The moment you hear Pippo Inzaghi’s name, you half expect a slim 5ft 11in bundle of sleek black curtains to nip in front of you and score a near-post tap-in. Or be flagged for making his move a fraction too soon.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s infamous “born offside” quip about Filippo Inzaghi’s modus operandi has stuck, but there was so much more in the Italian striker’s armoury, however true the kernel of Fergie’s sentiment. He had blistering acceleration, game-reading intelligence and an unerring ability to finish with either foot, or his head, all of which marked him as the last of a dying breed of poachers who lived on the shoulder of the defender.
He didn’t track back. He didn’t have the smoothest technique, nor the work rate of those tireless multi-functional forwards who dominate the modern game. All Inzaghi did was score goals – by the bucketload. Some, even the great Johan Cruyff, derided him as selfish, lucky and limited, but you don’t bag 313 career goals without knowing where the net is, at least. Only six Italians in history have notched more; none have scored more than he in the European Cup or Champions League.
Inzaghi struck 70 times in European competitions for Parma, Juventus and Milan, his typically opportunistic brace in the 2007 final against Liverpool securing a second Champions League trophy with the latter (right). For many years, he fought with Real Madrid legend Raul to be UEFA’s most prolific marksman, prior to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi dwarfing them both.
When the arch-predator retired in 2012, aged 38, he had won 12 major honours as a player, including the 2006 World Cup with Italy. Naturally, he signed off by scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory over Novara. With Pippo, Clarence Seedorf, Alessandro Nesta, Rino Gattuso and Gianluca Zambrotta all playing their final match for Milan together, Inzaghi beat the offside trap and latched onto a smart Seedorf pass to finish emphatically – and tearfully.
Having moved straight into coaching Milan’s youth teams, his first senior managerial role was a baptism of fire, replacing Seedorf at a Rossoneri side in transition. Since that single season, the poacher-turned-gamekeeper has won promotion with Venezia and Benevento either side of stints at Bologna and Brescia, before taking charge of Serie B Reggina last summer. Standing in the way of Reggina’s first top-flight season since 2008-09 are two clubs managed by Inzaghi’s old Azzurri team-mates, in Alberto Gilardino’s Genoa and Fabio Grosso’s Frosinone, although he tells us that, “Expectations are high after a very good first half of the campaign”.
The humble, smiling 49-year-old sat in front of can’t wait to revisit his own incredible career today. It begins with his childhood exploits in Piacenza, northern
