Inter Milan Foreign Players All-Time Team

This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams.  This blog was one of them.  It was my Russia All-Time Team here.  His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.   His Spartak Moscow All-Time team entry of was published in October 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2017.  His entry of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.  He also copied many many of my blog entries.

His Facebook and Instagram

Milito, Zanetti and Cambiasso

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.
AC Milan All-Time Team
AC Milan All-Time Italian Team
AC Milan All-Time Foreign Player Team
Inter Milan All-Time Team 
Inter Milan All-Time Team for Italian players
Juventes All-Time Team for Foreign Players

AC Milan, Juventus, Inter Milan,
Roma, Lazio, Torino, Napoli, Fiorentina,
Sampdoria, Geona, Bologna, Parma, Udinese

Inter Milan was founded on 9 March 1908 as Football Club Internazionale, following the schism with the Milan Cricket and Football Club (now A.C. Milan). The name of the club derives from the wish of its founding members to accept foreign players as well as Italians.  Since its beginning, the club was associated with international players.

Inter Milan won back-to-back European Cup in the early 1960's.  Led by Coach Helenio Herrera, the team was known as "La Grande Inter".  Herrera introduced a new tactics that would changed Italian football.  His method revolutionized the Italian "Catenaccio", a defensive tactics used by the Italians.   Under Herrera, Inter Milan played with hard-tackling defenders and overlapping fullbacks.  In 2009-2010, Inter Milan won the Champions League again under Jose Mourinho.

Giovanni Trapattoni and the German trinity

Team
GK: Julio Cesar (Brazil)
Julio Cesar was awarded the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year title in both 2009 and 2010.  He won the Champions' League with Inter Milan in 2010.  He won 87 international caps for the Seleção between 2004 and 2014. He was selected for the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cups, in addition to two Copa América tournaments. Unfortunately, he was remembered for a few poor performance for Brazil at the WC Finals.

GK: Sébastien Frey (France)
At the club level, Frey played for Internazionale, Verona, Parma, Fiorentina, Genoa and Bursaspor. His longest stints were with Parma and Fiorentina.  At the international level, he was considered one of the best French goalkeepers of his generation.  However, he was overlooked by manager Raymond Domenech.  He earned two caps between 2007 and 2008.  He was a backup player at the European Championship in 2008.

GK: Samir Handanović (Slovenia)
From 2004, Samir Handanović  was capped over 70 times for Slovenia.  He went to the World Cup Finals in 2010.  For club football, he was best remembered as a top keeper in Serie A.  He was voted the best keeper for 2013 in Italy.   He is one of only three non-Italian keepers to be named Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year, winning the honor twice. He is nicknamed Batman due to his acrobatic saves.

RB: Javier Zanetti (Argentina)
Javier Zanetti was the starting rightback for Inter Milan for almost 20 years.  He served as their captain from 1999, earning him the nickname "Il Capitano" (The Captain).  He held all kind of appearance records in Italy.  He widely considered to be Argentina's best ever rightback.  He holds the record of the most capped player in the history of the Argentine national team and played in the 1996 Olympic tournament, five Copa América tournaments and two World Cups, in 1998 and 2002.

Javier Zanetti 

RB: Maicon (Brazil)
Maicon started his career with Cruzeiro before heading to Europe.  He first played for Monaco and then, joined Inter Milan in 2006.  At Inter Milan, he was widely considered to be the best rightback in the world. He won the Champions' League in 2010.  He later played for AS Roma. At the international level, he earned 76 caps for Brazil, appearing in the World Cup Finals in 2010 and 2014.

RB/CB:  Ivan Cordoba (Colombia)
Ivan Cordoba is one of Colombia's greatest defenders.  He earned over 70 caps for Colombia. He captained Colombia to win the 2001 Copa América competition, scoring the only goal in the final. Córdoba also played for his country in France 1998. He was one of the best defenders in Serie A during his time in Italy.  He spent 12 seasons with Inter Milan between 2000 and 2012, winning the Champions' League in 2010. He also played in Argentina and his native Colombia.

