Just a quick post with some video highlights of Inter defeating Atalanta on the weekend. Inter started with the pedal to the metal but lifted off the gas towards the end of the match. They seemed to do enough and a win’s a win I guess…
Here’s the first goal by Suazo.
and here are all three goals.
See my next post, Beckham’s Galaxy not enough to challenge Sydney FC, for details of how a team with an annual budget of less than Beckham’s one week paycheck had enough strength to see off Galaxy’s challenge!
It seems that Inter could be making a move for Villarreal’s out of favour midfield star. Riquelme has not played regularly for the first team in quite some time, mainly because he and Chilean coach, Manuel Pellegrini are not on the best of terms. He’s been on loan at Boca Juniors in Argentina where he has returned to his best form. He’s returned to play for the national team also after giving it up for a while (he was concerned about his mother when the fans blamed him).
It makes sense to move to Inter as a lot of the Argentine national team are already there and many other Argentines also. Zanetti, Cruz, Burdisso, Crespo, Cambiasso, Solari and Samuel are there, waiting to make an easy adjustment for him. With Inter’s injuries in the midfield area, it’s in their best interest to sign someone of such a calibre very soon (Viera still out, Figo out for several months, etc.).
Inter may be able to pick him up for a very small amount of money as he does not feature in Pellegrini’s plans. Riquelme has already gone out of his way to please the coach but it doesn’t seem to be enough and it’s probably best that he leaves. There are quite a few clubs showing interest in his services but Inter seems to be in pole-position.
There’s been talk in England that Inter are preparing to move on Tomas Rosicky, one of Arsenal’s many young talents. It’s not surprising that such an influential player is linked to Inter as they search for Figo’s replacement when he retires at the end of this season. There may be even more haste after Nedved’s challenge on Figo, which broke his shin bone and will see him sidelined for at least a couple of months. It wasn’t a particularly nasty looking challenge but it was one of those unlucky tackles (think Larsson when he was at Celtic or Cisse either when he was at Liverpool or later when France took on China).
The “Daily Mail” claim that Inter have prepared a 15 million Euro bid to lure him away from Arsenal but that would have to be a starting price to kick negotiations off, I can’t see Arsenal selling him for that amount. They’ve already lost Henry and I doubt they’d want to unsettle a young team that’s playing spectacular football at the moment. Rosicky and Hleb aren’t getting all the praise they deserve because Fabregas is shinning brighter but they’ve been instrumental to Arsenal’s success also.
Rosicky’s agent, Pavel Paska has been quick to squash the rumours and dismiss the possibility of a January transfer move. He stated that Inter tried to sign Rosicky in 2005 and last year also before Arsenal grabbed him from Borussia Dortmund. They got him at a bargain basement price of 6.8 million pounds but this is because the club was in financial trouble. There is a good chance for Arsenal to cash in and given Rosicky has had a fair few injury woes, it might be a good idea as they’ll be moving on Dinamo Zagreb’s Luka Modric in January anyway…
Check out Rosicky in action as well as the unfortunate challenge on Figo below…
So the big games of the weekend have been played and the battle for the top of the table fought. Interestingly both of these matches ended in draws and little ground was made for any of these teams. Inter vs Juve ended 1-1 with Inter retaining it’s lead at the top and Juve dropping one place to forth. Roma failed to capitalise on the chance and instead lost it’s place to Fiorentina by throwing away a two goal lead, a draw with Empoli the result. Arsenal and Manchester United remain as they were in first and second position respectively, although Arsenal still has that game in hand.
Rooney scored first (well really it was a Gallas own goal with little he could do about it) for Manchester United towards the end of the first half but the unstoppable Cesc Fabregas pulled Arsenal level soon after with a calm finish after receiving the ball near the penalty spot. Christiano Ronaldo looked to have won the game for Man U, scoring in the 82nd minute but Gallas made up for his earlier mishap by volleying in a goal which Van Der Sar seemed to have saved but the ball was already well into the goal.
In the other big match, Julio Cruz put Inter in front just before half-time, continuing his strange ability to consistently score against Juve. It wasn’t enough though as Mauro Camoranesi equalised in the 77th minute to snatch a share of the spoils. Both teams were playing fairly cautiously although it was clear that Inter was in control of the match, nearly scoring again on several occasions after the first goal. Raneiri made a couple of changes which ended up being the perfect tactic and provided the equaliser. Iaquinta and Camoranesi were brought on in the last half an hour and combined to create Juve’s goal. It seems that Inter will have more competition this year and the Scudetto won’t come as easily.
The other big match up this weekend (apart from Arsenal vs Manchester United) is the battle between Inter and Juventus! Although Roma is sitting in second spot, one place above Juventus, they are only one point behind. The Inter-Juve games have always been fierce and highly anticipated affairs and this is an especially important match. This is the first time the two teams have faced each other in a league match for almost a couple of years. Juventus is keen to reassert itself as a serie A powerhouse while Inter will want to prove that the last two scudettos were earned through a great team and not by default as many claim.
Both teams are certainly different from the last time they met. Juve has restructured and had to let some players leave while they pulled themselves out of serie B. While Inter has made some important buys over the last couple of years, a couple such as Ibrahimovic and Viera from Juve, allowing them to build a squad with much depth. Look at their line up of strikers for proof of that!
Inter are coming off the back of a 4-1 win over Genoa, a win where Ibrahimovic and Samuel were rested to not risk then picking up yellow cards as that would mean their suspension for the big game. Also Julio Cesar and Toldo were injured and the 3rd keeper had to be fielded. Suazo also scored his first goal for Inter, which will hopefully be the start of many more to come (another Adriano would be hard to take!). So Inter is still unbeaten after 10 games while Juve have lost a couple, drawn a couple and won the rest.
