Mid-Week News Dump

This International break could not come at a worse time. Here we are, all pumped up after our first win of the season and now we have to twiddle our thumbs for two weeks while praying feverishly to the Calcio Gods that no one gets hurt. Most of the squad has packed up their balls and gone to play for their respective countries but that doesn't mean that the few left in Milan get to slack. Nope, there is still training and, this weekend, a friendly against a Swiss team.

Inter have 14 first-team players and 1 Primavera player called up for International duty between now and next Wednesday. The list below is sorted by competition and country, with all times shown in US pacific and eastern.

Italy, UEFA Under-21 European Championship:

Italy: Mario Balotelli, Lorenzo Crisetig
- Wales v Italy (Swansea, Friday 4 September at 11:45am pacific, 2:45pm eastern)
- Italy v Luxembourg (Novara, Tuesday 8 September at noon pacific, 3pm eastern)

Interestingly, Crisetig is only 16 years old, and, if he actually plays in either of those games, would set a record for the youngest player to compete in Italy's U21 squad. The record right now is held by Federico Macheda (Manchester United), who made his Italy U21 debut at 18.

2010 World Cup qualifiers

Italy: Davide Santon
- Georgia v Italy (Tbilisi, Saturday 5 September at 11am pacific, 2pm eastern)
- Italy v Bulgaria (Turin, Wednesday 9 September at 11:50am pacific 2:50pm eastern)

Brazil: Lucio, Maicon, Julio Cesar
- Argentina v Brazil (Rosario, Saturday 5 September at 5:30pm pacific, 8:30pm eastern)
- Brazil v Chile (Salvador De Bahia, Wednesday 9 September at 6pm pacific, 9pm eastern)

Argentina: Javier Zanetti, Diego Milito
- Argentina v Brazil (Rosario, Saturday 5 September at 5:30pm pacific, 8:30pm eastern)
- Paraguay v Argentina (Asuncion, Wednesday 9 September at 4pm pacific, 7pm eastern)

Slovenia: Renè Khrin
- England v Slovenia, friendly (London, Saturday 5 September at 9:30am pacific, 12:30pm eastern).
- Slovenia v Poland (Maribor, Wednesday 9 September at 11:45am pacific, 2:45pm eastern)

Romania: Cristian Chivu
- France v Romania (Paris, Saturday 5 September at noon pacific, 3pm eastern)
- Romania v Austria (Bucharest, Wednesday 9 September at 10:45am pacific, 1:45pm eastern)

Holland: Wesely Sneijder
- Scotland v Holland (Glasgow, Wednesday 9 September at noon pacific, 3pm eastern)

Serbia: Dejan Stankovic
- Serbia v France (Belgrade, Wednesday 9 September at noon pacific, 3pm eastern)

Columbia: Ivan Ramiro Cordoba
- Colombia v Ecuador (Medellin, Saturday 5 September at 1:30pm pacific, 4:30pm eastern)
- Uruguay v Colombia (Montevideo, Wednesday 9 September at 2pm pacific, 5pm eastern)

Cameroon: Samuel Eto'o
- Gabon v Cameroon (Libreville, Saturday 5 September at 7:30am pacific, 10:30am eastern)
- Cameroon v Gabon (Yaounde, Wednesday 9 September at 7:30am pacific, 10:30am eastern)

Ghana: Sulley Muntari
- Ghana v Sudan (Accra, Sunday 6 September at 8am pacific, 11am eastern)

Closer to home, Mourinho has submitted his squad list to UEFA for the group stages of the Champions League. Thanks to some fancy footwork in the front office, the squad has been paired down enough that no one has to stay home. The only player not to make the list this year is Marko Arnautovic and he hasn't recovered from his foot injury so cant play anyway.

A list:
Goalkeepers: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni
Defenders: Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Materazzi, Samuel, Chivu, Santon
Midfielders: Stankovic, Quaresma, Thiago Motta, Sneijder, Muntari, Vieira, Cambiasso, Obi*, Mancini, Esposito*
Strikers: Eto'o, Suazo, Milito, Balotelli

*youth players

B list: Belec (goalkeeper), Krhin (midfielder), Caldirola (midfielder), Destro (striker), Tremolada (midfielder)

Sad but true, not everyone got called up for international duty. So those who had to stay home wont be too bored, Mouinho has scheduled a friendly against Swiss side Lugano on Saturday, the 5th. The game will take place at the stadio "Cornaredo" in Lugano at 5:30pm (local time; 8:30am pacific, 11:30am eastern).

What was left of the squad trained today at La Pinetina. To bulk the squad a bit, Mourinho had to draft a few players from the academy: Cristiano Biraghi (midfielder), Simone Dell'agnello (forward), Giulio Donati (deffense), Marek Kysela (defense), Samuele Longo (forward), Sebastian Carlsen (midfielder), and Andrea Romanò (midfielder). Marko Arnautovic also joined the group - he must be feeling better - while Thiago Motta and Cambiasso had therapy and individual sessions.

Wow, after all the drama of the summer market and the high emotions of the Derby, this all just seems so dull and pedestrian. Oh well, this is all we have so we might as well make the best of it. At least the Brazil-Argentina game should be good.

FORZA INTER

Oh, and Happy 30th Birthday, Julio Cesar!