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.

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.

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.

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."

Follow the team throughout the day on inter.it.

The press conference will be broadcast live exclusively on Inter Channel (Sky Italia, channel 232).

Journalists and radio/TV representatives (no photographers) may enter the Centro Sportivo Angelo Moratti from 12:45.

The team is scheduled to travel to Bologna by train, before going to a hotel which has been carefully selected for them as they prepare for the Week 5 Serie A 2011/12 league match which kicks off at 18:00.

"Well, I’m not one to care too much about the name of the opposition. You go out onto the pitch, you knock, you fight and that’s it," said the coach. "I’m dedicating my concentration completely to tomorrow’s match, then we’ll have Moscow and then Napoli. It’s too far ahead to be thinking into the future."

On the subject of tomorrow’s game Wesley Sneijder’s name wasn’t on the player-list, as he picked up a thigh strain in training: "I had told him to take it easy considering he had already had a minor problem, but he’s a dedicated professional and when he saw a good chance he shot on goal and felt the twinge. So, I’m not taking him to Bologna; I don’t want to risk him and I hope he’ll be fit in time for Moscow."

The Japanese journalists at Appiano Gentile asked the new coach for a comment on Yuto Nagatomo: "Nagatomo has settled in very well; he’s a great, great player, he’s very careful and diligent, always ready to do what he’s asked to. He’s quick and he can adapt his game to play on the left or on the right. I like him."

Finally looking over his present situation which has turned to blue and black and a changing atmosphere at the club: "Ideas about what to do? I have plenty of ideas, it’s just a question of putting them into practice. Crossing and getting the ball into the box is what these boys do best. They have always created scoring opportunities and in many cases they didn’t put them away on account of bad luck and I hope this change of atmosphere will make itself felt…"

Is it true that Ranieri would like to see a figure like Gian Paolo Montali at Inter? Asked the journalists in the press conference: "I have never gone into matters like these. I have always done my job which involves technical and tactical aspects. I’m not cut out for managerial roles."

There were many questions and the Nerazzurri coach replied with his thoughts, emotions and objectives for the future. There was one question he hadn’t been expecting, though. "I didn’t understand that question about the fans, because it implied that I am not welcome for some Inter supporters. I didn’t understand it because I can honestly say that whether I’m in Milan or elsewhere, I have always been respected."

At this stage Roberto Scarpini passed on messages to Ranieri from Inter fans that had been sent to the studio, which describe the Inter coach as he really is, a well-mannered, well-behaved person and a very sporting adversary: "I think I’m like this all the time; everything I do, I do it with love and passion. Of course there were some skirmishes with José Mourinho, but this is all part of the logic in the press and we played on it, too. A verbal argument is one thing, the mutual respect which two people have always had for one another is something different."

A striped blue and black shirt with his name on it was the first present Inter gave to the new coach. "Who would Claudio Ranieri be if he were still a player today? Chivu, an outside left. But what I can tell you now is that if I’m here today, it’s all thanks to Herrera: it was he who chose me from among a thousand little boys, If Helenio Herrera hadn’t been at Roma, I might not have been here today."

An English television company was waiting to interview the coach after the exclusive on Inter Channel and Claudio Ranieri moved off with a smile: "I’d better go now. I have to speak English and if I don’t concentrate, people will think Mourinho was right when he said I only know how to say ‘good morning’ and ‘good afternoon’…[smiling, Ed]."

And so from all of us ‘Good Luck Mr Ranieri!’