Youri Djorkaeff and the Chilean of the Century

YOURI DJORKAEFF, THE CHILEAN OF THE CENTURY AND THE RIFFS OF K. RICHARDS

Luciano Ligabue and Stefano Accorsi. What do they have in common?

Youri Djorkaeff. Because in addition to their openly Inter faith, the two – or rather, the 3 – have another dogma: the obsession with overhead kicks.

In July twenty years ago, the filming of Radiofreccia ended. The central monologue has become a famous credo .

“I believe in Bonimba’s backhanded turns in Keith Richards’ riffs.
I believe that an Inter like that of Corso, Mazzola and Suarez will never exist again,
but that doesn't mean there won't be others that are beautiful in a different way."

But there's more: in that line, "I believe in Bonimba's backhanders, in Keith Richards' riffs", lies an intimately Tacchetteean soul.

THE CHILEAN OF THE CENTURY

And then talking about bicycle kicks and artists is basically the same old story: aestheticism, recklessness and courage that first enter the goal and then into everyone's football memory, going beyond parochial beliefs. In that act there is something impossible. Or almost. A few seconds that separate a bad impression from a masterpiece. Or that often unite them, leaving the audience breathless to admire the only one of the twenty-two on the field with his head down.

In short, pure football hedonism. Natural talent or technique honed on suburban pitches in exchange for grazed knees. It doesn't matter.

What matters is that like every artistic movement, every era of football has its painters, players capable of breaking metaphysics by turning the world upside down for a few seconds needed to brush the ball. Better if straight into the net. Some examples? Carlo Parola 's most beautiful canvas earned him a Panini sticker . Ligabue notes instead paid homage to those of Bonimba Bonisegna .

So Tacchettee has only one left: the Chilean of the century , that of Youri Djorkaeff from Armenia.

The Chilean of the century happens, like all overhead kicks, in a few moments of wonder. Djorkaeff in an instant of lucid madness is suspended in the air and perfectly parallel to the ground, in an Inter – Roma of 1997, won by the Nerazzurri 3-1.
A gesture, that of the Snake , which will be celebrated as an icon in the Nerazzurri season ticket campaign for the following season. Delivering him to history.

Youri Djorkaeff was probably one of the most brilliant footballers of his generation. The one that transformed stadiums into South American cauldrons boiling with passion every Sunday.

A trequartista with great technical skills, together with Ronaldo in those years he delighted those who were lucky enough to admire them as a pair at the Scala del calcio. In Italy and in Europe.

YOURI DJORKAEFF, BETWEEN BACKHOES AND TROPHIES

A wonderful artist, the Franco-Armenian has blood descending from Kalmykia, the only territory of predominantly Buddhist religion in the entire European continent. However, he grew up in France between Grenoble and Strasbourg, then passing through Monaco and that Paris Saint Germain where he won the nostalgic trophy par excellence: the Cup Winners' Cup, in 1996.

The following year he arrived in Italy at the court of Roy Hodgson where he showed his best works.
From there, a very respectable list of achievements: he won – among others – the 1998 World Cup where, in order, he made Ronaldo cry – the Phenomenon and stung Juventus, a heated rival in the championship in the press room with the statement that hit the headlines “France favored by the referees because they are playing the World Cup at home? There is only one team in the entire world that is favored by the referees and it is not in the World Cup but is playing in Italy”. Having lifted the 2001 European Cup where in the final he took it out on a Totti fresh from the famous chip on Van der Sar, it was then the turn of the Confederations Cup in 2001 and finally the UEFA Cup with Inter in 1998, where this time he celebrated together with Ronaldo.

THE CLOSING CREDITS: MLS

He was a precursor to the late-career diaspora that sees European champions migrate to the North American MLS.
He ended his career in New York with the Red Bulls.

However, it remains in the imagination of that kind of football that fascinates us: legs in the air, with the Olimpico in Rome holding its breath for a long moment from that brush stroke.