THE VITALS:

Team: Internazionale

Brand: Nike

Era: 2003-04 (Used for the 2003-04 Serie A season)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: VERY GOOD

I would say that this shirt is in very good condition with the general wear and tear that you would expect from a shirt that is closing in on 20 years of age at the time writing. There are also a few pulls on the blue base of the shirt to be mindful.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Extra Large Boys

Pit to Pit Measurement: 18 inches

Shirt Length: 26.5 inches

Although the shirt is size extra-large boys; this shirt would easily fit an adult small, especially if you like your shirt to have a tighter fit. 

DESCRIPTION:

Nike’s latest Internazionale home shirt would wonderfully marry their latest template with the classic black and blue stylings of the Milan giants! Blue would once again be reprised as the shirts main back drop, most notable featuring as the solid blue hem which characterised this shirt template that Nike used in 2003-04. In the stripes department, the black and blue would share an almost even split, meanwhile the yellow accents which had featured in the previous two seasons would be relegated to just the Nike swoosh. Fans of the Nerazzurri will remember this shirt fondly as they completed their first league double over Juventus since the 1992-93 season as well as the season that Adriano returned to the club!

THE SEASON:

It was another nearly season for Hector Cuper and the Nerazzurri as they finished 2^nd in Serie A and reached the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League. Battling to the death for the Scudetto and reaching the latter stages in Europe was now becoming the norm for the club, so in this 3^rd season, the pressure would be on the Argentine coach to maintain the incredible progress during his 2 seasons with the club.

Inter would lose Hernan Crespo to the riches of Chelsea; the club would draft in a host of creativity and wingers in the form of: Andy van der Meyde, Kily Gonzalez and Giorgos Karagounis to compensate.

Back-to-back wins would get Internazionale off to a great start to the new season, however their next 5 games would result in 4 draws and a defeat. The 2-2 draw away against Brescia on 18/10/03 would seal Hector Cuper’s fate and Alberto Zaccheroni would be brought in to replace him and he would oversee the goalless draw with Roma on 26/10/03. Fortunes would pick up under the Italian coach as he guided Inter to a 6 match winning streak as they ended 2003 in 4^th place. In January, the club would make two fine acquisitions in the form of – Dejan Stankovic and Adriano from Lazio and Parma respectively; however, the 2004 portion of the season would be a tale of two halves as they won just twice in their first 11 games of the year, before rallying to win 7 out of their final 9 games of the season as the club secured a respectable 4^th place finish.

While the league season was at times unbearable, the Coppa Italia run to the semi-final would offer the team some solace; especially during the torrid winter months. Only a penalty shootout defeat to Juventus in the semi-final would deny them a first Coppa Italia final since 2000.

In Europe, Inter would stumble to an embarrassing Group Stage elimination in the UEFA Champions League; missing out on 2^nd place by goal difference to Lokomotiv Moscow. They would continue their European journey in the UEFA Cup where they would eliminate Sochaux and Benfica before falling to eventual finalists – Olympique Marseille in the quarter final.

The notable players that season were:

Adriano, Christian Vieri, Obafemi Martins, Julio Cruz, Alvaro Recoba, Andy van der Meyde, Emre Belozoglu, Kily Gonzalez, Gioros Karagounis, Dejan Stankovic, Cristiano Zanetti, Matias Almeyda, Javier Zanetti, Ivan Cordoba, Marco Materazzi, Fabio Cannavaro, Carlos Gamarra, Francesco Coco, Thomas Helveg, Francesco Toldo