Posts Tagged ‘Inter’
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
Thank you Mauricio, the Isla(nd) of Inter bliss.
I could find no better way to open this article. I tried. Not too hard, but I tried. When faced with the sad reality of the unstoppable gears of fate (that is, even when Inter play poorly they still manage to win), imagination tends to leaves its place to facility. Writing facility in this case, and all its associated bad puns.
In seriousness though, if Sunday’s win vs. Udinese doesn’t virtually clinch the Nerazzurri’s 17th Scudetto for you, you must still believe in fairy tales. And to make matters worse for Juve (as if their 3-3 draw vs. Chievo earlier in the day wasn’t enough) is that Inter’s winning goal didn’t come from one of the many superstars at José Mourinho’s disposal. No. It came from an Udinese player.
Poor Isla. In the day where, due to his team’s injury problems, he was forced to backtrack to the defensive line (he’s a midfielder), he ended up being the unlikely and unfortunate protagonist for his opponents, as well as the annihilator of all the good work (and many scoring chances) obtained by the Bianconeri in the first 60 minutes.
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Tags: Inter, José Mourinho, Mauricio Isla, Pasquale Marino, Serie A, Udinese
Posted in Inter, Serie A, Udinese | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
See what I did there? Feel free to use that in future Inter victories (sounds a bit better than “japanesey” or “lemon-squeezy”, no?). For there are few words more appropriate than “piece of cake” to define the Nerazzurri’s victory over Reggina Sunday. Juventus thought that by keeping the pressure on their rivals, Mourinho’s boys were going to slip up… eventually. Ibrahimovic thought otherwise.
Inter’s third goal, a marvelous left-footed chip over the keeper after a double dribble by Zlatan, epitomizes the ease and facility with which this team is playing domestically at the moment: one can only wonder how on Earth they could not translate Serie A domination into European success (especially with Man utd losing against teams like Fulham this past week-end). And the stats speak loud & clear: 10th match without a loss, 7th consecutive game ended with a +2 goal margin. Those who criticized Mourinho for non-spectacular playing style are keeping quiet.
Reggina on the other hand, and their hopes for avoiding relegation, are looking grim: Nevio Orlandi’s team has not managed to win since the end of November…
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Tags: Esteban Cambiasso, Inter, José Mourinho, Nevio Orlandi, Reggina, Serie A, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Posted in Inter, Reggina, Serie A | Comments Off
Saturday, March 21st, 2009
It is getting close to crunch time for a few Serie A sides and if anyone wants to catch Inter Milan they’re going to have to get a run together now. Inter won’t be dropping any points this weekend unless something drastic happens though, they face bottom club Reggina at the Giuseppe Meazza and I don’t think anyone would predict anything other than a victory for the Nerazzurri. I’ve had a run through some of the key fixtures to see if I can offer any betting tips and advice along the way.
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Tags: Atalanta, Bologna, Cagliari, Chievo, Fiorentina, Genoa, Inter, Juventus, Lecce, Palermo, Reggina, Roma, Sampdoria, Serie A, Siena, Torino, Udinese
Posted in Atalanta, Bologna, Cagliari, Chievo, Fiorentina, Genoa, Inter, Juventus, Lecce, Palermo, Reggina, Roma, Sampdoria, Serie A, Siena, Torino, Udinese | Comments Off
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
“Hats off to Manchester but we are a great team. Moratti-Mourinho: full steam ahead“. So recited a banner at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium this week-end, a sign that Inter supporters seem to be quick at forgiving their heroes’ European misfortunes. It is thus fitting perhaps, that Sunday’s match vs. Fiorentina featured the last appearance of the Nerazzurri’s celebratory “centenary jersey” (the one with the Crusaders stripes), as if to symbolize “a cycle is over, let a new one begin”.
For Mourinho, that new cycle can only hope to begin with an Italian Scudetto and given his team’s performance vs. La Viola, things are looking okay. The change of scenery, from Old Trafford stadium to the dire reality of Serie A, seems to have been absorbed rather well by his players: Julio Cesar is still the ever-reliable rock between the posts, Cambiasso the midfield (slash defense) dynamo, Zlatan the goalscoring machine up front. With their win Sunday, the Nerazzurri are keeping Juventus at -7.
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Tags: Cesare Prandelli, Fiorentina, Inter, Inter Milan, José Mourinho, Serie A, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Posted in Fiorentina, Inter, Serie A | Comments Off
Friday, March 13th, 2009
Bad luck? I don’t buy it. Okay, had Inter’s woodwork efforts (Zlatan’s crossbar and Adriano’s post) entered the net you probably wouldn’t be reading these lines now, but certainly there are factors other than old-fashioned “sfiga” (as the Italian press is claiming) explaining Inter‘s defeat at the hands of Manchester United Wednesday.
How about the fact that for the third consecutive year, Inter are out of the UEFA Champions League in the round of 16? How about “Man Utd played better, and showed 100% cynicism by converting their two biggest scoring chances in the game”? How about the fact that yet again, English club football has proven its superiority over its Italian counterpart? It’s sad to admit folks, but the truth often hurts and this case is no different: for the late part of the 2000′s, EPL >>> Serie A big time.
As for José, at least in the eyes of the English press he’s just “not special any mour“.
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Tags: Cristiano Ronaldo, Inter, Inter Milan, José Mourinho, Man Utd, Manchester United, Nemanja Vidic, Sir Alex Ferguson, UEFA Champions League
Posted in English Premiership, Inter, UEFA Champions League | Comments Off
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