MILAN – Federico Bonazzoli has set a new record by becoming the youngest player ever debutant with the Italy U21 team.
The Nerazzurri forward came on as a substitute in this evening’s friendly match against Denmark, aged 17 years and six months.
Denmark won the game thanks to Nicolai Brock-Madsen’s solitary strike.
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MILAN – There was a special atmosphere at the Gazzetta dello Sport headquarters in Milan today, as Francesco Totti received the Facchetti Award – The Beauty of Football. The award is now in its ninth edition.
Also in attendance was Inter managing director Marco Fassone, who managed to find time to answer a few questions on the return of Roberto Mancini to the Nerazzurri dugout:
Roberto Mancini is back, and there is suddenly a great deal of enthusiasm around Inter.
“Well, we were expecting this kind of reaction, but probably not quite to this extent! We’ve been delighted to see the wave of affection he has received – perhaps that’s been missing lately. We’ve been lacking a bit of enthusiasm, positivity and smiling faces at Inter. So that was definitely one of our reasons for choosing Roberto.”
Perhaps that was also one of the reasons for sacking Mazzarri? He’s a good professional but had lost some support recently.
“It was one of the reasons. When it comes to taking painful decisions that affect such a hardworking, capable manager as Mazzarri, you have to take everything into account. We evaluated all the various factors that were preventing both coach and club from working at 100%. We need to be at 100% to achieve the results that the president expects in as short a space of time as possible.”
Mancini has managed Inter in many Milan derbies, but debuting in one must add an extra level of difficulty.
“The fact that in our next three matches in all competitions – two in Serie A and one in the Europa League – we face AC Milan and Roma was one of the biggest reasons behind the change. I don’t think Mancini is afraid of these types of matches; I think he relishes them. Let’s hope that gives us the extra impetus we need to start with a bang.”
In football, all coaches tend to model their squads according to the way they like to play, proposing new players where applicable. In your opinion, is the squad fine as it is or will you need to do some business in January?
“Mancini has taken great care to evaluate the squad he has at his disposal. He believes that it’s a high-level squad of great quality, otherwise he wouldn’t have taken on such a demanding challenge. We’ve not spoken about transfers yet, obviously, because he wants to run the rule over the lads and take stock after a few matches. When the time is right, myself and Piero Ausilio will sit down with him and have a chat.”
In this era of Financial Fair Play, how big an effect does changing coaches halfway through a season have?
“It undoubtedly has an effect, but this is a decision we deliberated over at length, taking into consideration the economic side of things too. I hope we can overcome any financial effect within the year, as I’m sure that Mazzarri will have found a new club by the start of next season, given how good a manager he is. This year, thanks to the savings we’ve made, we had some leeway in the budget and we decided that the best use for this was to invest in a coach like Mancini.”
Photos by Fabio Buzzani
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MILAN – There was a special atmosphere at the Gazzetta dello Sport headquarters in Milan today, as Francesco Totti received the Facchetti Award – The Beauty of Football. The award is now in its ninth edition.
Also in attendance was Inter managing director Marco Fassone, who managed to find time to answer a few questions on the return of Roberto Mancini to the Nerazzurri dugout:
Roberto Mancini is back, and there is suddenly a great deal of enthusiasm around Inter.
“Well, we were expecting this kind of reaction, but probably not quite to this extent! We’ve been delighted to see the wave of affection he has received – perhaps that’s been missing lately. We’ve been lacking a bit of enthusiasm, positivity and smiling faces at Inter. So that was definitely one of our reasons for choosing Roberto.”
Perhaps that was also one of the reasons for sacking Mazzarri? He’s a good professional but had lost some support recently.
“It was one of the reasons. When it comes to taking painful decisions that affect such a hardworking, capable manager as Mazzarri, you have to take everything into account. We evaluated all the various factors that were preventing both coach and club from working at 100%. We need to be at 100% to achieve the results that the president expects in as short a space of time as possible.”
Mancini has managed Inter in many Milan derbies, but debuting in one must add an extra level of difficulty.
“The fact that in our next three matches in all competitions – two in Serie A and one in the Europa League – we face AC Milan and Roma was one of the biggest reasons behind the change. I don’t think Mancini is afraid of these types of matches; I think he relishes them. Let’s hope that gives us the extra impetus we need to start with a bang.”
In football, all coaches tend to model their squads according to the way they like to play, proposing new players where applicable. In your opinion, is the squad fine as it is or will you need to do some business in January?
“Mancini has taken great care to evaluate the squad he has at his disposal. He believes that it’s a high-level squad of great quality, otherwise he wouldn’t have taken on such a demanding challenge. We’ve not spoken about transfers yet, obviously, because he wants to run the rule over the lads and take stock after a few matches. When the time is right, myself and Piero Ausilio will sit down with him and have a chat.”
In this era of Financial Fair Play, how big an effect does changing coaches halfway through a season have?
“It undoubtedly has an effect, but this is a decision we deliberated over at length, taking into consideration the economic side of things too. I hope we can overcome any financial effect within the year, as I’m sure that Mazzarri will have found a new club by the start of next season, given how good a manager he is. This year, thanks to the savings we’ve made, we had some leeway in the budget and we decided that the best use for this was to invest in a coach like Mancini.”
Photos by Fabio Buzzani
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CASABLANCA – Sidi Moumen on the outskirts of Casablanca was the location. The educator-coaches received a warm welcome at the El Massir training ground despite the cold wind that whipped up the clay off the pitch and the dust from the neighbouring building sites. Our coaches Lorenzo Forneris and Fabio Perfetti were joined by Chicco Uncini, our partner in Tunisia, to seal a twin project between Morocco and Tunisia which will tackle certain organisational and social matters, particularly female integration, issues in both Maghreb countries. The walls surrounding the football pitch feature a number of messages which praise the virtues of sport and discourage crime, a reminder of the illegality which is rife in Sidi Moumen. A few yards away stands the shanty town which houses the majority of boys and girls involved in the Inter Campus project. The kids feel protected on the pitches of El Massir and enjoy learning the rules and technique of football. Local organiser Wafa Latif and the coaches proudly showed the improvements made to the pitch and the facilities which have been painted with the Nerazzurri colours and the Inter Campus logo. The seven coaches (five men, two women) and 120 children involved enjoyed Lorenzo and Fabio’s training. Despite driving rain, the second day in Sidi Moumen was equally successful and some of the parents watching the training sessions confirmed the importance of the scheme from an educational perspective. The following days saw training and fun short games, with everyone displaying commitment and passion. Once again our coaches came together over a bowl of cous cous as Inter Campus strengthened ties with Morocco and Tunisia. Ila lika Sidi Moumen, see you soon!
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