Ibra to Swedish press: "Not worried"

Friday, 18 April 2008 16:03:45

MILAN - Zlatan Ibrahimovic's plans for the immediate future are to win the Serie A title with Inter and play a key role for his Swedish national team at the European Championship.

The Nerazzurri forward has returned to his native Malmo for at least a week of rehabilitation to make a complete recovery from his left knee injury.

During his stay in Sweden, Ibrahimovic will work with fitness coach Rickard Dahan.

"I trust him,'' the striker told Swedish newspaper Expressen. "We know each other. He's my friend and he has helped me before. I trained with him when I had problems with my groin a year ago.

"I will play the Euros. I'm counting on getting back in great shape. That's why I have returned home in good time for rehab. I'm positive.

"The knee did not feel okay, but I'm not worried. I'm aiming to get healthy and play again in the last Serie A round.''

News Conference

APPIANO GENTILE - Here's part two of Roberto Mancini's Torino v Inter news conference:

Mancini, it's the last time Roma play before you do. Is this a rather awkward situation?
(Smiles) "We can't refuse to play tomorrow... They play before us because they play the early game and we play the Sunday evening game. But the matches are the same for both teams. It's not as if they play one game today and have another tomorrow. We just have to continue on our path."

A while ago you said Mario Balotelli would have had his chances and exploited them. You have given him these chances at a decisive point in the championship...
"Mario is young, but he's a good player. He has quality and he deserves to play at the moment. He probably wouldn't even be here if he didn't have these qualities. The fact that he's young is just an advantage for him. The main reason he plays is because he has great technical qualities that the team needs right now, and because he is in form."

Balotelli has been compared to Trezeguet for his presence in front of goal. What do you think?
"Trezeguet is a great player, a great striker who rarely misses when he gets in front of goal. Compared with the Frenchman, Mario is a totally different kind of player, but he has many qualities, like that cold-bloodedness in front of goal. But he has many other qualities."

Were you expecting more from Alvaro Recoba's season at Torino?
"I honestly haven't followed Recoba at Torino much, so I wouldn't know what to say."

Are you hoping the city of Milan can have two teams in the Champions League?
"I won't reply to this question because anything I say would be used to create a controversy."

There are five matches until the end of the championship. Have you made any calculations to win the Scudetto?
"We just have to win all our remaining matches."

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti declared that his team needs to win all their remaining matches, including the derby in the first week of May, to get into the Champions League...
"Ancelotti can obviously make a few calculations because he's behind in the table and he has to hope a few teams slow down. But I think this is quite normal. They have to try and win all their matches to get into the Champions League. We're in front and we have to continue doing our duty and winning."

Who would be more useful to Inter? Drogba or Ronaldinho?
"It's too soon to talk about these things."

News...... Treviso 2-1 Inter (HT: 2-1)

TREVISO - Inter fell to their second consecutive defeat in the Campionato Primavera on Saturday, losing 2-1 away to Treviso.

The Nerazzurri, who played most of the game with ten men after the dismissal of midfielder Jacopo Fortunato, had a chance to take an early lead but Luca Siligardi's 14th-minute penalty was pushed on to the post by Savietto.

The hosts went in front in the 21st minute when Ragusa took advantage of a defensive mistake and slotted past Vid Belec.

Inter equalised through Gianluca Litteri on the half hour but Marson restored Treviso's lead before half time with a deflected shot off Rene Krhin.

Ivan Fatic sent a couple of free kicks just wide, with Litteri going close as Inter battled for a second-half leveller.

News...... Treviso 2-1 Inter (HT: 2-1)

Treviso 2-1 Inter (HT: 2-1)

Scorers: Ragusa 21, Litteri 31, Marson 38.

Treviso: Savietto; Ton, Marson, Merli, Colavetta; Orlandi (Pase 52), Migliozzi, D'Esposito; Ragusa (Regolini 90+5), Ghezzo (Zigoni 84), Barbosa.
Subs not used: Trazzi, Fiorotto, Barbini, Madiotto.
Coach: Giovanni Bosi.

Inter: Belec; Filippini (N'ze 65), Esposito, Caldirola, Fatic; Siligardi (Papa 71), Bolzoni, Fortunato, Santon; Litteri, Destro (Krhin 69).
Subs not used: Tornaghi, Pedrelli, Macrì.
Coach: Vincenzo Esposito.

Referee: Barbiero (Vicenza).

