Leo Messi è stato paragonato a Maradona per il gol al Getafe in Copa del Rey, in cui si fece metà campo saltando gli avversari come birilli. Proprio come el Diego in Argentina-Inghilterra dei famosi mondiali di Mexico '86.

Stasera, Messi ha segnato anche l'altro gol di Maradona in Argentina-Inghilterra, quello di mani. La mano sinistra, il pugno che ha raccolto il cross di Zambrotta deviato per il gol del pareggio, 1-1 nel derby con l'Espanyol). Non sappiamo come finirà la Liga, non sappiamo nemmeno come finirà la partita (mentre scriviamo è l'intervallo) ma non vorremmo che la Pulga avesse emulato il suo illustre predecessore. Anzi, per un attimo abbiamo pensato che andasse dall'arbitro a dire che il gol non era regolare, invece dopo un secondo con nostra grande delusione l'hanno inquadrato che esultava, alzando il ditino incriminato. Chissà se anche lui dirà che è stata la 'mano de Dios"

 

PS: tra Capello e Rijkaard, tra Cannavaro e Zambrotta, tra Emerson e Thuram, a me non è che fregasse molto, ma visto il gol di mano è giusto così. E Totti ora trema, van Nistelrooy a un solo gol da lui per la Scarpa d'oro...

The triumphal march in serie A (20 wins, 3 draws and no defeats) deceived Inter fans, but in Europe things are different this year. The groups stage started in a bad way, with 2 incredible defeats in Lisbon and home vs Bayern Munich, then three consecutive wins against two irresistible teams as Sporting and Spartak Moscow. And now, retour match in Mestalla will be very difficult. Inter needs to win or draw at 3 to get through the quarter finals. Inter is Valencia's bete noir, and we hope in a good result.

It has been difficult and to play in front of 22000 people in a stadium that can contain 85000, but an absurd regulation gave access to "Meazza" in San Siro only to people with season tickets that are, for yuor information, 35000. Ok, we have to increase security, but we don't think the right way to do this is to keep people outside. Anyway, after kick off Inter starts slowly and ball possession is for Valencia. Coach Mancini cannot field his usual starting 11, as Patrick Vieira suffers with some muscolar problems, so Figo is just behind the strikers and midfield is made by Stankovic, Zanetti and Cambiasso. It's just the Argentinean Cuchu to score for the 1-0: free kick of Figo from the right, Ibra hit the ball with his shoe's sole, Canizares saves but Cambiasso's header goes into the Spanish goal. Probably it was an offside.

Second half: Inter's rythm is lower than before, and Valencia is better, though they played last Sunday in front ofa tough team as Barcelona is. Minute 64: a foul by Dacourt, and David Villa's free kick from 30 metres passes by Inter's wall. It's a fantastic goal, but Julio Cesar could be positioned better, and the wall itself was not so well positioned. Anyway, it's 1-1. Inter takes it badly, but after some time Cruz enters for Crespo, and serves a delightful assist to Maicon, that beats Canizares. Inter is leading again, but it lasts no more than 10' minutes a corer from the right by Villa, and the other David, Silva, finds his life's shot. It's the end: Inter 2, Valencia 2.

It will be hard for Inter at Mestalla on March 6th. Valencia stadium will be -differently from Milan San Siro- a hell-pit, but Inter has to demonstrate that his strenght is not relegated to the Italian border. And Roberto Mancini has to avoid tonight's mistakes, especially in second half. Ok, Vieira was injured and Cambiasso had to go out, but we think he should have send into the pitch Santiago Solari, in Figo's stead or maybe Stankovic. Well, he should have changed his pattern into a classic 4-4-2, but he definitely needed more power in Inter's midfield.

Let's give some ratings to Inter players:

Julio Cesar 5/10: first goal of Valencia is due to his mistake
Maicon 7: now he's also a scorer
Materazzi 6: he catches all high balls, but a little bit slow for Valencia's forwards
Cordoba 5.5: sometimes he misses Villa and Morientes
Burdisso 6: better in his end, he doesn't attack as he should
Zanetti 6.5: it's his best season of the career, and also in this unlucky Champions League is one of the best
Stankovic 5: he's imprecise even in the easiest passes, too tired in second-half
Figo 6: a good first half, then he disappears
Cambiasso 6.5: a goal, then he has to go out for a muscular problem
Crespo 5: just a header close to goal, he touches few balls
Ibra 5.5: not his best night, but as usual he shows some touches of class
Dacourt 6: not a midfield barrier we know
Cruz 6: an assist to Maicon, half of second goal is the Argentinean's

So, we’ll have our football back next Sunday, with a lot of restrictions. For the time being, in Verona, Milan, Bergamo, Florence and Messina they’ll play behind closed doors. We feel that these measures could not be effective, as you know many incidents happened outside the stadiums. We think that “zero tolerance” should mean heavy punishments to people found guilty. For example, jail could be a solution instead of prohibition to go to the stadium. And again, the only criteria they used –stadium- is not enough and, if left alone, doesn’t work. Verona stadium just needs about forty electronic gates to check tickets and supporters’ identity, but Chievo Verona has the quietest fans in the whole Serie A.


