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MILAN – Benoit Cauet’s Allievi Nazionali Serie A and B boys triumphed over Udinese in this afternoon’s U17 championship fixture. Opoku drew first blood almost immediately for Inter before Minclone pegged them back 15 minutes later. The Nerazzurri came out strong after the break, however, and restored their lead through Antonini before Piscopo made it a 3-1 final scoreline.
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APPIANO GENTILE – Joining Walter Mazzarri at the pre-match news conference the day before Inter take on Qarabag in the Europa League was Mauro Icardi.
The Nerazzurri frontman began by praising his fellow forwards: “Osvaldo is a fantastic striker and so is Rodrigo. I find it easy to play alongside them both. Obviously it’s up to the gaffer to pick who starts, we can’t all play, but we have a good understanding when we play together in attack.”
Today is Mazzarri’s birthday and the Argentine youngster remarked: “The best present we can give him is to have a great season. Not only for him but for us and the fans too.”
Icardi was asked about Primavera strike duo Puscas and Bonazzoli: “They’re doing superbly in the youth side, banging in the goals game after game. They enjoy it when they get called up to the first team. They’re learning what the professional game is all about. Hopefully they’ll keep on improving.”
On renewing his contract: “Obviously I’d be delighted to sign a new deal. Inter are a great club and I’m very happy to be here.”
Finally, he offered his verdict on the Cagliari match: “It wasn’t a good game for us and we’re all upset about it. But it was a lesson for us. We’ll learn from our mistakes and make up for it over the course of the season.”
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APPIANO GENTILE – It’s Europa League time again and Inter’s first Group F match at the San Siro. Qarabag of Azerbaijan are the visitors tomorrow but before looking ahead to the Nerazzurri’s second group encounter, Walter Mazzarri reflected on last Sunday’s game against Cagliari.
“The way that defeat came about, it wasn’t Inter out there. That wasn’t us,” the coach began, addressing the media at the Centro Sportivo Angelo Moratti. “But then I don’t think we’re the side that came in for such high praise after the wins over Atalanta and Sassuolo either. You need to maintain a sense of perspective when analysing things.”
So how will Inter play tomorrow? “It will be a different game for sure. At least we’ll try to go about things differently: we’ll fight, harry and chase more. We have to make it clear straight away that Sunday was just a bump in the road for a team that’s still finding its way.”
The Nerazzurri boss added: “When you have a new group of players and things are going well for you, everything’s rosy. But when you run up against difficulties, a more experienced group perhaps knows how to limit the damage. The match against Qarabag will be a useful learning curve for us with a view to Serie A as well.”
The coach was then quizzed for an update on the Nerazzurri treatment room, and he revealed that he’s optimistic about Kovacic: “Hopefully over the next two days he’ll be able to shake off this niggle he has. I hope to have him back in training with the squad on Friday. We’ll try to get him fit.”
As for his options in the wide berths, Mazzarri explained: “Nagatomo and D’Ambrosio are ok but Jonathan and Dodo won’t be available for this game. We also have Obi who at a push can do a job on the left wing: when he’s in form he’s a player I like a lot.”
The topic switched to tomorrow’s opposition: “This is a match that’s fraught with danger. Qarabag are in rude health. We have to take them very seriously and show that we’re a completely different outfit to the one seen against Cagliari.”
Mazzarri was also asked about the leaders in his team. “I’ll tell you something: when Ranocchia wasn’t playing I wanted Vidic to be captain but he declined out of respect for the rest of the team because he’s not comfortable speaking the language yet. That was very noble of him. This is Vidic we’re talking about, a player who’s won everything, but he realises that because of the language problem he’s not yet the right person to say ‘Come on guys, this is what we have to do’ when the team runs into difficulties. Medel is in a similar position.”
On comparing this season to last: “We had a good run-in to the campaign last year. President Thohir was able to celebrate us securing fifth place with a game to spare. Things don’t change completely in three days. We’ll see if Sunday was just a blip – as I believe it was – or not.”
Finally, Mazzarri had a word for the fans: “I’d like to thank them because they were behind the team right till the end. My job is to get the players performing at their best. And obviously being the person in charge of the team I’m the one who’s most exposed to the flak, but that’s normal – I know how this game works.”
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By Anna Italia
Follow me in Twitter @ItalianSerieA,
Facebook: Anna Italia Page
Inter – Qarabag 
UEFA announcing the match officials for the Europa League Group Stage Matchday 2 game Inter vs Qarabag on Thursday 2 October at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan, Italy at 21:05. Referee Aleksei Kulbakov from Belarus will direct the game. Inter having 3 points in the first position.
| Referee | Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR) |
| Assistant referee | Dmitri Zhuk (BLR) , Andrei Getikov (BLR) |
| Additional assistant referee | Sergei Tsinkevich (BLR) , Denis Scherbakov (BLR) |
| Fourth official | Oleg Maslyanko (BLR) |
| UEFA Referee observer | Frank De Bleeckere (BEL) |
Result Matchday 1: Dnipro 0 – 1 Inter
NSK Olimpiyskyi, Kyiv – 18 September 2014 – 19:00 CET (20:00 local time)
Group stage (Group F)
| UEFA Europa League – Group F Group Stage Standing after Matchday 1 |
P | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Internazionale Milano | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| AS Saint-Étienne | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Qarabağ FK | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
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APPIANO GENTILE – “I never thought of becoming anything other than a footballer. It was and still is my only dream.” A statement from Mateo Kovacic; someone whose dream is still coming true, day after day in an Inter shirt.
Along with him to meet the young “Football Dream” finalists was Nemanja Vidic, who also visited China during his days as a Manchester United player. The Serbian defender gave everyone an Inter shirt, reminding them that a great career comes from hard work and dedication.
It all was a fantastic treat for these youngsters who await the final phase of the reality show that will declare a winner from each category. “Football Dream” is a highly followed programme in China with an audience of over a billion viewers. With TV coverage, social media and various promotional activities, it has become something of a landmark in the country.
The programme was created as a collaboration between the Chinese central government and the Ministry of Education, who are pushing football like never before in order to encourage as many youngsters as possible to take part in the sport. Several Inter youth coaches have taken part in the project, and among the judges are ex-Nerazzurri players Ze Maria and Massimo Paganin.
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