Felipe Melo – The Head

Some people are born leaders, or become them when the occasion calls for it.

At the beginning of his career, Roberto Mancini favoured a purely technical midfield. At Inter, too, we saw Figo, Cambiasso, Veron and Stankovic lined up from right to left. Pure creativity, perhaps at the expense of physical presence. Things were different in England, where he developed a footballing admiration for Yaya Tourè. Physical strength and technique, mobility and leadership: in the Ivorian, Mancini saw the midfielder he wanted at the heart of his team.

Felipe Melo was at Galatasaray, the next stop in his career. Here too, the Brazilian became the team’s reference point on the pitch, the last man standing. When Mancini returned to Inter, he asked for and secured the signing of the Comandante, as he had by then become known in Turkey: a player who could sometimes be a little too aggressive, but whose temperament and technical qualities were beyond doubt.

Felipe Melo began his Inter career by winning a derby; he managed to keep an Inter side afloat that was certainly not a Scudetto team, but one that dreamt of greater things. They won their first four games and went into their home game against Verona looking to maintain their solo lead. This was an Inter side featuring players who would later win the Club’s biggest honours, such as Handanovic, Perisic and Brozovic, as well as many others who remained in the hearts of the fans, including Guarin and Miranda. And then there was Felipe Melo, ready to battle in midfield. At 32, he no longer had the legs he had when he enjoyed a brilliant first Serie A campaign at Fiorentina. Then came his move to Juve, followed by some controversy in hindsight.

That afternoon, he chose Inter vs. Verona to score his only goal in the Nerazzurri shirt, rising imperiously to meet a corner. 1-0 and 15 points from 15.

Inter would finish fourth at the end of the season, but only three Italian teams qualified for the Champions League. The team was still under construction and, a few years later, would return to Europe’s top competition and remain there. Melo lost his place in the midfield pecking order after a poor performance against Lazio, in which he conceded the penalty before being sent off, which gave the Biancocelesti a definitive lead. He later returned to Brazil, where he had time to win a Copa Libertadores at the age of 40.

Today, in interviews, Felipe Melo describes himself as a Nerazzurro without a shadow of a doubt. Because you are usually born an Inter fan, but you can also become one along the way.