“It is not just a building, but the maximum sports facility, a symbol of Milan in the world.”
This is how the stadium that will host the round-trip duels between Inter and Milan for the semifinals of the Champions League, an event that will not only divide a city, but will also paralyze an entire country before a derby that will be historic. The two most powerful teams in the Italian city share a history of national and continental success, but they also share a home, something that is not common in the world, but that has become a custom there. Although, if you were to ask a typhosi of each club where your team plays, both would answer differently. Giuseppe Meazza or San Siro?
The venue that has space for 80,000 spectators and is usually the home of the Italian team is dyed red and black or blue and black every weekend, depending on who is playing. And its name has been in dispute for almost 100 years, when it began to be shared by the two giants of the city.
Actually, the stadium was built by the Milan club in 1925 and inaugurated the following year with the name New Stadio Calcistico San Siroin reference to the neighborhood of San Siro where it is. His first meeting was just the Della Madoninna derby which ended with a 6-3 victory for Inter. But in 1935 he changed ownership and its new owner became the government of the community, which after the success of the 1934 World Cup, won precisely by Italy, understood that it would be a great investment to acquire and renovate it. Thus, the venue expanded its capacity from 35,000 to 55,000, showing the world that the capital of European football was Milan.
The truth is that Milan continued to play their commitments there and, in the 1947/48 season, Inter became his home mates. Where had Inter played until then?
As if it were the story of two brothers facing each other but destined to be together, both clubs have roots in common. It is that the founders of Inter were members of what was then called Milan Foot-Ball & Cricket Clubb, who angry because the president of that institution had declared that no more foreigners would be accepted, they decided to found their own team and call it Internazionale “because we are brothers of the world”, as was shouted on that March 9, 1908 when the history of the new club began to be written.
Since then, this independent brother wandered around various courts. The first was in a sports field next to one of the city’s canals, which caused the balls to go into the water when the players missed the goal with their shots. Then, they settled for more than 25 years in Campo Goldoni, until its stands gave way during a match, leaving a balance of more than 160 injured. Given the rain of lawsuits that this brought, the insurance did not comply with the agreement and the club was on the verge of bankruptcyso he had to leave the field.
His next home was the Arena Civica, a multipurpose stadium with a capacity for 10,000 spectators that, obviously, was too small for the success of the institution that in 1947 agreed with the community government and He adopted the San Siro stadium as his new home, just like Milan.
The following years saw works that expanded the capacity and allowed the teams to play at night thanks to the lighting installation. But by then there was already a big problem among the fans, because those of Inter did not feel comfortable with the name of San Siro and they sought to rename it with something more linked to their history.
It was the leaders of both clubs who sat down to discuss what they should do with the name of the venue and they understood that it was best to find one that would leave both fans happy. The discussion was not easy, until in 1980 a drinkable option emerged: Giuseppe Meazza.
Born in Milan at the beginning of the 20th century, Giuseppe Meazza was passionate about football as a child, but had the misfortune of arriving in a world ravaged by war. At the age of seven, he lost his father in the Great War and due to the crisis that the war conflict caused in Europe, his mother was unable to feed him properly, so the physique of the Italian boy was far from be the ideal. It was so that the Milan rejected him in his teens when he appeared for some tests, but Inter opened the doors for him.
He played there between 1927 and 1940, when the club was forced to change its name to Società Sportiva Ambrosiana, because the fascists who ruled Italy did not agree with the name “Internazionale” that the institution carried. The truth is that with that shirt he won four titles (three leagues and one Italian Cup), was top scorer three times and also became a star of the national team.
the scorer Meazza won with the Azzurri the 1934 and 1938 World Cups and two Central European Cups, being then qualified as the best Milanese player of all time, becoming an idol of the people and a pride for the city. Then he had a brief stint at Milan and Juventus until his retirement at Inter in 1947.
His death in August 1979 was a shock to the city and therefore in 1980 The leaders of both clubs decided to rename the stadium “Giuseppe Meazza”, a name that remains officially up to this day.. However, the typhoid de Milan never felt comfortable with this and continue to call it “San Siro”, as in its original version.
Since then, every weekend the stadium informally changes its name depending on who is playing, and it will do so this Wednesday and next Tuesday, when the two most important clubs in the city meet in the semifinals of the Champions League, in what will be a historic crossroads for Italy and Europe. Curiously, it will be one of the last big events that it will host because the city authorities have decided to demolish it, as reported two years ago.
Incredibly, the leaders of both teams, born from the same womb but at odds for life, have agreed to build another stadium together. That is once again Inter and Milan will share a home, despite having the opportunity to build two different venues. Although there are several projects under analysis, the Milanese brothers who provide football to the city seem to be destined for coexistence.
Keep reading:
