Seria A 2nd Week : Inter vs Catania @ Stadio Meazza

Jose Mourinho is still looking for his first Serie A victory and debuts Ricardo Quaresma, but comes face to face with a true Inter legend – Catania Coach Walter Zenga.

As former goalkeeper Zenga, part of Giovanni Trapattoni’s Grande Inter of the 1980s, only took charge of the club towards the end of last season, this will be the first time he has faced the Nerazzurri as a tactician. He helped rescue Catania from relegation on the final round of last season, a 1-1 draw with Roma which contributed to Inter’s Scudetto victory. Confidence is high after their opening 1-0 win over Genoa propelled the Sicilians to the top of the table – above the reigning Serie A champions. “We can make history using our hearts, minds and legs.”

Mourinho’s Inter career has got off to a relatively slow start. He only won the Italian Super Cup by beating Roma in a sudden death penalty shoot-out, then was held 1-1 at Sampdoria on his Serie A debut. At least the injury woes are subsiding, with Ivan Cordoba, Marco Materazzi and Patrick Vieira back in action and likely to get a run-out in this match. Adriano is closing on fitness too, but Cristian Chivu, Walter Samuel, Nicolas Burdisso, Nelson Rivas, Olivier Dacourt and Luis Jimenez are still sidelined.

All the focus will be on new £25m signing Quaresma, who completed his transfer from Porto on deadline day. His arrival allows Mourinho to field his favoured 4-3-3 system with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Amantino Mancini. Due to international duty, it’s possible Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso will be rested.

Catania are also expected to go with a 4-3-3 system, although Giacomo Tedesco is favourite to replace Nicolae Dica for a more solid approach. Davide Baiocco returns from a ban and the more experienced Christian Terlizzi angles to take over from Silvestre in central defence. As Gionatha Spinesi remains injured, Giuseppe Mascara and Michele Paolucci continue to hold the fort upfront. We should see quite a battle down the flank between Quaresma and Uruguayan Jorge Martinez.

Keep an eye on: Ricardo Quaresma (Inter) – This is the player Mourinho demanded from the moment he arrived at Inter and now San Siro will get to see its new star. Already impressive in a friendly last week in Switzerland, the Portuguese dynamo promises to give the team the width and pace it has been lacking.

Last season: Inter 2-0 Catania

Form guide: Inter (D - - - - ) Catania (W - - - - )

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Inter (probable): Julio Cesar; Santon, Cordoba, Materazzi, Maxwell; Stankovic, Vieira, Muntari; Mancini, Ibrahimovic, Quaresma

Catania (probable): Bizzarri; Silvestri, Terlizzi, Stovini, Sabato; Biagianti, Ledesma, Tedesco; Martinez, Paolucci, Mascara

Ref: To follow…

The break of the Internationals was very very useful for Inter
we have many injured players back n those who lacked fitness r now in full shape n the only 2 players who r sure 2 be absent are Jiminez n Stankovic only and these r really great news.

I expect a good n solid performance by our men
Inter 3-0 catania

........................... Julio Cesar ...........................
Maicon ....... Cordoba ...... Materazzi ...... Maxwell
.......... Zanetti ...... Cambiasso ... Muntari ..........
........................................................................
.... Mancini ......... Ibrahimovic ...... Quaresma .....

Mourinho names squad for Inter v Catania

Friday, 12 September 2008 18:48:36

APPIANO GENTILE - José Mourinho has named a 20-player squad for Saturday evening's Serie A Week 2 match against Catania at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (kick-off 20:30).

Goalkeepers: 1 Francesco Toldo, 12 Julio Cesar, 22 Paolo Orlandoni.

Defenders: 2 Ivan Ramiro Cordoba, 4 Javier Zanetti, 6 Maxwell, 13 Maicon, 16 Nicolas Burdisso, 23 Marco Materazzi.

Midfielders: 7 Luis Figo, 14 Patrick Vieira, 19 Esteban Cambiasso, 20 Muntari, 33 Amantino Mancini, 77 Ricardo Quaresma.

Strikers: 8 Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 9 Julio Ricardo Cruz, 10 Adriano, 18 Hernan Crespo, 45 Mario Balotelli.

Inter vs Catania
Stadio Guisseppe Meazza , Milano
Live at 18:30 GMT - 20:30 Cairo
JSC +1
Ali Saeed Al Kaabi

the match didnt look like how the score shows
it was a one way match for the whole 90 minutes but a silly red card at the end of the 1st half for Muntari made it look as a hard n close match.

i think Catania had 1 chance in the whole 90 minutes n that was the goal while Inter even if our players missd all their chances thanx 2 the bad luck that was fuckin us 2day , we still managed 2 score 2wice thanx 2 Catania's players.

Quaresma had a great debut n he was impressive n we can say he managed 2 score or at least played a huge role in the 1st goal.
Ibrahimovic was movin well but he was very unlucky not 2 score 2day n missed many chances that if he was on his day he would have scored easily , Maicon was man of the match n was great as usual , both Matrix n Vieira looked impressive 2day n the few minutes Mancini played were so good n he was much better than the sampdoria game.

the red card fucked up the game n as Mou said we could have won easily 3 or 4 or even 5 and we were 2 see more attackin options in the 2nd half like Adriano n Mancini a bit earlier but he was forced 2 bring in defensive options like Zanetti n Cambiasso.

the team looked good anyway , let's say i'm pleased with the performance n we have a game next tuesday in the CL n i hope we can see better performance n get our first 3 points from Greece against Panathanaikos

EL LODDZ wrote:

see how my predictions are perfect. i should teach you..

ok congratulations
keep it up

inter had a great luck in the match
the refree has no mercy in showing the red card for montari

yes the red card was so harsh