There is nothing more exciting in the footballing world than derby* matches. Even major cup match finals can come in a close second. The reason behind the importance for most footballing fans may vary depending on your background, but one thing is for certain, they are always more often than not, some of the most hotly contested meetings in the footballing world. But what really constitutes a great derby match? Is it the constant demand for perfection from the faithful that pressures the players to raise their performances to extraordinary levels, or is it just the amount of club pride that has been ingrained into the players that fuel this fire? Whatever it is it works.
I've been privy to more than my fair share of football derby matches over the years, but very few can compare to the 270th Derby della Madonnina. To anyone that missed it this weekend, my condolences. AC Milan and Internazionale played as if there was no tomorrow, and there very well might not have been. AC were fighting to remain in the Scudetto race, whilst Inter were lone leaders at the top of the pack with 8 points separating them from their cross town rivals, 7 from second place Juventus so both teams had it all to play for.
Derby's tend to bring out the best in players, or very close to it. Only on the odd occasion, one player might 'pop down' or 'buckle' under the pressure. This game game had a bit of both. Ronaldinho, who has been struggling to find his best form of recent, shone like a lighthouse on a dark night. For the first half he was AC's ray of light. All their attacks seemed to be channeled through him and channel he did. He was a constant threat with his array of passing skills and flicks. From the blue half of Milan, it was also a Brazilian that seemed to light up the derby with a sudden surge to form. Adriano has been much maligned with poor performances under Mr. Mourinho, but tonight he showed glimmers of the Adriano of old. With his confidence sky high, he bagged the first goal of the game and almost added two more to that tally.
Another highlight for me are the mentalities of some of the youth that have the privilege to play in these matches. Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva, aka Alexandre Pato, was not his usual composed , confident self in this match. Someone once told me that the difference between a good player and a great player is that great players usually find it in themselves to perform even when they aren't at their best. 'The Duck' did just that. After a rather mundane performance by his standards, the youngster still found the back of the net and continued his wonderful form of late, 9 goals in 10 games. Unfortunately this was not enough to lift Milan to victory but it did save them a lot of face. Another youngster of note in the match, is relatively unknown Davide Santon. This 18 year old surely raised a few eyebrows with his display. He effectively erased David Beckham from the game and apart from a few juvenile errors had a wonderful game.
As i mentioned before some players don't cope well with the added responsibility of having to represent such a small vociferous populace over 90 minutes of battle. These players are usually instantly tossed into the dog house by the fans, and are generally looked at more critically than others. Whereas players like Ronaldinho and Adriano, so called fringe players now, shone, other like 'The Golden Balls' lost their luster. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt though, because he has put in some invaluable performances for AC this term. Also I read somewhere that he got injured during the game. I probably went for a drink when this occurred. He's married to a spice girl, so I'll lay off of Mr. Beckham for now, at least until after March when we see if he stays in Italy or reverts to 'sweatin' in the MLS.
All in all, this game lived up to, maybe even surpassed the true meaning of a Derby. There were a ton of highs, very few lows and enough to keep fans of the teams as well as the neutrals heavily entertained for the entire 94 minutes. Next on the Calender of Derbies, El Clasico. I can't wait.
*A derby match is one in which two teams from the same city compete against each other.
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