Booked: D.Esposito, Ton, Colavetta.
Sent off: Fortunato.

About Inter Milan

Internazionale is a professional football club based in Milan that was founded in 1908 and is more commonly known as Inter. Inter are bitter rivals with fellow city dwellers AC Milan and the football derbies between these two legendary clubs are always exciting and well fought.

Inter are one of the most successful clubs in Italian footballing history having collected fifteen Scudetti, five Coppa Italia, three UEFA Cups and two European Cups throughout their long and illustrious history. Inter are well known for having never been relegated from the top flight of Italian football in their history. Inter have solidified their position as one of Europe’s leading clubs and are a member of the G-14.

In their early days Inter tasted success quickly lifting their first Scudetto in 1910 just two years after the club’s formation. However, Inter had to wait until the 1938-39 season before they succeeded in securing their first Coppa Italia. Interestingly throughout the fascist period in Italy Inter abandoned the name Internazionale as it was frowned upon and they were instead known as Ambrosiana but they soon returned to their original name in 1942.

Inter excelled in the 1960's winning three League titles and back to back European Cup wins as the club enjoyed their most successful era to date. Inter continued to perform well and added further silverware to their already impressive trophy haul in the 1970's and 1980's

However, in stark contrast the 1990's brought a period of decline to the club with Inter struggling to achieve even mediocre performances. Inter were languishing while rivals Juventus and AC Milan were taking both Italy and Europe by storm. Despite a poor turn in fortunes Inter still managed to lift three UEFA Cups in 1991, 1994 and 1998.

Inter finally laid these difficult years to rest lifting the Coppa Italia in consecutive years in 2005 and 2006 beating Roma in both finals. In addition to this Inter were awarded the 2005-06 League title after points were deducted from Juventus and AC Milan due to their involvement in a match fixing scandal. Inter firmly established themselves as a force in Italian football that nobody could question when they lifted the League title at the end of the 2006-07 season in their own right.

Club Details: Inter Milan

Club Name: Football Club Internazionale Milano
Nicknames: Nerazzurri (the Black-Blues), La Beneamata (the Cherished), Il Biscione (the Big Grass Snake)

Ground / Stadium:

Ground: San Siro, Milan, Italy
Capacity: 85,700

Founded:

9th March 1908 (after a split from AC Milan)

Notable Staff:

Coach: Roberto Mancini
President: Massimo Moratti

Rivals:

AC Milan

Serie A Champions:

1910, 1920, 1930, 1938, 1940, 1953, 1954, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1971, 1980, 1989, 2006, 2007

Coppa Italia Winners:

1939, 1978, 1982, 2005

European Cup Winners:

1964, 1965

UEFA Cup Winners:

1991, 1994, 1998

History Inter Milan

The club was founded on March 9, 1908 as Internazionale FBC Milano, following a "schism" from the Milan Cricket and Football Club (43 members). A group of Italians and Swiss (Giorgio Muggiani, a painter who also designed the club's logo, Bossard, Lana, Bertoloni, De Olma, Enrico Hintermann, Arturo Hintermann, Carlo Hintermann, Pietro Dell'Oro, Hugo and Hans Rietmann, Voelkel, Maner, Wipf, and Carlo Ardussi) were unhappy about the domination of Italians in the AC Milan team, and broke away from them, leading to the creation of Internazionale. From the beginning, the club was open to foreign players and thus lived up to her founding name. The club won its very first Scudetto (championship) in 1910 and its second in 1920. The captain and coach of the first Scudetto was Virgilio Fossati, who was killed in World War I. In 1928, during the Fascist era, the club was forced to merge with the Milanese Unione Sportiva and was renamed Ambrosiana SS Milano.[4] They wore white shirts around this time with a red cross emblazoned on it. This shirt design was inspired by the flag and coat of arms of the city of Milan, which in turn is derived from the flag of the patron saint of Milan, St. Ambrose and dates back to the 4th century AD. The new upcoming President Oreste Simonotti decided to change name to A.S. Ambrosiana in 1929. However, supporters continued to call the team "Inter," and in 1931 new president Pozzani caved to shareholder pressure and changed the name to AS Ambrosiania-Inter.

Their first Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) was won in 1938-39, led by the great legend Giuseppe Meazza, for whom the San Siro stadium is officially named, and a fifth league championship followed in 1940, despite an injury to Meazza. After the end of World War II the club re-emerged under a name close to their original one; Internazionale FC Milano, which they have kept ever since