2002–03 Inter Milan season

Internazionale
2002–03 season
Chairman	Massimo Moratti
Manager	Héctor Cúper
Serie A	2nd
Coppa Italia	Last 16
Champions League	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	Christian Vieri (24)
	← 2001–02 2003–04 →

F.C. Internazionale Milano once again missed out on winning the Italian championship, despite the signings of star players Hernán Crespo and Fabio Cannavaro. The chance to clinch the title was still there when the team travelled to Torino to meet Juventus. An early own goal by Guly messed up Inter's gameplan, and Juventus ran out with a comfortable 3-0 victory.

Prior to the season, World Cup topscorer Ronaldo had a controversial departure from the club, when he was signed as the third of Real Madrid's galácticos under the patronship of Florentino Pérez. Due to the sudden nature of the transfer, Inter had to find a quick solution for a replacement. It did not believe Bernardo Corradi was good enough to play alongside Christian Vieri, so therefore it swapped him and a significant amount of money for Lazio striker Hernán Crespo. The 2001 topscorer Crespo failed to be a hit in his new club, but that was compensated by the manic goalscoring force of Christian Vieri, who hit the peak in his career with 24 goals in only 23 games. Had it not been for several injuries, Vieri could easily have struck the net 30 times.

The season also marked the highlight of Turkish playmaker Emre Belözoğlu's career, marked with two sensational goals in a 3-3 thriller against Lazio in December. Several other players also performed at a high level, although the side did not look as stable as it had when almost winning the Serie A the previous season.

Squad

Squad at end of season^[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ITA	Francesco Toldo
2	DF	COL	Iván Córdoba
3	FW	SLE	Mohamed Kallon
4	DF	ARG	Javier Zanetti (captain)
5	MF	TUR	Emre Belözoglu
6	MF	ITA	Cristiano Zanetti
7	MF	POR	Sérgio Conçeicão
8	DF	CZE	Madal Trečko
9	FW	ARG	Hernán Crespo
10	MF	ITA	Domenico Morfeo
11	MF	ARG	Guly
12	GK	ITA	Alberto Fontana
13	DF	ITA	Fabio Cannavaro
14	MF	ITA	Luigi Di Biagio
15	DF	ITA	Daniele Adani
16	DF	URU	Gonzalo Sorondo
17	DF	ITA	Michele Serena
18	MF	FRA	Stéphane Dalmat
19	FW	ARG	Gabriel Batistuta (on loan from Roma)
20	FW	URU	Álvaro Recoba


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	MF	ITA	Nicola Beati
22	MF	TUR	Okan Buruk
23	DF	ITA	Marco Materazzi
24	DF	PAR	Carlos Gamarra
25	MF	ARG	Matias Almeyda
26	DF	ITA	Giovanni Pasquale
27	GK	FRA	Mathieu Moreau
30	FW	NGA	Obafemi Martins
31	DF	ARG	Nelson Vivas
32	FW	ITA	Christian Vieri
34	FW	ITA	Mattia Altobelli
40	DF	ITA	Luca Franchini
41	MF	ITA	Nicola Napolitano
43	DF	ITA	Alessandro Potenza
44	MF	ITA	Mario Rebecchi
45	FW	BRA	Wellington
65	GK	ITA	Enrico Rossi Chauvenet
67	DF	ITA	Francesco Coco

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
8	MF	ESP	Francisco Farinos (on loan to Villarreal)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
39	DF	ITA	Salvatore Ferraro (on loan to Prato)

Transfers

In

Daniele Adani - Fiorentina, 5 August, free
Hernán Crespo - Lazio, 31 August, €38,000,000 (€26,000,000 + Bernardo Corradi)
Domenico Morfeo - Fiorentina
Fabio Cannavaro - Parma, €23,000,000
Gabriel Batistuta - Roma, loan
Carlos Gamarra - AEK Athens
Matías Almeyda - Parma, part-exchange
Wellington - Vasco da Gama
Francesco Coco - Milan, part-exchange

