One of the great heartbreaks of my soccer-watching life was watching Argentina lose against Germany in the quarter finals of the 2006 World Cup. But I knew that with so many great players in the squad--Messi, Riquelme, Crespo, Aimar, Cambiasso, Coloccini, Tevez, Mascherano, Zanetti, Milito, Heinze, and others--that they'd arrive in South Africa ready to make things right.

Here's an analogy for you to mull over:

An entrepreneur comes up with a product. It can be any product: a website, a toaster, a killer mutant robot, you name it, but he designs and develops it. He makes it successful. It's him who brings this product to the attention of the world... and it's a truly great product.

Let me just start out by saying that I have never liked Goal.com (the English version at least. The Italian version is actually pretty good because it just posts articles from Italian newspapers, so at least you know you're reading from a source). The English version always seems to have stories without sources that look like they were just thought up at that instant and posted, and I have never liked their opinions on Italian calcio.

The last week of an exciting Serie A season has passed and with Inter already capturing its 17th Scudetto, one storyline involved the relegation fight between Bologna and Torino. Marco Di Vaio scored his 24th goal of the season as Bologna defeated Catania 3-1 at home and will remain in the Serie A.

(highlights di Napoli-Inter 1-0)
NAPOLI (3-5-2) - Navarro; Santacroce, Contini, Aronica; Montervino, Blasi, Amodio (dall'89' Bogliacino), Hamsik, Mannini; Denis (dal 63' Zalayeta), Lavezzi (dall'83' Datolo). Allenatore: Roberto Donadoni.
INTER (4-2-3-1) - Julio Cesar; Zanetti, Cordoba, Samuel, Chivu (dall'81' Maxwell); Vieira (dal 75' Cruz), Cambiasso; Figo (dal 70' Mancini), Stankovic, Balotelli; Ibrahimovic.

(Inter-Siena 1-0. Cambiasso)
(2-0. Balotelli)
(3-0. Ibrahimovic)
INTER (4-3-2-1) - Julio Cesar (78' Orlandoni); Zanetti, Cordoba, Samuel, Chivu; Stankovic, Cambiasso, Muntari; Figo (62' Santon), Balotelli (74' Mancini); Ibrahimovic. All.: Josè Mourinho.

It's Zlatan the great!

By Glezos Alberganti, La Settimana Sportiva

A brace by Zlatan Ibrahimovic sealed Inter's last game at San Siro this year against a lively Atalanta side. Mourinho's boys played one of the best games of the season, coming back in the second half. The Nerazzurri went ahead after 6 minutes thanks to Muntari, but Atalanta equalized four minutes later with Doni.

Chelsea met Inter at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena. The game was dominated by Jose Mourinho's former club and the Special One could not hide his displeasure. Lampard, Drogba, Malouda, Sturridge and Essien kept the pressure up on the Nerrazurri. Drogba hit a speculative shot on goal which Belec was unable to get fully behind and only managed to deflect the ball into goal in the 10'.

Non ci voleva proprio, a pochi giorni dall'inizio del campionato (esattamente una settimana). Mourinho e patron Moratti staranno maledicendo questi impegni estivi, importanti ma sicuramente forieri di problemi di questo tipo. Nella Serie A di Calcio mancher un importante protagonista, sia per il torneo che, soprattutto, per il centrocampo dell'Inter.

The impossible continues since getting sent off against Cagliari last Sunday, Jose Mourinho has cut off his own source of lifeblood by refusing to talk to the media. In his place, Mourinho sent out Esteban Cambiasso for the press conference ahead of Wednesday's 3-1 win over Napoli a match Jose was banned from and today he had new boy Lucio fill in for him in the presser ahead of tomorrow night's match.

There are many factors that have contributed to Argentina's poor form throughout World Cup qualification. Some may look to the exclusion of the old guard such as Javier Zanetti and Estaban Cambiasso or to the continued faith in Carlos Tevez; dismissed twice and only scoring one goal throughout qualification.

(highlights di Inter-Sampdoria 1-0)
(Inter-Sampdoria 1-0. Ibrahimovic porta i nerazzurri in vantaggio con un gran destro)
INTER (4-3-3): Julio Cesar; Santon, Materazzi, Cordoba (46' Chivu), Maxwell; Vieira (54' Cambiasso), Burdisso, Zanetti; Cruz (54' Crespo), Ibrahimovic, Balotelli.

We've expected it for most of the year, but this weekend Inter were officially crowned Campioni D'Italia for the 17th time (now they are level with Milan for all-time Scudetto wins, but both clubs are still 10 behind Juventus). For those that don't understand the banner. "Il Biscione" (the snake) is the traditional symbol of Inter, and it says "Il Biscione is the champion again".

