Category: News

MILAN –
The 17th edition of the San
Siro Gentleman Awards
took place at the Hotel Marriott in Milan this evening, with prizes handed out to Inter and AC
Milan players who have distinguished themselves for their class and
fair play on and off the pitch.

There were plenty of Nerazzurri at the gala event hosted by Claudia Gerini
and Massimo Caputi: players Javier
Zanetti,
Diego Milito,
Andrea Poli
and Andrea
Ranocchia,
but also the coach, Andrea
Stramaccioni,
Signora Bedy
Moratti
and chief executive Ernesto
Paolillo.

The
winners of this year’s edition of the San Siro Gentleman Awards – which began in 1996 – were voted for by the viewers of Inter
Channel and Milan Channel, with nominations also being made via the
official Gentleman Awards website, Gazzetta.it and TgCom.

Captain Zanetti was named ‘Gentleman Inter 2012’ but also ‘Gentleman Serie A 2012’. Milito
collected the ‘Gentleman Best Goal F.C. Internazionale’ prize for his strike
in the derby win on 15 January and Poli picked up the ‘Gentleman
Revelation’ award.

Stramaccioni was given special recognition for
winning the first edition of the NextGen Series, the U19 Champions
League. On stage alongside chief executive Paolillo, the Nerazzurri coach joked: "Here comes the beneficiary of one of president Moratti’s crazy football ideas [smiling]. I’m here to help these great players who wear the Nerazzurri shirt." Then, more serious, he added: "I’ve always believed we’d be able to see out the season in Inter style and we will, battling until the very end."

There was also a heartfelt moment in memory of Piermario
Morosini: Ranocchia – a friend and former Italy U21 team-mate
of the late Piermario – went up on stage to receive a memorial
plaque.

Among the Nerazzurri awarded, there was also Mario Corso, who went on stage with Bedy Moratti, from whom he received a special Gentleman prize for his contribution in making Italian football great.

F.C. Internazionale Top Sponsor Volvo was the Title Sponsor of the
evening while the event’s mascot was another Interista: young fan Filippo, who therefore had another chance to meet his idols after his visit to Appiano Gentile a few months ago.

MILAN – FC Internazionale would like to remind all fans that tomorrow 27 April is the last day when ticket sales for Inter v AC Milan are open exclusively to "siamo noi" holders.

After tomorrow tickets for the 2011/12 Serie A Week 37 match to be played at the Stadio Meazza on Sunday 6 May (20:45) will go on general sale:

– from Saturday 28 April online only;

– from Monday 30 April at branches of the BPM group;

– from Wednesday 2 May also from the "Solo Inter" store.

APPIANO GENTILE – It’s nice to feel the fans’ affection for me. It’s true, when I was a player I would always go to get-togethers with the fans and I went to all the Inter Clubs when they organised a dinner or a meeting: the fans gave me the energy to go out on the pitch and play for them. A footballer must be able to leave his mark and not only on the pitch. I often used to meet the fans with my wife and daughters, it was a nice family atmosphere. And today I think I’m reaping what I sowed."

With an open heart, as always, Sosa reminisced on Inter Channel during
"Prima Serata" with Edoardo Caldara. He has been out of the game for quite some
time now, but there have been many messages written to Ruben that the director
of the Nerazzurri show read to him. Someone who saw their first Inter match at
the age of 5 with him on the pitch. Someone else who would like to hear that
chant again at the San Siro… "There’s not enough money in the world that
could repay the fans for that chant… Now I can manage to enjoy all the things
I did on that pitch a lot more. Inter gave me so much and I’d like to pay them
back. We’re working on a project. In Uruguay I’m part of the coaching staff at
Nacional. I also train the forwards because I know a few things… And then I
have a football school, street football, as we call it. To the children and
youngsters I always say: ‘Don’t watch the videos of the goals that I scored.
Watch the celebrations of the fans in the stands after the goals. That is the
meaning of football.’ And to the best ones I say: ‘If you become a champion, go
to Inter, the most beautiful team in the world.’"

Between memories and current events, tonight on Inter Channel: starting at
21:00.

APPIANO
GENTILE – We’re just minutes away from another edition of Prima
Serata, the Inter Channel programme hosted by Edoardo Caldara. Ruben Sosa was in the studio today and the ex-forward – the divine left-footer from
Montevideo ("left-footed players have a magical touch…") –
shared stories, memories and curiosities, but also spoke about the
present.

