15 September 1965 - It's True, Defense Wins Championships

On 15 September 1965, Inter won their second consecutive Intercontinental Cup, beating the same team they beat for their first one.

They won it the previous year over Argentina's Independiente, in both teams' first appearance in the competition. They split the first two legs before Inter clinched the title in a replay, winning 1-0 at the San Siro.

The same two teams met again in 1965. Inter won the first leg in convincing fashion, beating Independiente at the San Siro by the score of 3-0. At the time, the contest was decided on points, so an Independiente win by any score in the second leg would send the teams to another replay.

But under manager Helenio Herrera, Inter had mastered the defensive style known as catenaccio. And playing before a hostile crowd of 80,000 at La Doble Visera, they practiced it to perfection, shutting Independiente out for the fourth time in five meetings to claim their second title.

The 1965 victory was Inter's last appearance in the competition, while Independiente went on to win it in 1973 and 1984.

27 May 1965 - Inter Bars The Door

On 27 May 1965, Inter defeated Benfica 1-0 in the European Cup Final before a crowd of 85,000 at the San Siro. It was the second consecutive European Cup for the Italian side, who would not win it again until 2010.

At the time, Benfica had themselves recently won two straight European Cups (in 1961 and 1962) and boasted the tournament's joint top scorers in Eusébio and José Augusto Torres (pictured at far right), both with nine goals. But Inter were playing at their home stadium, where, playing the catenaccio system masterminded by their manager Helenio Herrera, they had conceded only one goal throughout that season's competition. The Final thus shaped up as a classic battle of offense against defense.

On the day, Inter were helped by the poor weather, with rain slowing both the pitch and the speed of the Portuguese attack. Inter received another lucky break when their Brazilian midfielder Jair de Costa took what appeared to be an easily-handled shot on goal in the 42nd minute. The wet ball slipped through the hands of Benfica keeper Costa Pereira to give Inter a 1-0 lead. Which, as it turned out, was all they needed as Benfica proved unable to crack the Italians' defense.

Inter returned to the Final twice more, losing to Celtic in 1967 and Ajax in 1972 before winning their third European Cup/Champions League trophy in 2010 over Bayern Munich.

9 March 1908 - Enter Inter

On 9 March 1908, a group of players from the Milan Cricket and Football Club (now known as AC Milan), unhappy with the club's restrictions on foreign players, formed their own club which they named Football Club Internazionale Milano. Inter has since become one of Italy's most decorated clubs, with 26 national trophies, including 18 Serie A titles.

Known as the Nerazzurri for their black and blue striped home shirts, Inter won their first Scudetto in 1910, followed by a second in 1920. By 1922, Inter's fortunes had turned and they finished last in Serie A with a meager 11 points on the season. They avoided relegation, however, by winning a playoff against the next-to-last team, thus preserving their current status as the only team in Italy to remain in Serie A for their entire existence.

Mussolini's Fascist government disapproved of Inter's policy of recruiting foreign players and, in 1928, forced the club to play under the name "Ambrosiana." Nevertheless, Inter did well during the Fascist years, winning their first Coppa Italia (1939) and a fifth league title (1940).

Inter's greatest period came in the 1960s under manager Helenio Herrera. Nicknamed "La Grande Inter" for their successes, the club won three league titles (1963, 1965, 1966) and two European Cups (1964, 1965). They made it back to the European Cup Final in 1967, where they famously lost to Celtic's "Lisbon Lions."

After going through the entire 1990s without winning the league, Inter has since recovered their domestic form, winning five consecutive Scudettos from 2006 to 2010 (though the first, in 2005-06, was awarded to Inter after initial title-winner Juventus was found guilty of match-fixing). They also won the 2010 Champions League.

[Updated on 9 March 2012]

9 November 1997 - Herrera's Last Departure

On 9 November 1997, 87-year old Helenio Herrera died in Venice from heart failure. Nicknamed "Il Mago," Herrera is remembered chiefly as one of the chief architects of catenaccio, the defensive strategy that helped Inter claim two European Cup trophies.

Herrera was born in Argentina to Spanish parents, but moved to Morocco at the age of four where he became a French citizen. He started his playing career in Morocco, but moved to Paris in 1932 and played for a number of French teams. In 1944, he joined Puteaux for one season as a player-manager, then retired from playing in 1945.

After undistinguished stints at Stade Français (1945-48) and Real Valladolid (1948-49), Herrera took over at Atlético Madrid where he was an instant success, winning the league in his first two seasons. After his third season, however, he left and started a journey that took him to five different Spanish and Portugeuse clubs over the next seven years, including a successful period with Barcelona (1958-60).

In 1960, he moved to Inter, where he developed the style that made him famous. He used a 5-3-2 formation called the verrou (Italian for "door bolt"), which used four fixed defenders, plus a sweeper who patrolled the area between the defenders and the keeper and who was responsible for stopping anyone who made it through the defense. The formation also used the defensive back line to launch rapid counter-attacks.

Although the formation did not originate with Herrera, it became popular after the 1964 European Cup Final in which Inter defeated Real Madrid, 3-1. It was widely adopted in Italy and became known as catenaccio.

Herrera left Inter in 1968, having won three league titles (1963, 1965, 1966), another European Cup (1965), and two Intercontinental Cups (1964, 1965). He retired in 1981.

18 July 1942 - A Player And A Gentleman

On 18 July 1942, future Inter Milan defender and president Giacinto Facchetti was born in Treviglio, Italy.

Facchetti played his youth football as a forward with his hometown club Trevigliese from 1956 to 1960, when he was discovered by Inter manager Helenio Herrera and brought to Milan. Herrera switched him to fullback, where he played an integral role in Herrara's catenaccio system. The system relied heavily on a strong backline in a 5-3-2 formation, with a libero, or sweeper, dropping behind the center backs.

Facchetti was a key member of the Inter team known as "La Grande Inter," which won four Serie A titles between 1962 and 1971, as well as back-to-back European Cup trophies in 1964 and 1965. He spent his entire professional career with the Nerazzurri, making 629 appearances (and scoring 75 goals) before retiring in 1978. In all those appearances, he was sent off only once (for clapping sarcastically in response to a referee's decision).

He also made 94 appearances for the Italian national team, winning the 1968 UEFA European Championship and finishing runner-up to Brazil in the 1970 World Cup.

He was elected President of Inter in January 2004, but served less than three years before dying of pancreatic cancer in September 2006.

He is one of 14 Italian players included on Pelé's March 2004 list of the 150 greatest footballers.