Tommaso Berni: Inter Milan goalkeeper who was sent off twice without playing a game | OneFootball

Have you heard the story of Tommaso Berni?

The Italian goalkeeper played at Inter Milan for six years.

We say ‘play’ but he didn’t actually play at all.

Berni was at the San Siro for six years but failed to make a single appearance.

That’s the life of a back-up goalkeeper. Having to play second – or third – fiddle to the No.1.

But it’s not just the fact Berni didn’t play for Inter between 2014 and 2020. It’s the fact he received more red cards than minutes played (two).

That’s right, despite not setting foot on the pitch during his Inter Milan career Berni was sent off TWICE.

How!?

Well, during the 2019/20 campaign – his last in professional football – Berni must have been getting pretty agitated with his lack of appearances.

In January, Berni was sent off after the final whistle following the 1-1 draw with Cagliari. He sarcastically applauded the referee for sending off Lautaro Martinez, something that saw him also pick up a red card.

Then, later in the season while on the bench against Parma, he was dismissed for dissent.

Zero minutes played in six years. Two red cards.

A comical video on YouTube shows Berni’s best saves at Inter Milan…

But did Berni really care?

Probably not because it’s reported he was picking up €200,000-a-year.

Not bad for training every day and sitting on the bench watching Inter every weekend.

Unsurprisingly, Berni retired after 2019/20 having not played a professional match in the last seven seasons.

Berni actually started his youth career at the Nerazzurri but, you guessed it, failed to make an appearance. He then made the shock move to Wimbledon but, yep, didn’t play for the English side during the 2002/03 campaign.

His next move would be where he played the most games – Serie B’s Ternana where he was the club’s first choice goalkeeper for two seasons.

Stints at Lazio, Salernitana (loan), Braga and Sampdoria followed. And that was where he played his final game – back in 2013 for Sampdoria.

He was released by Inter at the end of the 2019/20 season and officially retired a week after.

Berni did play numerous times for Italy’s youth sides – at U16, U17, U18, U19, U20 and U21 level. However probably due to the lack of first-team football, Berni never made the transition to Italy’s first team.

In total, Berni played 120 games in his 19-year career. That’s just an average of six games per season.

Tommaso Berni: What a career.

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