APPIANO GENTILE – A week on from the match at the Olimpico and ahead of welcoming Andrea Stramaccioni’s Udinese to the Meazza, Roberto Mancini shared his thoughts with the gathered media at a news conference.

He began: “I hope it’s a great game tomorrow. We’ll take the positives from Rome – and I think there were plenty of them.”

A lot of the media attention in the build-up to tomorrow’s game has been on whether Mauro Icardi or Dani Osvaldo will start. The coach immediately satisified the journalists’ curiosity by declaring, “Icardi will start tomorrow. I went with Osvaldo against Roma because he was fresher but I have faith in both him and Mauro. I think Icardi can develop into a top-class centre forward. As I said, I have great confidence in him.”

Mancini then analysed last Sunday’s game in more detail: “We did make some mistakes in Rome but I think we’re on the right path and I’m sure things will start to pick up. I’m convinced that if we hadn’t made those mistakes we wouldn’t have lost. And if we hadn’t conceded the third right after pegging them back to 2-2 we would have pushed on and tried to win the game.”

The topic switched to talk of his future number two at Inter. “I worked with Sylvinho at Manchester City. As a coach he can really help these lads. He’s got lots of experience and he’s much younger than I am so he can run about the pitch with them more than me. He also speaks several languages.”

Asked about having a leader in every area of the pitch, the coach continued: “All the players need good leadership skills. I’m sure they can improve greatly in that too. Our target at the moment is to do as well as possible in the next three matches. I came here to get Inter winning again and to build a great team.”

Mancini then spoke about his opposite number, Andrea Stramaccioni: “I know he did a magnificent job here with Inter’s Primavera side. It’s not easy for any coach to come in after a very successful period. When you’re young you can make mistakes – we all can. He’s already a good coach and I think with experience he will only get better.”

Finally, a word on the fans: “I hope the crowd can be our 12th man on the pitch. When we have them behind us they give us a huge hand.”

SESTO SAN GIOVANNI – Inter and Cagliari are due to face off at the Stadio Breda at 14:30 in Week 12 of the Primavera league. Here are the starting line-ups named by Stefano Vecchi and Vittorio Pusceddu:

Inter: 1 Costa; 2 Gyamfi, 5 Sciacca, 6 Yao, 3 Miangue; 8 Gnoukouri, 4 Steffè, 10 Rocca; 7 Camara, 9 Romney, 11 Baldini.
Subs: 12 Radu, 13 Crosato, 14 Pinton, 15 Popa, 16 Dimarco, 17 Dabo, 18 Palazzi, 19 De Micheli, 20 Ventre, 21 Appiah.
Coach: Stefano Vecchi.

Cagliari: 1 Cherchi; 2 Usai, 5 Cappai, 6 Scintu, 3 Arca; 4 Barella, 10 Murgia, 8 Muroni; 7 Muzzi, 9 Solinas, 11 Loi.
Subs: 12 Galizia, 13 Granara, 14 Pinna, 15 Satta, 16 Serra.
Coach: Vittorio Pusceddu.

Referee: Marco Mainardi (Bergamo).
Assistants: Moraglia, Tribelli.

BUCHAREST – The Inter Campus trip to Romania began in Ramnicu Valcea. Coaches Roberto Picardi and Paola Balconi headed up the team as they went to check in on the project and train local educators. The scheme at the Ramnicu Valcea site is run in partnership with the Inima Pentru Inima foundation and works to improve social integration for 120 children. The majority of the youngsters live in orphanages or foster homes, having been victims of marginalisation, family violence or abandonment in the past. President of Inima Pentru Inima Lidia Dobre summed up perfectly the spirit of the time the Inter Campus staff spent with the children and local educators, as well as the project’s ethos as a whole: “Using football, Inter Campus has been able to break down social barriers. The kids in the institute feel no different to the ones in families, have received a lot of love and have realised that they too have a right to play.” The delegation then travelled to Slatina, where Inter Campus works alongside Comunita Nuova and receives support locally from Pirelli Tyres Romania. Just like the other Inter Campus projects in the country, here the coaches are also very capable and aware of their responsibility towards the safe upbringing of the children involved, the majority of whom are from Roma backgrounds. As we visited the neighbourhood where they live, it was striking to see how different two areas of the same town can be. Fully-developing areas where the pace of life is quick stand alongside neighbourhoods that appear forgotten, a throwback to a by-gone era, made up of dirt roads and derelict housing. The contrast is even stronger in Bucharest, the last leg on the Inter Campus tour. At first the centre of Bucharest seems just like any other city in Europe, with lovely old buildings, five-star hotels, bars, restaurants, top-end fashion boutiques and Christmas lights. But take a closer look and you see children living on the streets. These are the boys and girls that the Parada foundation has worked with for 20 years. Inter Campus has supported their efforts through football and education since 2012. Sergio Dalla Ca’ di Dio explained the conditions these youngsters live in: “These are children who live in awful conditions, by the canal or on the streets, surrounded by people with drug and alcohol problems. You need to grow up very quickly around here and so for them the chance to chase after a ball and have fun for 90 minutes – to behave like kids – is something incredible.”
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