CB: Walter Samuel (Argentina)
Samuel began his career with Newell's Old Boys in 1996, moving to Boca Juniors year later.  In Europe, he played with Roma, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. With Inter Milan, he won five consecutive Serie A titles; he played a key role in the club's treble success in the 2009–10 season, partnering with Lúcio in defence under José Mourinho. At international level, he has over 50 caps for Argentina, representing his country at two World Cups.

CB: Lucio (Brazil)
Lucio was the star of the 2002 World Cup winning team. He earned 105 caps for Brazil.  At the club level, Lúcio began his professional career in 1998 with Sport Club Internacional.  He reached the Champions' League final with Bayer Leverkusen in 2002.  In 2004, he moved to Bayern Munich, where he won one German Cup and three Bundesliga titles. He also helped Inter Milan win the 2010 Champions League against his former club Bayern Munich in Final.  

CB/LB: Christian Chivu  (Romania)
Christian Chivu was most prominently played professionally for Ajax and Inter Milan. His honours at Inter included a treble of league, cup and the UEFA Champions League in 2010. Chivu's first professional clubs were FCM Reșița and FC Universitatea Craiova. He also played for Ajax and Roma before joining Inter Milan.  He earned 75 caps between 1999 and 2010, and was part of Romania's squads for UEFA European Championships in 2000 and 2008. 

Christian Chivu  

LB: Andreas Brehme (Germany)
Andreas Brehme is best remembered for his career with Kaiserslautern and Inter Milan.  He was the Serie A Foreign Player of the Year in 1989, in an era where the best players played in Italy.  He was an important player for West Germany in the 1990 WC Finals, where he scored the winning goal in the Final. He had 86 caps and attended the World Cup Finals of 1986 and 1994.

CM:  Lothar Matthaus (Germany)
Lothar Matthaus captained the West German national team in winning the World Cup in 1990.  He was the European Player of the Year and the first ever World Player of the year in 1990. He played in five FIFA World Cups (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998), a record for an outfield player, and holds the record for the most World Cup matches played by a single player (25 games). He also won the Euro 1980 in Italy, and played in the 1984, 1988, and 2000 European Championships.

Lothar Matthaus

CM: Esteban Cambiasso (Argentina)
Esteban Cambiasso has won 23 official titles, being the Argentine footballer with most honours in history. The majority of his titles were won during his ten seasons at Internazionale, including five Scudetti and the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League. He also played for River Plate, Independiente, Real Madrid, Leicester City and Olympiacos. Cambiasso won 52 caps for Argentina, and represented the country at the 2006 World Cup.

CM:  Luis Suarez Miramontes (Spain)
Luis Suarez Miramontes was considered to be Spain's greatest player until 1970's.  He won Ballon d'Or in 1960.  In 1964, he led La Roja in winning the European Championship.  For club football, he was a member of "Grande Inter" and won two consecutive European Cups with Inter Milan. He is also considered an all-time great with Barcelona, where he played with Ladislao Kubala, Zoltán Czibor, Sándor Kocsis, Ramallets and Evaristo.

RW: Jair da Costa (Brazil) 
Jair played with Portuguese before heading to Europe after the World Cup Finals in 1962.  In Europe, he was a part of La Grande Inter.  He also won 4 Serie A titles and 2 European Cup with Inter Milan.  He had one spell at Roma between two spells with Inter Milan. He returned to Brazil and played for Santos in 1972. His international career was limited by playing in the same position as Garrincha.  He was a non-playing memeber of the 1962 World Cup winning team.

Jair

RM/CM: Dejan Stanković (Serbia)
Stanković was the Serbian Player of the Year twice: 2006 and 2010. He began playing football for Red Star Belgrade before moving to Lazio in 1998.  From 2004 to 2013, he played for Inter Milan, where he won 5 league titles and one Champions League title.  At the international level, he became the first player to have represented three different national teams in the World Cup: FR Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia.  He is Serbia's most capped player.

