MILAN Ivan the terrible Zamorano bagged a hat-trick with the help of Roberto Baggio and Ronaldo last weekend and then warned the rest of the Serie A to watch out for more magic from Inter Milan. Inter's 6-2 demolition of Venezia here was their best match of the season in virtually the first league appearance of the much-vaunted dream team attack.

The strike trio of Ronaldo-Baggio-Zamorano, which had raised pre-season hopes here of the league title, had previously been sidelined by a combination of injury and changing team tactics. But the thumping win, which earned all three men an exceptional vote of eight out of ten from the Gazzetta dello Sport, has revived the dreams of Inter fans everywhere. The 31-year-old Zamorano, who joined Inter from Real Madrid in 1996, praised the two men who set up all three goals in his first hat-trick since joining the club in 1996.

They give us creativity and magic, said the Chilean. Those are qualities that I just don't have. I can only give what I can and that's my heart, all my heart, my passion for football. And that passion is the same for Roberto and Ronaldo. But this time, I was able to get a few goals as well. Baggio's matchless ability to place the ball was key to Zamorano's performance, the chip which enabled him to complete his hat-trick was the second inch-perfect cross from the Italian idol.

Zamorano knelt down towards Baggio as if in prayer after scoring. I felt I had to thank him in a special way because he did something great, Zamorano said. He won possession of the ball, he went wide and then made a cross which was sheer beauty just the way I like them. The only thing I'm sorry about is that I missed the chance he set up for me in the first half.

He did something which was just out of a Walt Disney film, but I missed it. Roberto is a great player and a very, very important one for us at the moment. Looking ahead, Zamorano predicted a bright future for the team if coach Mircea Lucescu sticks to the new winning formula used against Venezia. It's a great pleasure to play with Ronaldo and Roberto, they've got that something extra which the others don't, Zamorano said.

All three of us scored and it was a wonderful match: six goals and plenty of other chances created. The important thing for us and for the coach is that we have proved that the strike trio is a formula that works, that it's something which makes this a dangerous team. This result is going to lift morale and self-confidence in the whole team.

Now we feel that we're right back there in the race for the league title. (AFP)