COULD VIERI REAL-LY MAKE IT?
At the end of his second year at Inter, Vieri has established a personal record, having provided his services to the same club for two consecutive seasons - for the first time in eight years.
Despite Inter's President Massimo Moratti firmly denying any possibility of selling his record-signing striker, 'Bobo's' notorious nomadic inclination, and the fact that the Neroazzurri will not be playing in the Champions League next season, could suggest that the ex-Lazio player will no longer play at the Giuseppe Meazza next year.
If Vieri were to return to Spain, his fight for a place up front would certainly be harder than the one he had to face in 1997-98 with Atletico Madrid. Players of the likes of Luis Figo, Raul, and Guti would be no doubt be stiff competition for anyone.
So far this season, Vieri has been Inter's only ray of light, as the Milan side are once again out of the race for both the title and a Champions League spot and have not yet secured themselves a UEFA Cup placement.
After the humiliating 6-0 defeat in the Milan derby, Vieri was the only player on his side to publicly apologise to the supporters, promising an immediate reaction. Although Inter then lost again to Parma, Vieri's commitment to the Neroazzurri could never be questioned. So far Bobo has hit the back of the net 17 times, which represents 40% of Inter's total efforts this season.
Over in Spain at Real, only Raul has done better than the Italian international, scoring on 21 occasions, whereas only by adding the scores or Figo, Fernando Morientes and Savio - which are 8, 6 and 3 respectively - would the other strikers match Vieri's tally.
Vieri, also named "Ariete" (Ram) for his imposing figure, has been his side's biggest threat as he has fired for goal on 96 occasions, the third most in Serie A behind Enrico Chiesa and Gabriel Batistuta and more than any of the Real forwards.
The Australian-born player however, only hits the target with roughly half of his shots - 53% - which distances him from the Spanish forwards when it comes to shooting accuracy. Record signing Figo has proved to be worth every penny as he has found the target with 81% of the shots , which means that for every five shots, four require a save.
Since the turn of the year, Vieri has scored three goals more than current Serie A top-scorer Andrei Shevchenko, which leads one to wonder what the Inter forward could have really achieved this year, if he hadn't been injured for the first part of the season.
Vieri's chance conversion is impressive, with the striker finding the net with 18% of his efforts, a much higher proportion than both Figo and Raul with 11% and 10% ratios respectively.
Despite a very disappointing year, Vieri could not have asked more of himself, as his commitment and dedication has never been never lacking. Although Real Madrid are certainly not short of champions, Vieri can be sure to find a spot up front as his determination and power are second to none. It is now up to Moratti to convince Bobo to stay, while in Spain they are waiting for him open arms..and we at Opta can see why.
