Inter kick off centenary celebrations with a win

A giant Inter Milan jersey is deployed at the San Siro Stadium in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the club in Milan, Italy, on Saturday. PHOTO: AFP

Inter Milan kicked off their centenary celebrations with a 2-0 victory over Reggina and followed up with a feast of nostalgia.

Any chance Reggina had of spoiling the party was quashed by a generously awarded home penalty after just 14 minutes at the San Siro, followed by a string of important saves from Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic slid home the spot-kick and center-back Nicolas Burdisso headed home a Luis Jumenez free-kick just past the half hour mark, taking advantage of some slack marking, to seal the points.

That meant the party could go ahead as planned with huge flags draped over each of the four sides of the stand.

On one side was a giant shirt donning the No. 100, on another the flags of Italy and the city of Milan, on another the word "centenary."

The fans would not be allowed to forget what they had turned up for.

Curiously, though, only 64,000 supporters were there in a stadium that can hold 20,000 more than that and did four days earlier for a Champions League match between AC Milan and Arsenal.

Those empty seats will likely also be filled for tomorrow's crucial Champions League tie between Inter and Liverpool with the Italians trailing 2-0 from the first leg of their last 16 clash.

Those who were present created a fabulous atmosphere.

At one point a series of taped messages from personalities within the soccer world were played on big screens around the stadium.

Big cheers greeted the likes of former players Roberto Baggio, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Alvaro Recoba and Walter Zenga, and even current young star Mario Balotelli.

Comically though, other messages were not so well received.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter was roundly jeered but that was nothing compared to the reaction that former Juventus star, and now UEFA president, Michel Platini was given.

There was music from locally born Italian great Adriano Celentano, speeches and videos of archive footage showing great victories of Inter Milan's past.