GdS: Trophies and clashes – why Inzaghi and Conceicao are ‘no longer friends’ | OneFootball

There was a time when Simone Inzaghi and Sergio Conceicao were close friends, playing for Lazio. Now, everything has changed.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, Inzaghi and Conceicao are now opponents and ‘no longer friends’ so much. Back on 18 May 2000 they lined up against Inter at San Siro in the second leg of the Coppa Italia final, won by Lazio 2-1 on aggregate after a 0-0 draw in the return game.

It was the night in which Ronaldo’s knee crumbled under the Curva Sud. Eriksson’s gang grabbed the title with Inzaghi and Conceicao in the starting eleven. They were friends, they played together, now they ignore each other.

Twenty-five years later, Simone and Sergio will be back at San Siro, back against each other and back in the second leg of the Coppa Italia, even if this time it is just the semi-final. They are no longer friends because of a last-second crossbar.

The issue of contention was Mehdi Taremi – now at Inter – someone who two years ago made the Nerazzurri tremble in the Champions League quarter-finals with a golden opportunity in the final minutes.

The Nerazzurri got through into the quarter-finals, Conceicao was eliminated and furious, nervous, so much so that he didn’t shake his friend’s hand at the end of the match. Inzaghi slowly approached, as all coaches do after winning or losing, but Sergio went straight off without even looking at him.

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From there, their relationship deteriorated. The two met again in January in Riyadh, the day of the Supercoppa Italiana final in which Sergio got his revenge: a 3-2 comeback and a trophy stolen.

In some ways Conceicao has become Inzaghi’s kryptonite. He stands on the sidelines in his black suit, watching his old team-mate steal a trophy but also important points from him, given that Sergio is unbeaten in three derbies to far.

After the last match that ended 1-1, Conceicao said: “He [Inzaghi] talks about what he has to talk about. Maybe he thought he would find a team that was inferior in terms of play, instead he found a strong team. That’s his opinion and I respect it.”

Simone had spoken about the ‘foul’ suffered by Asllani in the Supercoppa and the penalty denied to Thuram in the return derby in the league. The cup they won together is now an image kept in the archive.