyiv - two important steps on the road to Champions League success.

Choosing one defining moment is no easy task. It would be all too obvious to celebrate those two masterpieces from the halfway line - or, in truth, from even farther out. Their time will come. Instead, we have chosen another: a goal scored in a derby that all but confirmed a shift in the balance of power in Milano. After two decades in which the Rossoneri generally held the upper hand, from 1986 to 2006, the 20 years since have largely belonged to the Nerazzurri.

The precise moment of that shift came on 28 October 2006, in perhaps the greatest derby of them all. Kaká and Ibrahimovic, Nesta and Materazzi, Seedorf and Stankovic, Cafu and Maicon, Dida and Julio Cesar, Crespo and Inzaghi were all on the pitch.

Inter took the lead through Crespo. Then came the second. Vieira found the Argentine, whose lay-off released Maicon. The Brazilian picked out Dejan on the edge of the box and, moving at full speed, Stankovic took the ball in his stride before unleashing a right-footed thunderbolt into the top corner. He celebrated by running straight towards Roberto Mancini - his coach, former teammate in Lazio’s Scudetto-winning side and something of an older brother to him.

When Mourinho arrived, Stankovic appeared to be on the transfer market. There was even talk of a move to Juventus, the very club he had emphatically rejected when he chose Inter in January 2004. “It’ll be more special to win there,” Deki said, and he proved remarkably prescient. His finest chapters were written under Mourinho, who, once the initial doubts had faded, recognised that a midfielder blessed with pure class and capable of working as tirelessly as a ball-winner could become one of the key players in the greatest Inter side of all time.

Stankovic, number 5, in midfield. This is no déjà vu: now it is Aleksandar’s turn to shoulder the weight of the shirt and the name printed above the number. Because at Inter, Stankovic is no longer simply a surname. It is a dynasty.