Inter Milan's victory anthem sparks global manele music craze

Inter Milan celebrated their Italian Serie A title win in style, with videos from the locker room hitting the net, showcasing players loudly singing and dancing to a Romanian song released in 2011. Now, this track "Made in Romania" previously known to only a few, has become a global viral sensation.

Romanian music's style, which combines elements of Gypsy songs, pop, and Oriental influences, might sound quite amusing.

Ionut Cercel, a Romanian singer of Romani heritage, has been active on the music scene since childhood. At the age of 15, he released the track "Made in Romania", which, until recently, was known mainly in his homeland or to a niche group of fans of catchy hits found online. The track carries a unifying and patriotic message.

Hakan Çalhanoğlu, a Turkish player, Inter Milan midfielder, and member of Turkey's national team, is a huge fan of the song. His initiative brought the track to the team's locker room. Due to its incredibly catchy chorus, the song became the victory anthem of the newly crowned Italian champions.

Following the publication of several videos from the great celebration of the "blue and black" players, the news of the Romanian hit spread worldwide at lightning speed. Since then, the track has been played 50 million times on YouTube. Other fan groups and football teams also use the viral hit as their chant, and there are countless videos of dancing influencers on TikTok to the rhythm of manele.