#TBT: TOMASSON AND THE ROSSONERI'S COMEBACK

21 February 2004, AC Milan 3-2 Inter: when Jon Dahl came onto the pitch, everything changed

Jon Dahl Tomasson, now the assistant manager of the Danish National Team, was at AC Milan for three seasons. His second year was his most successful while at the club: he scored 16 goals in all competitions, 12 of which came in the league. It was a big season for him, and this was reflected by what happened in the Derby in the second half of the Serie A season. The Rossoneri were the home side that day and managed to come from two behind to record an historic 3-2 win against Inter. Without the Danish player, who was known as being “as cool as cobra’s blood”, this probably never would have happened.

THE DANE IN GREAT FORMJohn Dahl Tomasson, who Rino Gattuso recently compared Krzysztof Piatek to when talking about how professional and ice-cool the Pole is in training, began 2004 on the goal trail: the former Feyenoord striker scored in three consecutive games – against Ancora and Siena at San Siro and away to Bologna – at the start of the year. Tomasson always produced the same performance, whether he played as a starter or if he came on as a substitute. After AC Milan’s 2-1 victory at home to Perugia on 8 February, the Danish striker didn’t make Ancelotti’s starting 11 against Lecce, and the same thing happened again when the time came to play Inter in the Derby.

"MILAN NEED TO ALWAYS PLAY WITH TWO STRIKERS..."The match was played on 21 February 2004 and came at an emotional time: Marco Pantani, a huge Rossoneri fan, had passed away a week before it kicked off. Prior to the Derby, AC Milan hadn’t set the world alight in their two games against Perugia and Lecce, winning narrowly against the former and drawing against the latter. Against Inter, they were also without the suspended Paolo Maldini. Carlo Ancelotti decided to be cautious for the match against the Nerazzurri and opted for a Christmas tree formation that included Rui Costa, Kaká and Shevchenko in the starting line-up. It didn’t go to plan as Inter took a two-goal lead into the break. At half-time, Tomasson came on in Rui Costa’s place. This substitution meant a change to two up top for AC Milan, and this was something that president Berlusconi would comment on at the end of the match. A goal from Tomasson then got the Rossoneri back into the match. Ancelotti’s side then completed a dramatic turnaround as both Kaká and Seedorf found the back of the net. Nevertheless, it was the Dane who really got AC Milan going that day.

MATCH SUMMARYMILAN 3-2 INTER MILAN: Dida, Cafu (69’ Pancaro), Nesta (74’ Laursen), Costacurta, Kaladze, Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf, Rui Costa (46’ Tomasson), Kaká, Shevchenko. Coach: Ancelotti.INTER: Toldo, Helveg, Adani, Cordoba, J. Zanetti, C. Zanetti, Farinos, Kily Gonzalez (87’ Recoba), Stankovic (69’ Karagounis), Vieri (74’ Cruz), Adriano. Coach: Zaccheroni.Referee: RosettiGoals: 15' Stankovic (I), 39' C. Zanetti (I), 55’ Tomasson (M), 57’ Kaká (M), 84’ Seedorf (M).

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