The year Sylvester Stallone played football
As the 2024 UEFA Champions league season licks off with an all-new league format which I am already finding hard to follow, I cast my mind back to the 2010 edition won by Inter Milan. It was, for me, a representation of magic, mastery and mania. An edition I remember with cherished nostalgia that I tagged “The year Sylvester Stallone played football.”
Doppelgangers in football or any field of human endeavour is not new, but that of Sylvester Stallone and Diego Milito is an exception to the rule. More like they were moulded of the same clay, on the same day and blessed with the same look and technics but separated by time and profession. It goes beyond the looks and extends to their art.
Diego Milito was Rambo, a character played by Sylvester Stallone, on the field. Deployed by Jose Mourinho as the perfect executioner for his counterattack style of rugged and tactical football, his presence put a golden crown on the team’s fluid transformation from defense to offense. Milito played with so much confidence and technicality that compliment his killer instincts in front of goal. From deft touches and smooth runs to swift turns and curling shots, he was a marksman who pulled the trigger with joy! He left defenders for dead in one-on-one situations, and made goalkeepers wished they were not in goal. If for anything, John Terry, the then Chelsea Captain, won’t forget how he was rooted to one spot same as the Bayern Munich defenders in the final where he scored two goals and won the Champions League for Inter.
Old is gold as the saying goes, despite any development, I think the old UCL format still tops it for me. The fever of the first round matches to the nerve endings of the 2nd round elimination and you begin to dream of your team getting to the final. It’s a new era and every era defines itself by its ideas. UEFA wants more money and football clubs too want to have a bite of the UCL cake, which means more matches and more money. It’s only a matter of time before the game is finally ruined with too many matches and player complaints.