"We
beat Udinese, and I say ‘we’ because I’m an Inter fan – even in
when I’m Uruguay I watch all the games. Now you can with them live, unlike in
my day when the videos would arrive two weeks later… We beat Udinese and now we must aim for third place, we must believe we can do
it. I was really impressed by the Inter I saw in Udine: a team
that went looking for goals and played good football."

"Stramaccioni?
He’s a good lad and I can see the Interista in him; by that I mean
that coming from the Primavera he already has the right sense of
belonging. He’s smart on the pitch and in his interviews. Now we have
to move forward with him and give him a hand because he’s convinced about what he does. I watched a couple of his training sessions: they were excellent, intense,
involving."

"Forlan? I’ve spoken to him recently. I think
that he’s had two main problems during his first season here. One is his
position. For the national side he’s always played off of a striker,
whereas here he’s changed positions lots of times and also the type of
football, because Italy is different to Spain. The other problem is that he
didn’t settle into the side immediately: he had a few physical
problems and didn’t get much continuity. But he’s a champion, an
intelligent lad, and he’ll be able to show the Nerazzurri fans how
good he is. Diego has always scored goals and lots of them. And
scoring goals is not a habit you lose."

"Alvarez? I like him and he scored a great goal
against Udinese. What I’d say to him is ‘let yourself go’. I
think he still looks a bit – what’s the word? – as if he’s
holding back. But he has class, quality, and a marvellous left foot.
If you play for Inter you must have self-confidence, you
can’t hold back, you have to do what you’re capable of without restraint."

Finally, some advice on signings. "Inter have
fantastic strikers and the club have their plans, it’s obviously not
my place to tell the president who to buy… But, even though he’s
Uruguayan like me, but that could just be a coincidence, I’d say Suarez, the Liverpool striker. Luis is
such a good player and I think he’ll move on now. If it’s not to Inter,
it will be to Real or Barcelona. He is absolutely top class."

Now tune into channel 232 on Sky Italia for Prima
Serata with Ruben Sosa and Edoardo Caldara.

APPIANO
GENTILE – What a story and what a guest on tonight’s Prima Serata,
the weekly programme on Inter Channel hosted by Edoardo Caldara. In the studio today was Ruben
Sosa: the former Nerazzurri striker lives in Uruguay now but
returns to Italy whenever he can and likes to step back inside a Nerazzurri ‘dimension’ that he has never forgotten (and vice versa).

Born
on 25 April 1966 in Montevideo ("I celebrated my 22nd
birthday yesterday"), Sosa was one of the most emblematic figures of the Inter team between 1992 and 1995. Although the last season was played with a knee that "was
finished by then", his first two years were marvellous: 22 goals in his
first season and 17 in the second, when the team just missed out on
the Scudetto after mounting a late charge and won a UEFA Cup despite everything and everyone. Osvaldo Bagnoli used to say of Sosa: "He
doesn’t know the first thing about football but he always scores!"

"With the balls they use nowadays I could
have had 40 goals a season," Ruben told Inter Channel. "I liked to
shoot from long range. A free kick on the edge of the box was like a
penalty for me. I learnt to shoot when I was 14-15 and we’d practice
hitting the crossbar from the centre of the pitch. I used to say: I aim for the
keeper and then the ball swerves… and the keeper never gets them.
Striking the ball well is a natural gift but you have to practice
every day – until your foot hurts. And you mustn’t be afraid to shoot: the worst thing that can happen is it goes into the stands,
nobody’s going to die…"

The years pass even for the best of us ("Look at
those photos, that’s my brother…") but Ruben still has the same
personality and life philosophy: "If you know how to play football, if
you love it, you train and you’re professional, there’s no pressure
in football. Pressure is for those who go to work and have to bring
money home so that the family can eat. Football has always been about
having fun for me and I think that helped me. When I go back to
Inter the door is always open for me, open to the man, not the
ex-footballer, and that’s nice. I always played for the fans,
I felt like one of them on the pitch and I wanted to see the stands
throbbing with joy."

You can see this and much more tonight with Ruben
Sosa and Edoardo Caldara on Prima Serata, Inter Channel at 21:00.
Don’t miss it!