Today is the 38th birthday of the Argentine iron guard Samuel. When "The Rock" left Inter Milan at the age of 36 in 2014, it meant leaving the mainstream football world, and even many people do not know where he is now. In fact, he also plays in Europe, playing for The European giants Basel and scoring goals in European competitions not long ago. Rock, 38, has not yet compromised with himself, which is a portrayal of his career.
Deep eye sockets, lush beard, sword-and-axe-sharp face... Whenever Walter Samuel is mentioned, it is always easy to think of the ancient Roman gladiators of a thousand years ago. Although Samuel, who has always been known for his silence, is not accustomed to playing the role of a leader who has ascended to the top, he can always stand up at key moments and become the "rock" that teammates and coaches trust most in their hearts.
When it comes to Samuel, if not an Inter Milan fan, the deepest impression on him is the broken leg in 2007. In the first half of the 2007/2008 season, Inter were invincible. With only nine goals conceded in the first 17 league rounds, Samuel's defence almost suffocated the forwards of all teams. However, everything changed during the Milan derby at the end of December 2007.
At that time, Kaka was carrying the ball at high speed, first pretending to travel to the right in front of Samuel, the rock turned to the right, and then Kaka leaned towards the left side of the ball, and the rock barely broke his body to the left, and then fell to the ground with a very painful expression, in fact, the cruciate ligament of his left knee had been completely torn.
The most important thing is that Samuel did not fall after being seriously injured, and still stood up in pain to block Kaka's route, leaving Kaka helpless, and finally the attack was destroyed. In those days, few other centre-backs could do it again.
The professional qualities of that generation of Argentines are beyond words. After Rock was carried on a stretcher, Kaka fought back again, but did not throw Sanetti off from start to finish. You know, at that time, Kaka had just won the Golden Globe Award and was at the peak.
Although Inter overthrew Milan 2-1 in that match, Samuel learned the bad news of the season reimbursement on Christmas Eve, and the doctor even said that the 30-year-old Samuel's career would be affected, and the worst case would be to retire early.
Samuel was relieved that while he was recuperating from his sickbed, Inter Milan announced a contract extension to 2012 with the upcoming 30s. And the Argentine used his tenacity to overcome the wound. In the 2009/2010 season, he formed the strongest central defender in Europe with Lucio, leading Inter Milan to the top of Europe and winning five championship trophies.
Looking back at Samuel's entire career, tenacity and not accepting defeat run through the left and right. With a world-stunning performance in Boca, Samuel was bought by Roma at the turn of the century for $20 million, which was a sky-high price for defenders in those days. In his first year on the franchise, he pushed Nesta to win the best centre-back of the season, and the Serie A of that era was still the best league in the world, producing the top center-backs. That year, he helped the Red Wolves hold the cup. Even in the final season before bidding farewell to Roma, Samuel and his teammates set a legendary record of conceding just 19 goals in 38 rounds.
Real Madrid has since acquired it for 25 million euros, but unfortunately the real madrid years are almost impossible for Samuel, a superstar who has always put attack and performance first, and has ruined the reputation of countless excellent centre-backs in the past decade. Samuel, who had high hopes, unfortunately became one of them.
In the most difficult moment, Mancini rescued him. At Inter Milan, Samuel's position was replaced by Materazzi, who staged a frenzied 2006 World Cup, and many people advised him to move to Roma or Juventus, and he refused to agree to prove himself at Inter. Finally he pressed Materazzi to the bench.
Samuel, who never accepted defeat, ended his nine years of blue and black in 2014 and defected to Swiss giants Basel. Last year Samuel announced that he would officially retire this summer, ending a 20-year career.
Samuel's ups and downs in a wonderful career actually left a lot of questions to the outside world, why did such a fighter-like center-back fail to achieve the same glory as the honor in the national team? In 2002, Ayala, Samuel and Placant were very stable three-centre-backs, and as a result, Ayala was suddenly injured and caused a substitution before the final round, and it was Pochettino who was secretly calculated by Irving. Even so, the Argentine group did not concede a single athletic goal in three games, and Samuel's performance was reliable. In 2006, the conflict between Sorin and Perón implicated the entire Inter Argentina gang, Peckerman had no choice but to choose one or the other, and Rock was inexplicably excluded from the national team.
In 2010, Rock, who was in good shape, was finally selected for the national team at the last minute, and indeed performed very well in the national team, but the injury (only minor injury) in the game against South Korea made the time bomb Burdisso on the spot, and the old horse believed in winning without changing the team, which eventually caused a disaster for Burdisso.
Fate should not be like this, but who can beat it? Whether it's Zanetti, Crespo or even Batistuta... The Argentine superstars of that generation were destined to leave behind in the World Cup with sadness.