‘It’s an honour for me to be here’ – Ivan Cordoba

Ivan Ramiro Cordoba was one of the strongest defenders in football during his illustrious career.

Yesterday afternoon, Cordoba arrived in Malta for a very short visit to promote his upcoming training camp at the Luxol Grounds. The proceeds of this training camp will go towards his foundation to help the children and people in need in his homeland.

Cordoba retired from football two years ago on a high after winning the treble with Inter.

“Inter represents a lot of things that have happened in my life, I had 15 great years at Inter during which I had the opportunity to contribute a lot to the club,” said Cordoba.

“I received a lot of support from the people at the club and especially the fans, for me Inter are my one and only club in Italian football.

“Before I signed for Inter, I received offer from other clubs but I already made by decision to join Inter, I could of gone to another big club but I only wanted Inter. After some time at the club, destiny had something special in store for us,” continued Cordoba.

This will be Cordoba’s second visit to Malta after 14 years. His first visit was with Hector Cuper’s Inter when they were invited to play a friendly match for the inauguration of the Millennium Stand at the National stadium.

“It’s an honour for me to be here, I had not been to Malta since I came to play a friendly with Inter 14 years ago.

“Hector Cuper was the coach of the team then and I have very nice memories of the time spent here. For me, discovering Malta was special as I had only just joined Inter at the time.”

On the reception that Inter received by the Maltese fans, Cordoba was impressed. “I was fascinated with the Tifiosi Interisti, it felt like being in Italy.”

Cordoba then went on to talk about the training camp.

“Now we are here for the charitable cause. The aim. The aim for this training camp is to help the children in Colombia.

“For this I want to thank the parents of the children who will be taking part in this great event.

“The young participants will surely have fun playing football with us. This is the most important thing for the children.”

Cordoba’s training camp will take place from December 6-8 and is being organised by Inter Club Pupi Zanetti Malta, headed by President Paul Fenech, and Luxol Sports Club represented represented by Jason Falzon.

Paul Fenech and Jason Falzon hosted a similar training camp last June with former Inter captain Javier Zanetti. During the press conference, Paul Fenech said that a Gala Dinner will be held on December 7 in honour of Cordoba and Inter’s former goalkeeper Francesco Toldo.

When asked about when he was contacted about this event, Cordoba smiled. “When I received the email with the invitation to come to Malta, I thought it was a joke, I then went on to ask Javier Zanetti if this was true and he said very nice things about the Inter Club Pupi Zanetti Malta.

“Zanetti told me that is was ok and I could surely trust these people.

“Then I thought it would be great to do something for our foundation in Malta.”

The news that Francesco Toldo will be taking part in the training camp made the event that is to take place next month even more exciting.

“I did not think of Toldo when we agreed to do this training camp,” Cordoba explained.

(L-R) Paul Fenech, Ivan Cordoba and Jason Falzon. Photo by Charles Vassallo

“Francesco is now in charge of the Inter Forever team and he has a lot of commitments. I didn’t want to disturb him. I tried to contact some of the other players I played with but they all had commitments. I then eventually contacted Francesco and he immediately accepted the invitation.

“Francesco and I have lived through many negative and positive moments at Inter.

“I remember all my experiences with great pleasure at Inter, they are part of my story at the club, and the time I will be able to spend with Francesco in Malta will bring back many memories.”

As Javier Zanetti heads the Pupi foundation, Cordoba ‘s Fundacion Colombia te quierever is close to his heart. The principal objective of the foundation is to gibe a better life to poor children. Cordoba went on to explain that without food and other basic necessities, children can’t do well at school and have a normal life.

Cordoba’s foundation also provides assistance to mothers with social problems, and also the elderly. Cordoba ended by saying that the elderly are as vulnerable as the children.

For more information of the training camp please visit https://www.facebook.com/ivancordobatrainingcampmalta