Ok, so we have all sorts of little snippets of news to deal with. The arrival of Quaresma has thrown Crespo's place in the squad into doubt and half of the team is out of town for the international break. At the end, we take a little looksee at the team and their contracts.
First, Mourniho has released his squad list for the upcoming Champions League group stage games:
Goalkeepers: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni
Defenders: Cordoba, Zanetti, Maxwell, Maicon, Burdisso, Materazzi, Chivu, Mei, Santon
Midfielders: Stankovic, Figo, Jimenez, Vieira, Cambiasso, Muntari, Mancini, Bolzoni, Quaresma
Strikers: Ibrahimovic, Cruz, Adriano, Balotelli
B list: Caldirola (defender), Destro (striker), Obi (midfielder), Stocchi (goalkeeper), Tremolada (midfielder)
As you all can see, Crespo, Dacourt, Rivas, and Samuel are not on the list. Apparently, the news was broken to Hernan in a text message, and although he is not happy about it, he says that he will not leave, even if it means always sitting on the bench. Crepo's agent, on the other hand, says he may leave in January. I guess we will all have to wait and see.
Dacourt was supposedly being shopped around this summer to no avail. Samuel has yet to return from injury. Rivas is also still injured, though it may be that he just did not make the cut. Also, note that Zanetti is back in defense.
INTERNATIONAL CALL-UPS
As many on the Serie A board have been so nice to point out, Inter does not have many players on the Azzurri. Still, a good portion of our starting 11 play for their national teams, and 9 players have been called up to their respective national teams (including Italy).
Argentina: Cambiasso and Zanetti
Brazil: Julio Cesar and Maicon
Ghana: Muntari
Serbia: Stankovic
Sweden: Ibrahimovic
And for the Azzurrini (Italy under 21): Balotelli and Bolzoni.
Rivas was called up to the Columbian national team, but is staying in Italy to continue rehabilitation.
So, not too shabby.
OTHER STUFF
Since there has been some discussion here about the squad and contract lengths, I thought I would post a little list. This is to the best of my knowledge, so please feel free to comment if I have any of it wrong.
Keepers:
Toldo-------2009
Orlandoni---2009
Julio Cesar--2012
Defenders:
Cordoba-----2012
Maxwell-----2010
Maicon------2012
Burdisso----2011
Materazzi---2010
Rivas-------2011
Samuel------2012
Chivu-------2012
Zanetti-----2011
Midfielders:
Stankovic---2010
Figo--------2009
Jimenez-----2011 (Co-Ownership)
Viera-------2010
Dacourt-----2009
Cambiasso---2010 (!!! We better sew him up!)
Bolzoni-----2012
Mancini-----2012
Muntari-----2012
Quaresma----2012
Forwards:
Ibrahimovic-2012
Adriano-----2009
Cruz--------2009
Crespo------2009
Balotelli-----2011
Obinna------2012
Acquafresca-???? Anyone know?
Right now, the contracts for six players will expire next year.
Ok, I think that this is enough for everyone to think about for now. Dont forget, we have a friendly this Friday (Sept 5) against Locarno.
Allora Ragazzi, basta. Domani, parliamo di Locarno.
FORZA INTER