Paolo Tramezzani: Inter dream and Spurs surprise

Paolo Tramezzani made arguably the two biggest moves of his career to the two clubs involved in Wednesday night’s Champions League clash at Wembley.

A former Inter youth team player in the 1980s, the long-haired left-back returned ‘home’ to the Nerazzurri in 1992 following spells learning his trade in the Italian lower leagues with Prato, Cosenza and Lucchese.

He went on to win the UEFA Cup with Inter in 1994 and made 34 senior appearances for them, but was on the move again soon afterwards to Venezia, before joining Cesena and then-Serie A side Piacenza.

Then came an unexpected phone call from London.

“When the Spurs manager, Christian Gross, called me in 1998 I was surprised because English football is so great,” recalled Paolo, speaking to us a few days ago in his new role as manager of Cypriot side APOEL – familiar opponents to us after our meetings at this stage of the Champions League just last season.

“Serie A was at that moment at a high level, like the Premier League, but I followed English football and Tottenham was one of the most historic clubs. I remember that Piacenza didn’t want me to move but Tottenham tried to take me and they got it done.

“I was so happy and I remember everything about my arrival. There was also Nicola Berti, who joined Tottenham six months before me. Coming from Italy himself, he called me every day to try to persuade me to join and I was happy when the two clubs agreed the deal.”

For a man who had spent his entire playing career in his homeland, the chance to test himself on the Premier League stage represented a fresh new challenge.

A goal on his non-competitive debut in a pre-season friendly at Peterborough offered promise and he featured seven times at the start of the 1998/99 campaign, including one appearance in the early stages of a League Cup run that would end in success against Leicester City at Wembley later that season.

Unfortunately for Paolo, when the final came around, he could only watch from the stands as Allan Nielsen plundered our late winner. He was laid low with an Achilles injury in late-1998 and by the time he returned to fitness a couple of months later, George Graham had taken over as manager with the fair-haired full-back unable to force his way into his plans.

“I was starting games in the Premier League and the cup, but then in October I damaged my Achilles tendon,” he said. “I made it through the operation, but to not play for several months was very hard.

“David (Ginola) was the star at that time. He is one of the best players to have ever played – he was unbelievable. He played in front of me on the left side and he certainly made a difference! He was a fantastic player with the ball and a leader on the pitch. I remember when he was on the pitch, the Tottenham fans were crazy for him!”

With his Spurs career at an end, Paolo returned to Italy in 2000, turning out for Pistoiese, Piacenza again and then Atalanta before finishing off his playing days as captain of Pro Patria in the third-tier Serie C1, where he operated in midfield.

Looking back now, the 48-year-old admits playing top-level football with Inter in Serie A was particularly meaningful.

“I made my debut in Serie A for Inter in 1992, but I grew up there because I started playing in the academy when I was nine years old. Then I moved for three years to get some experience in the second division in Italy, so to be back at Inter playing with my team in Serie A, it was like a dream,” he said. “Winning the UEFA Cup in 1993/94 was fantastic too. It was not an easy moment for Inter because AC Milan were on the top of the world – they had an unbelievable team and they won the Champions League and Serie A, so to win the UEFA Cup was very important. At least it said, ‘AC Milan might be top of the league but Inter can do something as well.’”

Paolo is now in charge of APOEL in Cyprus having previously been at the helm of Lugano and Sion in Switzerland. Prior to that, he spent five years as assistant manager of the Albania national team between 2011 and 2016.

“I arrived here at APOEL about two months ago and I have everything here to build up the team to develop,” he said. “We’ve started well but it’s not easy because last year the club won the league and now every other team wants to try to stop us. It won’t be easy this season but I’m hopeful we can be at the top. I also hope that we can play against Tottenham, maybe next season in Europe, because I know that both clubs played each other a year ago!”