Football Features - Part 3: Top 12 Strikers at the moment
10. Diego Milito:
Diego Milito is a player who emerged out of nowhere and made his name to the top of the charts of being the “best striker” in the world. The former Genoa player was simply “nothing” before Jose Mourinho decided to bring him to
Inter Milan. Inter Milan sacrificed Zlatan Ibrahimovic as he was involved in a swap deal with Barcelona and their striker Samuel Eto’o was taken in by the Italian team.
Even with Eto’o being a fabulous striker and a cannon in the 18 yard box, the Portuguese coach and the “special” one had other plans for the club and decided that the Italian champions should have another striker in the team. The
decision was taken on spot as the former Chelsea manager decided to bring in Diego Milito from the lower graded Italian team, Genoa.
With Diego Milito added to the squad, the 30 year old striker was expected to warm the bench. Many thought that it was a stupid mistake to sign such a player but later on the 30 year old Argentinean started to prove his worth as
he managed to score vital goals for the Italian Champions. He managed to score 22 goals in the league, even though he managed to start the game only 25 times. With 25 times, scoring 22 goals is a record itself.
Milito was then tested in Europe as Inter Milan were to compete in the UEFA Champions League. At club level, this is the greatest stage of them all when it comes down to European football. Diego Milito managed to impress the fans
by scoring some extraordinary goals for the club and the Argentinean who was later compared to “wine” was to be made as a permanent striker for the Italian side.
He was compared to wine because he was one of those players who were getting old and only getting better. The Argentinean then even managed to score some vital goals in the league, as the Italian Champions managed to bag some crucial
points for themselves with the help of his goals.
With Sameul Eto’o and Wesley Sneijder doing their work, Diego Milito definitely got the job done for his side as he managed to score twice on 3 occasions. Later on, in the UEFA Champions League, Diego Milito managed to score goals
against the English Champions, the German Champions and also the Spanish Champions, who were also the former UEFA Champions League winners.
First he managed to score against Chelsea and later the Spanish Champions, Barcelona became his next prey as they were paired up with Inter Milan in the semi final of the tournament. It was expected that the Spanish side was going
to win, as they already won from them in the first round of the same tournament; but it was Jose Mourinho’s tactics that proved vital later on.
Even with a man short, Inter Milan managed to bag themselves a win as they qualified for the final that was to be played in Spain at Santiago Bernabeu. The match was against the German Champions, Bayern Munich and it was “obvious”
that Inter Milan were the favourites to win the title.
Things turned out as they were expected and it was Diego Milito’s brace that made a difference that day as he won the match for the team by scoring two goals in the final match of the tournament.
Despite such a wonderful performance at club level Diego Milito did not make it to the first team squad of his country, Argentina during the FIFA World Cup 2010. With players like Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi in the team, he was
not considered as a favourite for the first team and it was the Real Madrid striker, Gonzalo Higuain who got the chance in the first team as he was left to warm the bench.
Diego Milito is number 10 in the bettor.com list of “top 12 strikers at the moment.”
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