Christian Vieri in action for Italy at the World Cup in 1998. Photograph: Stu Forster/Allsport

Christian Vieri at 50: celebrating three of his greatest goals

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The big striker was a hero for a generation who grew up watching Serie A in the 1990s. Happy birthday, Bobo

Christian Vieri turns 50 today. He scored many wonderful hat-tricks, including one on his debut for Inter in 1999, so what better way to celebrate the big man than picking a tripletta of his three best goals.

For many Italian football fanatics of the Channel 4 generation, he sums up why we fell in love with the game. His physical presence, commitment and ability to bully defenders into submission places him in a lineage of great Italian No 9s such as Gigi Riva, while his ability to score long-range strikes and turn past defenders added a sprinkling of gold dust. He also excelled in an era when managers often played two strikers up front so memories of Vieri also evoke his partnerships with Marcelo Salas, Álvaro Recoba, Hernán Crespo and Roberto Baggio.

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His fragility, which resulted in several lengthy spells on the sidelines due to injuries, as well as his unfortunate record of performing valiantly in many near misses – such as Inter’s final-day meltdown in the 2001-02 season and Italy’s controversial exit to South Korea at the World Cup a few months later – make him endearing. Vieri, with his Aussie twang, was also one of the few superstars of Italian football’s halcyon days with fluent English. Choosing three goals from the 259 he scored for Italy and his 13 clubs is no easy task, but here we go.

1) Russia v Italy, World Cup qualifying playoff, 1997

Vieri saved many of his best performances for Italy, scoring 23 goals in 49 appearances for the Azzurri. He is also the country’s joint-top scorer at World Cups, alongside Paolo Rossi and Roberto Baggio with nine goals. His international career began in 1997 during his single season with Juventus. It was a successful campaign, with Vieri playing in a Champions League final and winning the only league title of his career (he also punched Marcello Lippi at half-time during this campaign but that is another story).

As many England fans will remember, a goalless draw in Rome in October 1997 meant Italy finished second in their qualifying group and had to play Russia in a tricky two-legged playoff to reach the World Cup.

The game is memorable for several reasons. Firstly, the snow lashed down in Moscow at the Dynamo Stadium, with its 15,000 capacity crowd close to the pitch and heavily partisan. It was the era of orange balls in snowy conditions and both teams got stuck into each other in weather more suited to the Winter Olympics than football. Secondly, a 19-year-old Gianluigi Buffon made his Italy debut as a substitute when Gianluca Pagliuca hobbled off after 31 minutes. The now legendary goalkeeper pulled off a series of remarkable saves.

With the game scoreless shortly after half-time, Roberto Di Matteo sent forward a through ball. Vieri stole a yard on his marker, who tumbled to the frosty ground. He went through on goal with the nation’s hopes resting on his shoulders and slotted the ball home with a finish so cold that the sub zero conditions in Moscow looked on with jealous eyes. With just his second goal for Italy, Vieri had helped his country reach a World Cup. They won the tie 2-1 on aggregate and his place in the national team was now secure.

2) Lazio v Mallorca, Cup Winners’ Cup final, 1999

Vieri reached a peak in the second half of the 1998-99 season. Lazio paid a huge fee of €25m to sign him from Atlético Madrid after his successful year in Spain, where he finished as the league’s top scorer. In Rome, after missing most of the first half of the season through injury, Vieri slotted into a side full of stars and his partnership with Salas was one of the best of the 1990s (their link-up against Fiorentina in Serie A very nearly made it into this list).

This was the last Cup Winners’ Cup final in history, hosted at Villa Park, and was probably Vieri’s greatest performance. His display matched the size of the occasion and, crucially, for once he was on the winning side. He opened the scoring and finished as the man of the match as Lazio beat Mallorca 2-1.

For the opening goal, left-back Giuseppe Favelli launched a long ball forward and Vieri out-muscled Mallorca captain Javier Olaizola to head the ball from the edge of the penalty box over a dubiously positioned Carlos Roa. Vieri had delivered on the big occasion and his exit after just one season – a year before Lazio won the Scudetto – also feels typical of his career.

Christian Vieri and Ronaldo both struggled with injuries and off-field issues at Inter. Photograph: Reuters

3) Inter v Parma, Serie A, 1999

Vieri had a nomadic career, taking in eight clubs in eight seasons after turning professional in 1991, but he finally settled for a while at Inter – the only club where he would stay for longer than a year. His six-year stint was filled with both the sublime and the ridiculous. He scored 123 goals in 190 games, won a Serie A player of the year award, finished as top scorer in the 2002–03 season – when he scored more goals than he played games – but somehow only won one trophy: the Coppa Italia in 2005.

In many ways his Inter career was typical of the club in that era – dazzling but not winning. His time was also blighted with injury, too much partying with the equally injury-prone Ronaldo, and arguments with coaches. Massimo Moratti even tried to tap Vieri’s phone to control his off-pitch behaviour. In short, it was a mad stint at a mad club.

Choosing a goal to sum up Vieri’s time at Inter is difficult. There were beautiful moments in his short-lived partnership with Baggio, some lovely work – particularly in Europe – with Crespo, and his partnership with Recoba feels underrated.

His goal against Parma in 1999, however, is an example of individual brilliance against one of the best defences in the league. Vieri had an explosive start to his Inter career, scoring five goals in his first four games. This game against Parma sat in the middle of this run.

He was marked tightly by World Cup winner Lilian Thuram but, 17 minutes in, Vieri made him look like an amateur. Paolo Sousa passed the ball to Vieri, who was on the edge of the penalty area with his back to goal. A perfect first touch with his left foot and a dummy with his right bought him some space before he turned and launched a glorious curler into the top corner of Buffon’s net.

Inter went 2-1 up and Vieri was mobbed by his new teammates – Francesco Moriero rushed over to imitate shining his shoes and Baggio gave him a standing ovation from the stands. Finally, he had found a home.

This birthday present hat-trick contains a precise finish, a header and a moment of magic from his left foot – a microcosm of the striker’s game. All three goals gave his team a much-needed lift and showed Vieri to be a terrifying competitor. That, for me, is the most appropriate way to celebrate this 50th birthday. Auguri, Christian.

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