Here you have the typical Chievo fans

Anyway, clubs’ owners decided not to strike, and in some stadiums they are working day and night in order to have situation under control. Inter Milan and AC Milan executives had a meeting with the prefect of the Lombardy capital, but we still do not know the results of it. Let’s see, in fact San Siro has the worst situation, it looks like it takes 8 months to complete its reconstruction (in theory). New UEFA president, Michel Platini, wants the open doors. We hope to have both fans in all stadiums and security, and to do we think that clubs and policemen has just to regain those areas of the stadiums that are not under their control (and under law control). It won’t be easy, but it’s necessary.

Let’s go to Spain, to see what happens at Real Madrid. Fabio Capello thanks the ‘Ultras Sur’ group as they did support him while the rest of the crowd was against the Italian coach. That’s why he has been warned by the Spanish government's Anti-violence Commission about this: ‘Ultras Sur’ are violent and Capello’s comments could have negative consequences. Capello was already blamed as, a couple of years ago, expressed a positive comment of Franchism. And when he was a player, he hit a journalist, whose only guilt was to criticize him.

Remaining in Madrid, and talking about the other Italian ‘Fabio’ at Real, Cannavaro said yesterday he could be back to Juventus at the end of the season. Well, he has a contract until 2009, at that time he will be 36. He plays for the most important club in the world, with good possibility to win Liga and Champions League, and he aims to be back to a club that, if thing go well, will be a Serie A newcomer? We think that Fabio 2 just thinks that his Spanish experience is a failure, and said those words just to prevent Madrid executives’ decision to give him away. Let’s see…

In the meantime, public prosecutor in Rome decided to prosecute all GEA managers, especially Alessandro Moggi, and his father Luciano, former general manager of Juventus. The crimes they are charged for are: criminal association for illegal competition, and private violence. After he was banned from football, Moggi is everywhere –TV stations, radio stations, newspapers- to claim he’s innocent. He also said that other clubs guilty, even more than Juve. Let’s see if he’s going to repeat all his theories in a court of law, under oath.

Maybe Ronaldo will stay in Madrid, but in the last two days everybody speaks of his possible arrival at AC Milan. Today we've asked to some of the most famous bloggers, well known as Inter (former Ronaldo club) fans, their opinion on that.

Pietro is ironic: “IMHO, Ronaldo at AC Milan is a BIG problem, but only for the club in via Turati, as they will have to enlarge the doors at the training centre in Milanello. There, everything is custom-made. For Smoje or Steinar Nielsen, I mean. Milanello is good for Ronaldinho, Fernandinho or Fernanda Lessa, that’s why they signed Vieri. But Ronaldo no, he’s too large. After that, Galliani and Braida are enlarging all Milan Lab machines, especially after space insemination done by Borriello, pointed out by Catholic Church and the Vatican.
As Inter fans, we must be happy about this transfer, we love good playing and we’ll see a fantastic team with very fast strikers, assisted by Kaka’s class. Potentially the same great team we saw in Autumn 2006, hilarious and amusing. It’s clear that AC Milan and Inter Milan balance sheets have been artificially fed with fake revenue, but still weight less than Ronaldo. So, I wouldn’t worry too much, unless they get crazy and spend a lot of money, Berlusconi will put his normal line-up, made by desperate thirty-year-old men.

Satirical website Interistiorg owners just ask themselves: “Fatso at AC Milan: a question of hours. Where the hell are terrorists when we need them?”

Cavaliere is an old fan of the Brazilian star: “I think it could be a very good deal for AC Milan, it would make club’s technical rate better and also its possibility to score. Of course, Ronie would improve any team in the world, especially if he trains with method. I am an Inter fan but also a Ronaldo fan, so I have to say –unfortunately- that if I’ll watch him with our rival it will make me sad”

Iruben is distrustful: “As Inter fan I think that Ronaldo at AC Milan won't be interesting news. Inter is going so well that Ronaldo is just a far far far memory. AC Milan is going so bad that they need another striker. Unfortunately (for the rossoneri) big young names won't come to Serie A. Meanwhile Ronaldo (for what I read on newspapers) would like leaving Madrid. If the Brazilian is back to Milan (the town) I'll be just curious to check if he's ready to play (will he need to be trained?), especially when you think about the strong Italian defenders. It won't be easy, anyway.”

Last but not least, writer and blogstar Rudi has presented again an old post he wrote when Ronaldo was supposed to play for Inter in 1997. He had a lot of trouble sleeping because of some Inter’s defeats, that neither the Juve failure in Champions League final vs. Dortmund could heal. Then, Rudi says “Some days later, while cruising, in a flash I saw something with the corner of the eye that was like an electric shock to me. I turned back until the newsstand where there was a poster with a newspaper’s headlines. The dimension of the letters reduced the headline to a couple of words: Moratti and Ronaldo. Suddenly, the black and blue colour came back like nothing, full of a bright perspective: the arrival of a Brazilian star calle "The Phenomenon", with his way of laughing after scoring a goal, other newcomers with exotic names, a new coach born in Bologna province, AC Milan not qualifying for next year’s European Cups. Moratti and Ronaldo. I have to tell this to Katia. She has to know it’s not the end, it never ended: this is the simple, precarious truth of football. With incurable hope, now I know the worst passed and everything begins again.”