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Here are some of the top stories for Wednesday, November 20, 2013:
- First off, we here at SB Nation Inter Offside want to express our deepest sympathies, thoughts and prayers to the people of Sardinia after the devastating floods that hit the island earlier this week.
- Congratulations to Croatia and Algeria on winning their World Cup Qualifying Playoff matches to advance to Brazil 2014! Mateo Kovacic, Saphir Taider, and Ishak Belfodil will hopefully be called up to their respective squads next year and make the Nerazzurri family proud!
- Speaking of Kovacic, the youngster played a stellar 74 minutes for his country and contributed with a gorgeous run and assist to help Croatia qualify. This kid is magic:
<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="270" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x17e1yt"></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x17e1yt_croatia-vs-iceland-2-0-srna_sport" target="_blank">Croatia vs Iceland 2:0 Srna</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/footballdaily2" target="_blank">footballdaily2</a></i>
- Inter face Bologna this weekend and the majority of the players should be back for today's practice. Ricky Alvarez and Rodrigo Palacio were traveling back to Milan on Tuesday, so hopefully they will shake off any jet lag by the end of the week.
- Here's a quick rundown of Inter players' minutes from this week's internationals: Palacio played all 90 minutes for Argentina, while Alvarez did not play on Monday night. Andrea Ranocchia featured for all 90 minutes during Italy's match against Nigeria. As previously mentioned, Kovacic was on the field for 74 minutes. Taider played in the waning minutes with Algeria, but Belfodil was an unused substitute. Samir Handanovic, Yuto Nagatomo, and Fredy Guarin were all rested for their respective teams' friendlies.