Ruben Sousa: Inter Milan can compete in every aspect

Ruben Sousa played for Club World Cup teams Inter Milan and Dortmund. The Uruguayan believes that the Nerazzurri can win the Champions League/Club Cup double championship.

In his hometown of Montevideo, former Uruguayan striker Ruben Sousa has been enjoying the quest for European glory by Inter Football Club ahead of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. After making his debut for Uruguay top league team Danubio at the age of 15, he was affectionately called Sosita, who moved to a new ranch in the 1980s and 1990s to embark on a European adventure. The talented striker has played for European football's Zaragoza, Lazio, Inter Milan, Dortmund and Logrones.

FIFA: Your two former clubs, Inter Milan and Dortmund, will compete in the 2025 FIFA World Cup. How do you track them from afar?

Ruben Sosa: This usually means listening at odd times. I also run a football academy and sometimes time conflicts. But I will continue to focus on all the matches between Inter and Dortmund and watch a lot of football games.

How do you think of Inter Milan, who is competing for the Champions League title before heading to the Club World Cup?

Inter Milan did not start well this season before getting into the form. They were eliminated by the Italian Cup and finished second in Serie A and now they are in the Champions League final. I have a lot of Inter and Lazio fans on social media following me because I play for both clubs. I've read a lot of criticism before, but usually from people who have never even played football. In four months, the narrative has transformed from disaster to a seat celebrating the continent’s largest club showdown.

Sometimes this is how fans are. I love being involved in these debates. Inter Milan can compete in every aspect. I scored over 50 goals for Inter Milan and it was incredible to play in front of these fans. They never stopped cheering us on, which was incredible. What about the derby between

against AC Milan?

I played football in the Golden Age of Serie A in the 1990s. Diego Maradona, Kareka and Aleman shine in Naples, Lotal Mattus, Jurgen Klinsmann and Andreas Brem tasted the success in Inter Milan, with star-studded Milan including Gulit, Marco van Basten and Rijkaard. When I joined Inter Milan, I fought alongside Borgkamp, ​​Winter, Panchev and Shalimov. We had to compete with Milan, who had Van Basten, Gulit, Rijkaard and Baresi. Each of them is a behemoth. I have had the honor of sharing the locker room with some outstanding football players.

Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Toulam are excellent in the frontcourt position, but how do you think of Inzaghi's defense and the likes of Jan Sommer, Alessandro Bastoni and Denzel Dumfries?

I met Inzagi in Lazio, and I remember a sentence he said that always impressed me. I went to see two Lazio games and joked, "If your team leads 2-0, maybe it's better to sit deep," but he replied, "At 2-0, I want to keep going and score four goals. That's how he played against Barcelona (in the Champions League semifinal), and I sat there begged them to sit down and when everything was tied, but he put a high defense for the team and they were putting pressure on it. This is the lesson he taught me: keep on attacking and do what you are doing with faith.

You used to Walter Zenga, Bergomi, Salvatore S Kirachi plays with Inter Milan together...

Almost with the entire Italian team! It's a great team. It's a rare team to meet such a team.

Dortmund, your other old club, will also be at the global club event this summer. What's your memory there?

Stadium and the fans are simply incredible. After winning the championship, we did a circle of honors, and the ground was packed with rafters. We once played a league game near the French border and I remember saying to our Brazilian defender Julio Cesar: "Look at that away game! Fans traveled a long distance for us! "No, they are all local Dortmund fans who live here."