LW/FW: Istvan Nyers (Hungary)
Istvan Nyers was of the same age as the members of the Mighty Magyars, but he was not a member of them.  He was capped twice by Hungary between 1945 and 1946. Born in France of Hungarian immigrants, he moved back to Hungary and played for various numbers of clubs in Eastern Europe.   He joined Inter Milan in 1948, where he won two Serie A titles and finished as the top scorer of the league.

LW: Lennart Skoglund (Sweden)
Lennart Skoglund is regarded as one of Sweden's greatest players.  He played in Italy from 1950 to 1963.  His best stint was probably with Inter Milan.  He also played for  Hammarby IF, Sampdoria and Palermo.  He only had 11 caps because Sweden's ban on professional players. He was a star in the World Cup Finals in 1950, where Sweden finished 3rd behind Uruguay and Brazil.  He also played in 1958, where they finished 2nd.

Lennart Skoglund 

FW: Attilio Demaría (Argentina)
At international level, Demaría also represented Argentina in the 1930 World Cup and Italy in the 1934 World Cup, winning the latter edition of the competition. At the club level, he began with Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata. In 1931, he moved to play in Italy.  He played for Inter Milan between 1931 and 1943.  He also played for Estudiantil Porteño and Club Atlético Independiente in Argentina and Novara, Legnano and Cosenza in Italy.

AM: Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
Sneijder emerged from the Ajax Academy before making to the first team in 2002.  He moved to Real Madrid in 2007, where he won a La Liga title in 2006-2007.  He also won a Champions' League title with Inter Milan in 2009-2010.  At the time of writing, he has 114 caps for Netherlands.  He was the star player for Holland as they reached the Final of South Africa 2010. He won the Silver Ball.  He moved to Galatasaray in 2013.

FW:  Faas Wilkes (Netherlands)
Faas Wilkes was one of the first Dutch player to play aboard.  In 1949, he joined Inter Milan, where he had the best of his career.  He also had a great career with Valencia..  He was considered to Holland's best player until the emerge of the Golden Generation of the 1970's. He was capped 38 times scoring 35 goals.  He was banned from the national team between 1949 and 1955 because KNVB did not select professional players. He was Neterlands' all-time leading scorer until 1998.

Faas Wilkes 

CF: Antonio Angelillo (Argentina/Italy)
Antonio Angelillo was a member of the "Angeles With Dirty Faces" of Argentina. He moved  in 1957 to Italy after Argentina won the Copa America in 1957.  He scored 31 goals in 31 matches for Inter Milan in the 1958-59 season, the second highest record at the time. He also played with Roma, Genoa, Lecce and AC Milan.  He was with AC Milan when they won the European Cup, but he did not play. He earned 2 caps for Italy.

ST: Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany)
Klinsmann won the World Cup in 1990 and then, captained the 1996 European Championship winning team.  He played in all major international tournaments from 1988 until his retirement in 1998.  He had successful club spells with Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspurs. He was a popular player while in England, despite a lot of negative press at the time of his signing.  He won both the FWA Footballer of the Year and PFA Player of the Year in 1995.

ST: Diego Milito (Argentina)
Diego Milito began his club career with Racing Club in 1999.  He starred at both Genoa and Real Zaragoza. He is best remembered for playing with Inter Milan. He scored 32 goals in all competitions including two goals in the 2010 Champions League Final against Bayern Munich.  It was the club's 2009–10 treble-winning season. Milito earned 25 caps for Argentina. He represented his country in two Copa América, and at the 2010 World Cup Finals.

Diego Milito 

ST: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was born in  Sweden of Bosnian-Croat origin.  He won Sweden Player of the Year 11 times.  He was the Serie A Player of the Year for 5 times.   He played with Malmo, Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris St.Germain and now, Manchester United.  He is currently the second-most decorated active footballer in the world, having won 32 trophies in his career. At the time of writing, he has over 116 caps.  He is the all-time leading scorer for Sweden.  

ST: Ronaldo (Brazil)
Ronaldo was widely considered among the greatest ever to have play the game.  He led Brazil to two World Cup Finals match, winning the one in 2002.  He scored 8 goals in 2002.  He was the winner of Ballon d'Or twice and the FIFA World Player of the Year three times.  He is the second top-scorer in World Cup history.  He played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid, and for both AC Milan and Inter Milan. 