Traveling to Turin means the crowd won’t make it easy on Inter and the Adriano saga might have lowered the moral of the team a bit (He wasn’t happy about being subbed during a previous match and now isn’t even on the squad list for the Champions League group stages). Although that may be getting blown up as much more than it was, apparently he’s been doing really well at training.
Lippi has come out to say that Juve could take the scudetto, even though he admits Inter is the strongest team. He also conceded that it could go either way. Whatever happens, you can bet Juve will continue to fight all the way and this is going to be a tough match for both sides.
Inter had to fight back from being one goal behind to seal a win in Moscow, 2-1.
Inter had a difficult first half, struggling through injuries and suspensions, not to mention Viera breaking down again after just 17 minutes. The frailties were clearly evident and CSKA’s Jo did not hesitate to point this out be scoring the first goal. Things got a bit heated after that with Figo picking up a caution to commemorate his 100th UEFA CL appearance in the black and blue.
Crespo was able to equalise after the restart and Samuel completed the win with a somewhat lucky headed effort. From Figo’s cross he was able to put a deceptive amount of spin on the ball and as it bounced in front of the keeper, it turned a simple save into an embarrassing goal. Zanetti was happy with his fellow country men scoring although worried about Viera’s injury (It was later revealed that he could be out for another 2 months with a new calf problem). Inter are now sitting at the top of group G which makes a nice change from the usual struggle to get out of the group stages. Now they just have to continue to improve and play well to guarantee qualification into the knockout stages.
Inter now need to prepare for their Serie A match against Palermo on Sunday. A difficult game indeed! Enjoy the highlights below until then.
If you’re after extended highlights in good quality, see below.
Inter continue their winning streak to maintain the lead in serie A by defeating Reggina at their rain-soaked pitch on Saturday. The only goal of the night was scored by Adriano to finally break his drought (the last time he scored was in April!). On 18 minutes, Adriano directed Figo’s inswinging free-kick with a slight touch to give Inter the win.
Mancini partnered the big man with Cruz in attack and the game also saw Viera return from injury (on international duty). Inter face Moscow on Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League and so quite a few players were rested. Toldo was placed between the sticks and he did a fine job to prevent Reggina getting a stoppage time equaliser. Suazo and Ibrahimovic got a run towards the end of the game with the latter on the squad to face Moscow. Let’s hope Adriano can continue to improve as him at his best alongside Ibrahimovic make a scary partnership! Enjoy the goal and Ibra skills below…
Inter were able to retain the top spot of serie A after defeating Napoli 2-1.
This time it wasn’t Ibrahimovic grabbing a brace, it was in fact Cruz who put two away. One thanks to Ibrahimovic who did the hard work to allow Cruz a simple tap in on 19 minutes. While the second goal was a well timed pass and run for Cruz to chest down and blast past the keeper under some pressure at the 35 minute mark. Napoli were able to pull one back on the 39th minute in the second half but it wasn’t enough to ensure any points.
Will Inter’s domination of the league continue again or has AC Milan found it’s feat again after drubbing Lazio 5-1? Perhaps Juventus or Roma will still be able to put together a serious challenge for the title. Anyways, enjoy the highlights…
See my next post which builds on my previous article about soccer technology. It discusses new technology used to gather information and stats about matches such as gps tracking for real-time positional information, video analysis technology, automated cameras, etc. All very useful information for coaches and trainers to inprove the game further. Read more here…
Just a quick post with a good Adriano compilation.
He’s been out of form for quite a while now and is probably 5th in line at the Inter striker pecking order but this wasn’t the case a couple of seasons ago. The tank was one of the top few players in the world for a brief period and I’m sure a lot of Inter and Brazil fans would be ecstatic to see him find that form again! What happened to him, who knows but for now, sit back and enjoy his best!
So the hype and comments are flying as Inter and Roma prepare to do battle to decide the strongest of serie A on the weekend in an epic top of the table clash.
Roma is in blistering form and playing some of the most attractive football in all European competitions at the moment. Inter is up and down as usual but Ibrahimovic is also in blistering form and can’t seem to put a foot wrong! He is sitting at the top of the scoring charts, tied with Trezeque on 6 goals, 2 above Totti.
Inter is somewhat depleted in defense with Materazzi, Maicon and Viera out because of injuries and suspensions. It will be interesting to see what Mancini can do with the players on hand. Roma also has a few injuries to deal with so both teams will have to adjust their regular line-ups.
Roma will have the advantage of a home crowd but Inter go into the match off a 3-0 thumping of Sampadoria in the middle of the week. Hopefully it will be another classic like the 06 supercup match between the two teams…
[Video length: 1m48s]
If you’d like to see the highlights of Inter’s 3-0 waxing of Sampadoria earlier in the week, see below. A brace for Ibrahimovic and Figo magic to wrap it up.
[Video length: 2m46s]
Edit: Inter vs Roma = 4-1
You can read my brief review or just skip to the match highlights below.
The score doesn’t tell the full story but it was a convincing win by Inter over an ultimately 10-man Roma. Early on Roma were playing some good football but after Guily blatantly and intentionally handled the ball in the area to prevent a header, following a blocked shot, from going in, Roma were reduced to 10 men. Ibrahimovic calmly put away the penalty.
After that it looked like Roma were going to save themselves and hold out for a draw with Perrota leveling the score. But it wasn’t to last as the immense pressure that Inter laid on eventually cracked Roma open. First with Crespo putting away a deflected Cambiasso shot, then Cruz blasting in a long range effort and finally Cordoba headed home the final nail in the coffin.
