The matches
Inter obtained both their Intercontinental Cup victories against the same opponent, Argentinian outfit Independiente. The Gauchos never did find the key to unlock the catenaccio put in place by their erstwhile countryman Helenio Herrera.

The two clubs came face to face five times in two years, with the meetings yielding a total of three victories for Inter (two at home and one at a neutral venue), one win for the South Americans in Buenos Aires in what was the sides' first meeting, and a scoreless draw in their final encounter.

The heroes of these finals were Sandro Mazzola, scorer of three goals, and Mario Corso. The latter netted twice, including the goal that won the first title on 26 September 1964 at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid. His strike came in the 110th minute, at the end of a cat-and-mouse encounter in which neither side gave so much as an inch.

In the 1965 tournament, Inter did the hard work in the opening leg, scoring through Joaquin Peiro in the 3rd minute. In the return match, the Argentines again struggled in vain to pick the Italian lock.

Key players
It is difficult to isolate the different elements of Inter's classic side (Sarti, Burgnich, Facchetti, Bedin, Guarnieri, Picchi, Jair, Mazzola, Peiro, Luis Suárez, Corso), as they formed a unit of incredible solidity. Two players in particular stand out, however. Firstly the current chairman, elegant wing back Giacinto Facchetti, who was control tower of the Inter defence and won 94 Squadra Azzurra caps over the course of his career. Secondly, attacking midfielder turned striker, Alessandro Mazzola, who bagged 157 goals in 561 games for Inter and 22 goals in 70 appearances for Italy between 1963 and 74. In doing so, "Sandro", as he was known, succeeded in the personal challenge of living up to the reputation of his late father, Valentino, the captain of the great Torino side that perished in the Superga plane crash.

Coach
Helenio Herrera is nothing short of a legend. Born on 17 April 1916 in Buenos Aires, he was capped twice by France and won trophies at Madrid, Barcelona and Milan before passing away on 9 November 1997 in Venice. He was a larger-than-life character who was often referred to by his two initials: H.H.

While Herrera's playing career was spent exclusively in France and yielded few honours to speak of, he went on to accumulate a spectacular set of silverware during his career as a coach.

H.H was heavily inspired by the pre-war defensive system known as the "Swiss bolt", the central rivet of which he reinforced still further. Herrera, however, never accepted his nickname as the king of the system's successor, the Catenaccio, choosing instead to emphasise the fact that he had been the first to develop dedicated right wing play, thereby creating the "corridor" concept so in vogue today.

The effectiveness of his tactics was demonstrated all over the world, much to the frustration of the Argentines of Independiente in particular.
In parallel with his club career (a champion with Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Inter), the "magus" also coached the French national team between 1946 and 1948, Spain from 1959 to 1962 and Italy between 1966 and 67. Indeed, his record as a coach may never be surpassed.

Intercontinental Cup 1964
1st leg
Venue: Buenos Aires
Stadium: Avellaneda stadium
9 September
Referee: M. A.Marques (BRA)
Independiente beat Inter Milan 1-0
Goal: Mario Rodríguez (59')
Independiente: Miguel Santoro - Juan Guzmán, Tomás Rolan, Roberto Ferreiro, David Acevedo- Jorge Maldonado (c) - Raúl Bernao, Osvaldo Mura, Pedro Prospitti, Mario Rodríguez, Raúl Savoy.
Coach: Manuel Giudice
Inter Milan: Giuliano Sarti - Tarcisio Burgnich, Giacinto Facchetti, Carlo Tagnin, Aristide Guarneri, Armando Picchi, Jair da Costa, Alessandro Mazzola, Joaqim Peiró, Luis Suárez, Mario Corso.
Coach: Helenio Herrera
2nd leg
Venue: Milan
Stadium: San Siro stadium
23 September
Referee: M. J. Gere (HUN)
Inter Milan beat Independiente 2-0
Goals: Mazzola (8') Corso (34')
Inter: Giuliano Sarti - Tarcisio Burgnich, Giacinto Facchetti, Saul Malatrasi, Aristide Guarneri, Armando Picchi, Jair da Costa, Alessandro Mazzola, Aurelio Milani, Luis Suárez, Mario Corso.
Coach: Helenio Herrera.
Independiente: Miguel Santoro - Roberto Ferreiro, Raúl Decaría - David Acevedo, José Paflik, Jorge Maldonado (c) - Luis Suárez, Osvaldo Mura, Pedro Prospitti, Mario Rodríguez, Raúl Savoy.
Coach: Manuel Giudice.
Play-off at neutral ground
Venue: Madrid
Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu stadium
26 September.
Referee: Ortiz de Mendíbil (ESP)
Inter Milan beat Independiente 1-0 a.e.t
Goal: Corso (110')
Inter: Giuliano Sarti - Armando Picchi, Giacinto Facchetti, Saul Malatrasi, Aristide Guarneri, Carlo Tagnin, Angelo Domenghini, Joaqim Peiró, Aurelio Milani, Luis Suárez, Mario Corso.
Coach: Helenio Herrera.
Independiente: Miguel Santoro - Juan Guzmán, Raúl Decaría - José Paflik, David Acevedo, Jorge Alberto Maldonado (c) - Raúl Bernao, Pedro Prospitti, Luis Suárez, Mario Rodríguez, Raúl Savoy.
Coach: Manuel Giudice.
Intercontinental Cup 1965
1st leg
Venue: Milan
Stadium: San Siro
8 September
Referee: M.Kreitlen (GER)
Inter Milan beat Independiente 3-0
Goals: Peiro (3'), Mazzola (22' and 59').
Inter Milan: Giulano Sarti - Tarcisio Burgnich, Giacinto Facchetti, Gianfranco Bedin, Aristide Guarnieri, Armando Picchi, Jair Da Costa, Alessandro Mazzola, Joaquin Peiro, Luis Suarez, Mario Corso.
Coach: H.Herrera
Independiente: Miguel Santoro; Rubén Navarro, Ricardo Pavoni Acuña, David Acevedo, Juan Guzmán, Roberto Ferreiro, Raúl Bernao, Vicente de la Mata, Roque Avallay, Mario Rodríguez, Raúl Savoy.
Coach: Manuel Giudice.
2nd leg
Venue: Buenos Aires
Stadium: Avellaneda stadium
15 September
Referee: M. A. Yamasaki (PER)
Independiente 0 Inter Milan 0
Independiente: Miguel Santoro; Rubén Navarro, Ricardo Acuña, Roberto Ferreiro, Tomás Barrios, Juan Guzmán, Raúl Bernao, Osvaldo Mura, Roque Avallay, Miguel Mori, Raúl Savoy.
Coach: Manuel Giudice.
Inter: Giuliano Sarti - Tarcisio Burgnich, Giacinto Facchetti, Gianfranco Bedin, Aristide Guarnieri, Armando Picchi, Jair Da Costa, Alessandro Mazzola, Joaquín Peiró, Luis Suárez, Mario Corso.
Coach: Helenio Herrera.