Out

Bernardo Corradi - Lazio, 31 August, part-exchange
Vratislav Greško - Parma, part-exchange
Grigoris Georgatos - AEK Athens
Adriano - Parma, co-ownership
Matteo Ferrari - Parma
Alex Cordaz - Spezia, loan
Goran Pandev - Spezia, loan
Ronaldo - Real Madrid, €46,000,000
Clarence Seedorf - Milan, €28,000,000 (undisclosed sum + Francesco Coco)
Dario Šimić - Milan
Francisco Farinos - Villarreal, loan
Salvatore Ferraro - Prato, loan

Results

Serie A

1	Internazionale	1–0	Torino
	Vieri 23'

2	Reggina	1–2	Internazionale
	Nakamura 90+2' (pen.)		Vieri 7' Recoba 90+3'

3	Internazionale	2–1	Chievo
	Vieri 15', 78' (pen.)		Marazzina 3'

4	Piacenza	1–4	Internazionale
	Maresca 73'		Di Biagio 36', 51' Recoba 69' Crespo 85'

5	Internazionale	1–1	Juventus
	Vieri 90+5'		Del Piero 89' (pen.)

6	Internazionale	2–0	Bologna
	Materazzi 67' Vieri 90+2'

7	Como	0–2	Internazionale
			Vieri 58' Recoba 65'

8	Empoli	3–4	Internazionale
	Di Natale 16' Vannucchi 61' Tavano 90+2'		Crespo 6' J. Zanetti 11' Recoba 51' Adani 85'

9	Internazionale	1–2	Udinese
	Vieri 3'		Jørgensen 25' Muzzi 55'

10	Roma	2–2	Internazionale
	Montella 59' Batistuta 73'		Morfeo 58' Okan 89'

11	Milan	1–0	Internazionale
	Serginho 12'

12	Internazionale	4–0	Brescia
	Vieri 3', 13', 58', 89'

13	Lazio	3–3	Internazionale
	C. López 10' (pen.), 30', 36'		Couto 37' (o.g.) Emre 66', 75'

14	Internazionale	1–0	Atalanta
	Kallon 70'

15	Parma	1–2	Internazionale
	J. Zanetti 55' (o.g.)		Di Biagio 37' Recoba 75' (pen.)

16	Internazionale	2–0	Modena
	Recoba 6' Crespo 22'

17	Perugia	4–1	Internazionale
	Zé Maria 9' (pen.) Vryzas 34', 63' Fusani 55'		Vieri 79'

18	Internazionale	3–0	Empoli
	Vieri 69', 73', 85'

19	Torino	0–2	Internazionale
			Vieri 50' Okan 56'

20	Internazionale	3–0	Reggina
	Vieri 10' Kallon 39', 43' (pen.)

21	Chievo	2–1	Internazionale
	Corini 22' (pen.), 36' (pen.)		Vieri 69'

22	Internazionale	3–1	Piacenza
	Batistuta 64' Vieri 65', 67'		Hübner 90'

23	Juventus	3–0	Internazionale
	Guly 4' (o.g.) Nedvěd 34' Camoranesi 83'

24	Bologna	1–2	Internazionale
	Cruz 24'		Recoba 9', 85'

25	Internazionale	4–0	Como
	Batistuta 14' Di Biagio 25' Vieri 56', 76'

26	Udinese	2–1	Internazionale
	Muzzi 48' Iaquinta 59'		Córdoba 73'

27	Internazionale	3–3	Roma
	Vieri 52' Recoba 59' Emre 77'		Cassano 46' Di Biagio 82' (o.g.) Montella 84'

28	Internazionale	0–1	Milan
			Inzaghi 62'

29	Brescia	0–1	Internazionale
			Crespo 90+3'

30	Internazionale	1–1	Lazio
	Crespo 43'		S. Inzaghi 77'

31	Atalanta	1–1	Internazionale
	Gautieri 71'		Martins 13'

32	Internazionale	1–1	Parma
	Kallon 36'		Mutu 63'

33	Modena	0–2	Internazionale
			Pavan 28' (o.g.) Kallon 36'

34	Internazionale	2–2	Perugia
	Crespo 10', 56'		Obodo 46' Di Loreto 89'

Coppa Italia

Champions League

Sporting CP 0-0 Inter
Inter 2-0 Sporting CP

First group stage

17 September 2002	Rosenborg	2 – 2	Internazionale	Lerkendal Stadion, Trondheim
20:45	Karadas 52', 65'	Report	Crespo 33', 79'	Referee: Juan Antonio Fernandez Marin (Spain)

