Roberto - The Poker

Question: 'Happy?'

Answer: 'How could I not be?'

Question: “You’re becoming something of a specialist in scoring four goals in a game”, which is more of a statement than a question, but let’s not split hairs.

Answer: “That’s true. I managed it last year too, against Catania and Foggia.”

Leaving aside what this tells us about journalism in the old days and footballers’ egos, it is all true: this was Roberto Boninsegna’s third four-goal haul in just over a year.

The match was Inter vs. Cagliari, a fixture that held particular significance for him. He had spent three seasons in Sardinia, coming close to winning the Scudetto before leaving for Milano. Cagliari would go on to claim the title after his departure. But this did not matter, as Boninsegna would soon make up for it by winning the Scudetto in 1971. He came in from behind to beat AC Milan, with Bonimba, as Gianni Brera called him, leading the way. He finished with 24 goals, five more than the runner-up, including the spectacular overhead kick that mathematically sealed the title.

That overhead kick would one day feature in one of the most famous monologues in Italian cinema, delivered by Stefano Accorsi in Luciano Ligabue’s Radiofreccia. But that is another story, one we will tell you another time.

This is the story of Roberto Boninsegna, a man who wanted to join Inter at any cost and went on to enjoy some fantastic years at the club. He could score against anyone, even Brazil, with Pelé, in the final, and for him, scoring four goals in a single game was almost routine. Not the tallest of strikers, he was nevertheless unbeatable in the air and in acrobatic situations. In that respect, he had a lot in common with Lautaro Martinez, and his full repertoire was on display in the four-goal haul against Cagliari. Two headers, outjumping everyone; a poacher’s finish, capitalising on a mistake by his marker; and, to round things off, a second-touch free-kick, blasted into the net with a thunderous left foot.

13 October 1974, Inter 4-1 Cagliari, four goals from Boninsegna. Just another day at the office.