Inter Milan 2010 Champions League winners: Where are they now? | OneFootball

It’s been 13 years since, against all odds, Jose Mourinho’s unlikely Inter Milan side romped to a famous treble.

Scooping the Scudetto, Coppa Italia, and the most prestigious of them all, the UEFA Champions League, the Nerazzurri chiselled their names into the history books.

With the entire starting XI now retired from football, what are they up to now their playing days are behind them?

GK - Julio Cesar

Undoubtedly named after his Roman namesake, the Brazilian keeper built his own empire, albeit of the footballing kind with his club, Inter Milan, and internationally with Brazil.

Having retired from playing in 2018, Julio Cesar seems to have opted for a life of relative obscurity, preferring to stay away from the inescapable spotlight that followed him during his playing days.

RB - Maicon

English, and specifically Tottenham fans remember Maicon in a pitying light when a young Gareth Bale tore him to shreds during a Champions League group stage match at White Hart Lane.

Leaving Inter Milan in 2012 for Manchester City, it took just a year for the right-back to head back to Italy, joining Roma. At the age of 40, Maicon packed in his playing career while at San-Marino non-league side, Tre Penne.

CB - Lucio

Having made over a century of appearances for Brazil, Lucio, known fondly as O Cavalo “The Horse” for his marauding runs, and aerial presence, the ex-Leverkusen and Bayern Munich star retired from the game in 2020 while playing for fourth-tier Brazilian side, Brasilenese at the ripe age of 41.

CB - Walter Samuel

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Succeeding his near-decade-long stay in Italy’s cosmopolitan capital, Walter Samuel made the short trip over the Alps to Switzerland in 2014 to join FC Basel. A two-season stint with the Swiss champions saw Samuel help bring consecutive league titles back to St. Jakob-Park.

Three years after his retirement from professional football, in 2019, together with Luca Toni and Andrea Pirlo, Samuel embarked on the UEFA Pro License course, a move that would put him on the path to managerial aspirations.

Joining up with Argentina to take over as Lionel Scaloni’s assistant in 2019, Argentina would go on to reign supreme both continentally (the Copa America) and globally (the World Cup).

LB - Cristian Chivu

Recording 75 caps for Romania, Cristian Chivu enjoyed a flourishing professional career as a central defender, and left-back with Ajax, Roma, and Inter.

Helping his side to a clean sheet in the 2010 Champions League final, Cristian Chivu called it quits in 2014, attaining a UEFA Pro Licens and took over as Inter Milan under-19 head coach in 2019.

CM - Javier Zanetti

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The Argentine is a deified Internazionale great. So much so, Inter even decided to retire his number four shirt a year after he announced he was retiring from the game.

Immediately after hanging up his boots, the treble-winner assumed the role of Inter vice-president and still holds the position to this day.

CM - Esteban Cambiasso

Born and bred in Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, Esteban Cambiasso racked up 315 appearances for Nerazurri during a 10-year spell.

The footballing icon was the heartbeat of the Inter treble-winning side, with the combative midfielder being ever-present in the side that scooped the Champions League, Scudetto, and Coppa Italia.

A UEFA A License holder, Cambiasso has been linked with several jobs, and no doubt has his eye on management in the not-so-distant future, while he works on Sky Italy’s coverage.

CAM - Wesley Sneijder

Arguably, the most talented of Inter’s team of grafters, Wesley Sneijder possessed a wicked delivery and was a master of the dead ball.

Winning the treble in his maiden season with the Milanese club, the Dutchman’s impact was immediately felt.

Retiring in 2019 after a year at Qatari side, Al-Gharafa, the Ballon d’Or nominee made headlines for his dramatic weight gain.

Clearly enjoying retirement, the midfield supremo’s hand in Inter’s 2010 successes has earned him everything he desires.

RF - Samuel Eto’o

Revenge is a dish best served cold, and after leaving Barcelona in acrimonious fashion having been ousted by Pep Guardiola, Samuel Eto’o wouldn’t have been able to hide his delight when Inter knocked his ex-club out en-route to their showdown with Bayern Munich.

With a bountiful goalscoring record and prestigious club history, Eto’o has gone down as not just one of the best Cameroonian strikers ever, but one of the most noteworthy full-stop.

Since his retirement in 2019, Eto’o remains in the sport in both a presidential (Cameroon Football Federation president) and ambassadorial (World Cup) capacity.

While at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Eto’o was filmed attacking a fan, an incident the striker later apologised for.

CF - Diego Milito

Diego Milito made up the strong South American spine for the Italian’s, alongside Julio Cesar, Maicon, Lúcio, Zanetti, and Cambiasso. The striker bagged a brace on an unforgettable night.

Since that evening in Madrid, Milito returned to Argentina to play for his first team, Racing Club before retiring in 2016.

The Argentina international took over as Sporting Club’s Sporting Director in 2019, overseeing a Superliga triumph in the process. He has subsequently left the position.

LF - Goran Pandev

The Macedonian international spent most of his career in Italy, from two spells with Inter and a three-year stay in Naples to sporting the colours of Lazio, Genoa, and Parma. Calling it a day at 38 in 2022.

Having founded the Akademija Pandev in his native North Macedonia in 2010, the football club has been on quite the colossal journey, now plying its trade in the country’s top flight.