25 September 2002	Internazionale	1 – 0	Ajax	San Siro, Milan
20:45	Crespo 75'	Report		Referee: Stuart Dougal (Scotland)

2 October 2002	Internazionale	1 – 2	Lyon	San Siro, Milan
20:45	Caçapa 73' (o.g.)	Report	Govou 21' Anderson 60'	Referee: Manuel Mejuto González (Spain)

22 October 2002	Lyon	3 – 3	Internazionale	Stade de Gerland, Lyon
20:45	Anderson 21', 75' Carrière 44'	Report	Caçapa 31' (o.g.) Crespo 56', 66'	Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)

30 October 2002	Internazionale	3 – 0	Rosenborg	San Siro, Milan
20:45	Recoba 31' Saarinen 52' (o.g.) Crespo 72'	Report		Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)

12 November 2002	Ajax	1 – 2	Internazionale	Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam
20:45	Van der Vaart 90+4'	Report	Crespo 50', 52'	Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland)

Second group stage

27 November 2002	Newcastle United	1 – 4	Internazionale	St. James' Park, Newcastle
20:45	Solano 72'	Report	Morfeo 2' Almeyda 35' Crespo 45' Recoba 81'	Referee: Stéphane Bré (France)

10 December 2002	Internazionale	3 – 2	Bayer Leverkusen	Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
20:45	Di Biagio 15', 27' Butt 80' (o.g.)	Report	Živković 63' França 90'	Referee: Hugh Dallas (Scotland)

18 February 2003	Barcelona	3 – 0	Internazionale	Camp Nou, Barcelona
20:45	Saviola 7' Cocu 29' Kluivert 67'	Report		Attendance: 80,000 Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)

26 February 2003	Internazionale	0 – 0	Barcelona	Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
20:45		Report		Attendance: 71,740 Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland)

11 March 2003	Internazionale	2 – 2	Newcastle United	Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
20:45	Vieri 47' Córdoba 61'	Report	Shearer 42', 49'	Referee: Lucílio Batista (Portugal)

19 March 2003	Bayer Leverkusen	0 – 2	Internazionale	BayArena, Leverkusen
20:45		Report	Martins 36' Emre 90'	Referee: Valentin Ivanov (Russia)

Quarter-finals

9 April 2003	Internazionale	1 – 0	Valencia	San Siro, Milan
20:45	Vieri 14'	Report		Attendance: 52,623 Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)

22 April 2003	Valencia	2 – 1	Internazionale	Estadio Mestalla, Valencia
20:45	Aimar 7' Baraja 51'	Report	Vieri 5'	Attendance: 48,000 Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)

Semi-finals

7 May 2003	Milan	0 – 0	Internazionale	San Siro, Milan
20:45		Report		Attendance: 78,175 Referee: Valentin Ivanov (Russia)

13 May 2003	Internazionale	1 – 1	Milan	San Siro, Milan
20:45	Martins 84'	Report	Shevchenko 45+1'	Attendance: 76,854 Referee: Gilles Veissière (France)

Top scorers

References

^ http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/italy/2002-2003/seriea/inter.htm

Sources

- RSSSF Italy 2002/03

Template:2002-03 in Serie A

[1] ttp://www.footballsquads.co.uk/italy/2002-2003/seriea/inter.htm

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