Ronaldo

Honorable Mention
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Germany), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Adriano (Brazil), Youri Djorkaeff, Álvaro Recoba (Uruguay), Attilio Demaría (Argentina), Rubén Sosa (Uruguay), Mauro Icardi (Argentina), Hernan Crespo (Argentina), Ramon Diaz (Argentina).

Squad Explanation
-- The following players were also on my Inter Milan's all-time team: Javier Zanetti, Andreas Brehme, Lothar Matthaus, Luis Suarez Miramontes, Istvan Nyers, Lennart Skoglund, Wesley Sneijder, Jair de Costa and Antonio Angelillo.
-- Antonio Angelillo played for Argentina before switching to play for Italy.  I considered him to be a foreign player and eligible for this team.
-- Javier Zanetti (Argentina) is the all-time appearance leader for the club.  
-- Andreas Brehme won the Serie A Foreign Player of the Year in 1989, in an era where the best players played in Italy.  It was especially special that he was a fullback, a position rarely recognised by the awards.
-- I normally selected 8 defenders for most of my all-time teams.  For Inter Milan, I have 7 solid defenders, but the 8th one was difficult. Laurent Blanc and Daniel Passarella also played for them, but their careers here were almost forgotten. Yuto Nagatomo (Japan) had played over 200 times for the club. He was unsung hero for the club. However, Chivu could easily serve as the backup left back.  Let's say I could not drop Jurgen Klinsmann and Samuel Eto'o(see below). So I only took 7 defenders and gave the spot to an attacker.
-- Wesley Sneijder won the Champions' league for Nerazzurri as one of their best players.
-- For me, Ronaldo is not an automatic selection for this team.  However, he is one of the first four players selected to Inter Milan's Hall of Fame in 2018.  His performance in his first two seasons were that of one of the greatest ever seen in Italy.  Although I felt his career with Inter Milan was marked with injuries, he still made the team.
-- Zlatan Ibrahimović was also not an automatic selection in the beginning, but I realised that he was Serie A Footballer of the Year twice while playing for Inter Milan. He was the best player in Italy while playing for Inter Milan. Diego Milito also won the award in 2010.  
-- Diego Milito was Serie A Player of the Year in 2010. He also played 5 seasons with the club, which made him ahead of Jurgen Klinsmann and Samuel Eto'o.
-- The 25th spot was decided between Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany) and Attilio Demaría (Argentina).
--  In the end, Attilio Demaría (Argentina) made the team because he played for Inter Milan between 1931 and 1936.  I do not know much about him, but he was Inter Milan's oldest foreign player of note mentioned.  His name was also everywhere. He was also a pioneer with the club. He got one of the remaining two spots.
-- Klinsmann played one more season than Eto'o, but Eto'o won a Champions' League.  Their total goal tally was almost the same(but Eto'o had better goal/game ratio).  Klinsmann edged out Eto'o largely because of historical aspect.  He was a part of the German "trinity" in an era, where Italy was considered to be at its greatest.  The German trinity was a big part of Inter Milan. After careful study, I decided to take both of them and only selected 7 defenders, instead of 8.
-- Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's career with Inter Milan was marked by injuries. His goal tally was actually not bad, but I put him behind Demaria, Klinsmann and Etoo for the final two spots.
-- Mauro Icardi was playing in an era where Inter Milan was not so successful. He did not have the same international reputation of other players who had played for them.  Nevertheless, he had scored over 100 goals for them, which was an achievement hard to ignore.  I did not seriously consider him for the team, but he deserved a place on honourable mention based upon his goal output.  He was important to Inter Milan at his generation.

-- Inter Milan signed Rabah Madjer in 1988, but he failed the medical test.   So the club turned to Ramon Diaz. Diaz's career here was basically forgotten.  He won the scudetti here while scoring 15 goals.  However, the club brought in Klinsmann the following season and the club could only keep three foreigners at the time.  He left Inter Milan for AS Monaco after a single season. 

Formation