On 31 May 2009, fifteen years ago, Inter-Atalanta was played at San Siro. And Luis Figo said goodbye to football, after a career that was anything but banal, between Barcelona and Real Madrid, Portugal and Inter. Extraordinary transfers, Golden ball and pigs’ heads on the pitch. He was a generational talent, in that Portugal that always seemed like it could reach the stars, only to then fall back and die in beauty, like the Yugoslavia of the times. With a center forward the story would have been different, you have to believe and think so.
Inter-Atalanta ends 4-3 with braces from Ibrahimovic and Doni. Then Cambiasso, Cigarini and Muntari. She will then end up in the football betting meat grinder some time later but will be declassified at the end of the championship match, with many goals and little motivation, if not for the scoreboard. The official announcement of her farewell arrives on the Inter website. “Dear Friends of Inter, tomorrow, 31 May 2009 will be my last Sunday as a footballer. Together with the friends of Sporting Lisbon, Barcelona, Real Madrid and the Portuguese national team I want to thank all of you, Nerazzurri fans, who have shown me affection since the first day in Milan. I am very pleased that the last Sunday as a footballer is, for me and for all of us at Inter, a Sunday of celebration for the success of the fourth consecutive scudetto true goal of my career. To win everything I could win…And to win I only knew one path, that of sacrifice and work”.
“We have come a long way together and for this I want to thank president Moratti, the coaches, all my teammates, all the people at the club that I have met and worked with. If I had a good time in Milan, it is thanks to them. Football has given me a lot, but above all it has given me the opportunity to meet wonderful people, friends who will remain forever, and in this group, president Moratti and those I met here, in the Nerazzurri environment, will have a special place like everyone else you, dear fans. Never having had a problem with a single teammate of mine is the best trophy of my career. To all the Inter fans, a sincere hug and the belief that Inter will continue to work to win more and more . With love, Luis Figo”.