Roberto – The Stripes

On his birthday, Roberto Boninsegna takes centre stage in the latest episode of Internazionale Morning Club, Inter's daily podcast. Bonimba turns 83 today, and his name will forever be associated with the Nerazzurri. He spent seven seasons at the Club, scoring 171 goals in 287 appearances and winning the Scudetto in 1970/71. Inter's fourth-highest goalscorer of all time, Boninsegna remains one of the most influential and iconic players ever to wear the Nerazzurri shirt.

Roberto Boninsegna's first Inter shirt had one small problem: it didn't have any stripes. His mother, a knitter, had made it for him with blue on the front and black on the back. Roberto protested: “Mum, it needs stripes!” However making another one would have taken too long. The young Roberto wasn't discouraged, though. He wore it underneath his Sant'Egidio shirt, the team he played for. Roberto Boninsegna was born on 13 November 1943. Clearly, he had already made up his mind about his future. All that was missing were the goals.

Boninsegna was born in Mantova, but his footballing heart always belonged to one place: Milano, San Siro and the black and blue of Inter. As a youngster, he would play football on Sunday mornings before heading to the stadium in the afternoon, rather than going home, to watch Nyers, Skoglund and Lorenzi. Three great players, and three reasons to fall in love with Inter.

The 1970/71 season was his masterpiece. Inter chased Milan down, overtook them and went on to win the Scudetto. Boninsegna scored 24 goals to finish as the league's top scorer, including one of the most spectacular strikes in Nerazzurri history. Against Foggia, Facchetti swung in a cross from the left. Roberto shaped to head it, then changed his mind. Or perhaps the ball made the decision for him. An overhead kick. Straight into the top corner. San Siro erupted. That day, Inter were mathematically crowned champions, while Bonimba produced a goal so extraordinary that it even made it onto the big screen.

In 1998, Stefano Accorsi delivered a line that would become famous in Radiofreccia, the film directed by Luciano Ligabue: "I believe in Bonimba's overhead kicks." And it wasn't hard to see why. Boninsegna finished as the league's top scorer again in 1972, this time with 22 goals. And when he really hit his stride, he could score four in a single match. He managed that feat three times in just over a year. Not a bad habit to have.

Boninsegna made 281 league appearances for Inter, scoring 171 goals. To this day, he remains the Nerazzurri's third-highest goalscorer in Serie A. He even scored for Italy in the 1970 World Cup final against Pelé's Brazil.

Years later, whenever Boninsegna looked back on his career, he would return to the story of the shirt his mother had sewn for him. The one with the stripes that weren't quite right. In the end, he had been right to insist. Because Bonimba didn't just want to wear the black and blue stripes on his shirt. He wanted them to be part of him for life.