Inter Milan News

Coppa Italia: Inter 2-1 Genoa

In a freezing Stadio Meazza, it was Maicon who gave Inter the lead in the ninth minute, powering a shot from outside the area off the outside of his right boot into the top corner of the net. In the 50th minute Poli made it two with a great goal and his first in a blue and black shirt. In the first minute of added time Genoa pulled a goal back with Birsa, after Pratto had hit the bar. That was enough for Inter’s seventh win in a row, for party to get started for the fans.

FIRST HALF – For the Coppa Italia tie against Genoa, Claudio Ranieri decided to bring in some new blood: Castellazzi in goal, with Cordoba and Ranocchia in the centre of defence, flanked by Maicon and Zanetti; Cambiasso and Poli played inside midfield, with Faraoni and Obi on the wings; Sneijder and Castaignos led the attack.

The first shot of the game came from Sneijder, but his right-footed shot flew high over the bar. In the 9th minute Inter took the lead as Maicon’s powerful right-foot blast from outside the area flew straight into the top corner of the net. Maicon was running wild and in the 20th minute ran half the length of the pitch with the ball glued to his foot before passing to Sneijder: finally Granqvist managed to close down on Castaignos and clear. He and the Brazilian were certainly the liveliest players in the first half, along with Sneijder, who tried to find the goal with a left-footed shot on the half-hour mark, but Lupatelli was equal to it, while just a minute later another attempt of his scraped the bar. On 36 minutes it was the Dutchman once again who tried out his left foot this time and the ball narrowly missed the bar. In the 40th minute Constant responded left-footed from outside the area, but his shot was just over. A controversial offside decision was flagged against Castaignos in the 42nd minute. After two minutes of added time the first half of Inter v Genoa came to a close, with the score at 1-0 in favour of the home side.

SECOND HALF – The second half began without changes being made to either side and with Inter going two ahead through Poli as he scored his first for the Nerazzurri: a Maicon cross from the right into the centre for Andrea who pulled it down for Obi, who returned it for the ex-Sampdoria player to put it away. A chance fell to Pratto a minute later, but he moved too far wide on the left: Castellazzi parried with ease. In the 55th minute Lupatelli did well to come out and managed to clear the ball with his feet just before Castaignos reached Sneijder’s pass. Two minutes later it was Sneijder who was unfortunate when he pulled off a piece of wizardry between two Genoa players, but his curling shot went just wide of the post. In the 66th minute Lupatelli dived to save Zarate’s right-footed shot. On 70 minutes Castellazzi was called on to make his first save of the game from Jorquera. In the 88th minute Nagatomo broke away on a counter-attack, Alvarez tried a shot but it was cleared by Kucka. In the first minute of added time Genoa pulled a goal back: a backheel from Sculli, a header from Pratto which came back off the bar, and Birsa was there to chest down the rebound and slam home to bring the score to 2-1. That was the last episode of the match and Genoa went out: Inter will meet Napoli in the quarter-finals next week.

Ranieri names 21-man squad for Inter v Chievo

APPIANO GENTILE – Claudio Ranieri has named 21 players in the matchday squad for Inter v Chievo, the Nerazzurri’s 2011/12 Serie A Week 8 fixture taking place tomorrow, Sunday 23 October 2011, at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in San Siro (15:00 kick-off).

Goalkeepers: 1 Julio Cesar, 12 Luca Castellazzi, 21 Paolo Orlandoni;

Defenders: 2 Ivan Cordoba, 6 Lucio, 13 Maicon, 26 Cristian Chivu, 42 Jonathan, 55 Yuto Nagatomo;

Midfielders: 4 Javier Zanetti, 5 Dejan Stankovic, 8 Thiago Motta, 10 Wesley Sneijder, 11 Ricky Alvarez, 19 Esteban Cambiasso, 20 Joel Obi, 77 Sulley Muntari;

Forwards: 7 Giampaolo Pazzini, 22 Diego Milito, 28 Mauro Zarate, 30 Luc Castaignos.

Appiano: Chievo build-up, final session in groups

APPIANO GENTILE – A few minutes ago the team finished their final training session before the Inter v Chievo game (2011/12 Serie A, Week 8), which is scheduled for a 15:00 kick-off at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan’s San Siro district tomorrow, Sunday 23 October 2011.

After warming up, the players were split into different groups to work on athletic, technical and tactical aspects.

The following players had individual programmes aimed at regaining full match fitness after injury: Philippe Coutinho, Diego Forlan, Andrea Poli, Andrea Ranocchia, Walter Samuel and Emiliano Viviano.

Lorenzo Crisetig, Marco Davide Faraoni and Paolo Tornaghi trained with the Primavera today.

At 13:00 the list of players called up by Claudio Ranieri for the Chievo game will be published on inter.it, followed by the comments made by the coach in his pre-match press conference.

Obi on Inter Channel: "Glad to have made it"

APPIANO GENTILE –
Congratulations on becoming a permanent member of the senior squad. That was
Roberto Scarpini’s message to Joel Obi
on behalf of all Nerazzurri fans, as the midfielder was hosted on Inter Channel’s A tu per tu
programme.

Since your debut with the
first team you’ve now made 20 appearances. Are you happy?

"Finally I’ve made it. It’s a
great satisfaction for me because it means all my hard work over
the years was worth it. Now I’m reaping the rewards. But
I mustn’t settle for what I’ve got: I have to keep working to become a regular first-team starter, which is by no means easy."

What have you had to work
on most to adapt?

"I’ve had to become
more professional because when I was in the Primavera I used to take things easy at times. I was concentrated only on doing well on the pitch, on
being a good player in the strictest sense, but when you get to this
level that’s not enough – you have to remain focused and work hard
all the time."

Is there anything you found easy in the U-19s but not anymore?

"It was easier to
take your man on. That’s more difficult now because even if you
manage to get past a great player, you’ve immediately got another three covering. You have to think more quickly."

Did you expect the season
to start like this?

"Honestly, no. But
I’m pleased to be playing so often. We’re not doing too well at the
moment but we’ll soon get back on track because we’re putting in the
work and we have time to work with all of us together."

So Inter will come through
this rough patch?

"The results aren’t
really a true reflection because the team is putting in
the effort. But they’ll soon pick up."

What do you know about
Chievo?

"The last time I played
against them was in the friendly in Monza, which I think was probably my worst
performance for the first team. We know how they play and if Ranieri
picks me I’ll know what to do."

When will Joel Obi score
his first goal for the senior team?

"I need to relax a bit and believe in myself more, so I hope it will come very
soon."

What does Claudio Ranieri
say to you?

"We’re all working
together and he’s helping us a lot to play without anxiety and with
the right aggressiveness, which is what a youngster needs if he wants
to get himself noticed."

Qualifying for the
Africa Cup of Nations didn’t go too well but you’ve become a regular for Nigeria…

"I’m really happy to be
in the senior national team because it was always my dream. We
didn’t manage to qualify for the Cup of Nations but there’s
another one in 2013 and we have to work hard to get there. I hope to
be involved."

What’s your relationship
with your older team-mates like?

"Great. They’re very
good to me and I joke and laugh with all of them."

Appiano: last session pre-Chievo under way

APPIANO GENTILE - The players have just begun their final training session before Inter v Chievo (2011/12 Serie A, Week 8), which kicks off at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in San Siro tomorrow at 15:00. The Nerazzurri are warming up on the main pitch at the moment.

Follow the team throughout the day on inter.it.