Mourinho's TIM Trophy squad

APPIANO GENTILE - José Mourinho has named a 22-player squad for the TIM Trophy matches against Juventus and AC Milan at the Stadio Adriatico in Pescara.
Goalkeepers: 1 Francesco Toldo, 12 Julio Cesar, 21 Paolo Orlandoni.
Defenders: 23 Marco Materazzi, 24 Nelson Rivas, 25 Walter Samuel, 26 Cristian Chivu, 39 Davide Santon, 46 Luca Caldirola.
Midfielders: 5 Dejan Stankovic, 7 Ricardo Quaresma, 8 Thiago Motta, 14 Patrick Vieira, 15 Renè Krhin, 19 Esteban Cambiasso, 20 Obi, 30 Mancini, 48 Lorenzo Crisetig.
Strikers: 22 Diego Milito, 45 Mario Balotelli, 47 Denis Alibec, 49 Mattia Destro.

http://inter.it/aas/news/reader?N=31940&L=en

Soccer-Italians wine bill leaves bitter taste in China

BEIJING, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Serie A teams Inter Milan and Lazio acted like tourists and drank wine worth more than $10,000 when they were in China last week for the Italian Super Cup, local media reported on Wednesday.
Champions Inter lost 2-1 to Italian Cup winners Lazio in the season curtain-raiser played in front of 70,000 fans at the Bird's Nest stadium on Saturday night.
Although moving the match from Italy to China was a success, the behaviour of the clubs fell below the standards the organisers expected of their guests.
"The two teams from Italy were just like two luxury tourist groups," Wang Bo, who looked after the teams on behalf of organisers United Vanson International, told the Beijing News.
"Just on wine, they ran up a bill of 70,000 yuan ($10,240)," he added. "They were extremely inconsiderate, they didn't think about anybody else's needs at all."
When contacted by Reuters on Wednesday, Vanson spokesman Ma Jian said Wang's comments were made in passing to the reporter and did not represent the company's official position.
Wang's complaints compound the impression that the trip was a public relations disaster for Inter and their coach Jose Mourinho in particular.
The Beijing News, one of the Chinese capital's best-selling newspapers, had a particular grievance with Mourinho after he lambasted their reporter in the post-match press conference.
Asked why Lazio, playing on the same pitch and in the same searing heat that Mourinho had previously complained about, were able to win, the Portuguese rounded on her.
"After the first two questions, I know why Chinese football is so rubbish and why China has won gold medals in so many sports but not football, because the journalists are so unprofessional."
Mourinho later expanded on the shortcomings of the Chinese media after a question from state news agency Xinhua, saying he could only conclude that they did not "understand a thing".
The Chinese media responded by branding Mourinho arrogant and stories of other snubs and jibes circulated on the internet.
On Monday, Inter posted a statement on their Chinese language website (http://inter.sina.com.cn/) defending him against accusations that he would not meet China's national team coach. "Jose Mourinho today firmly denied the reports that he refused to meet China's coach Gao Hongbo," it read.
"After Inter's training in the Olympic Sports Centre in the afternoon of Aug. 5, Gao met and talked to Mourinho... "

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090812/sports/soccer_china_italy_2

Zanetti returns to Fiorentina

Fiorentina have concluded a deal to sign experienced midfielder Cristiano Zanetti from Juventus for a reported 2million euros.

Zanetti has signed a two-year contract with an option for a further year at the club where he began his professional career in 1993.
After leaving the Viola in 1996, Zanetti went on to enjoy successful spells at Inter Milan and Roma before signing for Juve in 2006.
The 32-year-old, a two-time Scudetto winner, has won 17 caps for Italy and represented the Azzurri at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004.
A statement on Fiorentina's website confirming the deal added that Zanetti will be officially presented to the media on Thursday afternoon.

http://www.soccer365.com/italian_news/story_11809005100.php

Roma rejected Chelsea bid for De Rossi

Giallorossi official Bruno Conti claims Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti made an approach for the Italy international as he scoured his homeland for players who could improve his squad in the Premier League.
"I've personally had a call from Ancelotti to take the player to Chelsea. But Daniele is untouchable," Conti told Radio Radio. "The offer was of a lot of money, but it has been refused."
Roma president Rosella Sensi has also moved to distance the club from any suggestion that they would be prepared to part with the 26-year-old.
"De Rossi isn't and won't be for sale. He remains with us", she said.
But Roma sold Alberto Aquilani to Liverpool for £20m earlier this month and the club's transfer chief Daniele Prade has not ruled out further departures.
He said: "Will there be other sales? We care about this club and if there will be important offers then yes, there could be more sales. The financial balance is important and if necessary we will bring in more money."
"Chelsea wanted [Daniele] De Rossi, but we turned down their offer," Prade concluded.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=666615&sec=transfers&campaign=rss&source=soccernet&cc=4716

Juventus to Sell Zanetti to Fiorentina for 2 Million Euros

Juventus Football Club SpA said it reached an agreement with ACF Fiorentina SpA to sell Cristiano Zanetti to the Florence team for 2 million euros. The transaction will generate a gain for Juventus of 1.8 million euros, Juventus said in a stock-exchange statement.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601077&sid=ae.ef4DirhDg

SANTIAGO BERNABEU TROPHY AGAINST REAL MADRID CANCELED

MILAN - Real Madrid have announced on their official website that the 31st Santiago Bernabeu Trophy will be played against Rosenborg and not Milan, on the 24th of August. The match between Real and Milan should have been played the day after, but the Spanish club have changed the date on Uefa's advice, to avoid concurrence with the match between Athletic Madrid and Panathinaikos in the Champions League preliminary round.

http://www.acmilan.com/index.aspx

Twelve players in action today

MILAN - Twelve Inter players represent their national teams in friendly matches today ahead of the upcoming 2010 World Cup qualifying matches.
The action starts at 15:00 CET with Mario Balotelli poised to spearhead the Italy U21 attack against Russia U21 in St Petersburg. Argentines Nicolas Burdisso, Diego Milito and Javier Zanetti take on the Russian men's national team two hours later in Moscow.
The action continues at 19:15 with Julio Cesar, Lucio and Maicon representing Brazil in a friendly match against Estonia in Tallinn. Thirty minutes later Sulley Muntari's Ghana face Zambia at the Matchroom Stadium in London, while at 20:00 it's the turn of Cristian Chivu, who will captain Romania against Hungary in Budapest.
At 20:30, Davide Santon's Italy play away to Switzerland and Samuel Eto'o's Cameroon take on Austria.
Ivan Ramiro Cordoba brings a day of Inter-national football to close at 00:15 CET when Colombia play against Venezuela in New York.
http://inter.it/aas/news/reader?N=31931&L=en