Inter celebrated their 17th Scudetto and the 4th one in a row in front of a packed home crowd with a 3-0 drubbing of Siena. Goals came from Cambiasso, Balotelli and Ibrahimovic. Inter actually became champions the night before when Udinese defeated AC Milan 2-1 and the boys didn't wait to kick off the party that very night.

There's a fierce wind blowing through the top order of Argentine club football as the Clausura championship draws to yet another exciting finale.

Last season's bottom placed club River Plate are now mathematically out of the title race and the other traditional superpower Boca Juniors are a further eight points down the league.

PAZZA INTER is the remake of Inno dell' Inter recorded after Inter Milan won Serie A Scudetto. Both songs are a remake and are sung by the players of Inter Milan. Piazza del Duomo in Milan and from Siena where Inter won the Scudetto. Players who sing the song include: Marco Materazzi, Hernan Crespo, Javier, Zanetti, and Estevan Cambiasso along with the entire Inter Milan team.

It's been nearly a month since the end of the 2008/2009 Serie A season. I would've put this post up earlier, but the Confederations Cup and the U-21 Championship distracted me from Serie A talk. So I thought we'd discuss who was the best foreign player and who was the best Italian player this season.

Inter Milan and the World Football Challenge were kind enough to setup this press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in LA with Inter Milan midfielder, Esteban Cambiasso, ahead of Tuesday's World Football Challenge match of Chelsea vs Inter Milan at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.
Some of the highlights of the press conference were:
-He believes that the World Football Challenge match is just a friendly and that the animosity between Chelsea coach Ancelotti and Inter coach Mourinho will have no effect.

The uneasy relationship between Samuel Eto'o and Pep Guardiola seems to have come to an end with Barca's manager categorically saying that the striker's future in the club was bleak. His place will be taken by Zlatan Ibrahamovic. It is part of a swap deal with €45 million in cash and Hleb's loan as an additional sweetener.

Photo via Miguel Ropa

• Greaseano claims that he was "tired" against Shamrock Rovers. Madrid's goal in the friendly came courtesy of Karim Benzema. "I'm tired because we are training hard three times a day," he said. By the way, Kaka is still on holiday after the Confeds so this means that The Fangirls need to start warming up.

Da una panchina all'altra almeno non volano saette. L'anno scorso Ranieri e Mourinho avevano iniziato ad accapigliarsi gi in estate, inasprendo i rapporti tra le due tifoserie gi abbastanza cariche per il dopo Calciopoli. A Pescara, il Trofeo Tim vinto dalla Juventus per la prima volta in nove edizioni, parte in un clima decisamente più sereno.

Jose Mourinho's men will be missing a key component match day 1, after Esteban Cambiasso injured...
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TABELLINO
SAMPDORIA: Castellazzi, Stankevicius, Lucchini, Gastaldello, Ziegler, Poli (20'st Tissone), Mannini (33'st Franceschini), Palombo, Cassano, Pazzini, Bellucci (26'st Zauri). A disp.: Guardalben, Padalino,, M.Rossi, Cacciatore, Pozzi. All.: Del Neri.
INTER: Julio Cesar, Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Santon, J.

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Liverpool have refused to release Javier Mascherano for Argentina's friendly against Catalunya later this month.
The midfielder, who is skipper of his country, was named by Diego Maradona in the squad for the showpiece match, which takes place on December 22.
But with Catalunya, who are coached by Johan Cruyff, an autonomous Spanish region and not a country, the fixture is not recognised by FIFA.

You all probably know our distaste for Man United (cue the sick bag). Unfortunately, they put up a pretty convincing performance against Inter last night. Yes its the painful truth, amigas. United managed to clamp down Inter's midfield. The likes of Cambiasso were playing hide and seek, leaving Mourinho seething at the sidelines.

Fratelli Bianconeri, direi che non c'è nulla di nuovo da dire per commentare il match di sabato sera contro gli indossatori di scudetti altrui, vorrei solo accennare ad un paio di cose. Innanzitutto vorrei esprimere la mia delusione totale per la partita disputata dalla nostra Squadra, che, a mio avviso, nonostante le assenze e le difficolt pratiche che si trova davanti ad ogni gara, ha affrontato l'impegno senza la dovuta determinazione, quasi rassegnata ad accontentarsi di un pareggio, e mi dispiace ma io non riesco a gioire per un risultato riagguantato in quel modo nei tempi di recupero.

A San Siro, stasera, nel secondo anticipo del sabato, sar spettacolo ed emozioni, e per nulla una gara scontata. L'Inter ha l'occasione per superare forse l'ultimo grande ostacolo verso il tricolore, la Lazio ha invece la possibilit di giocare con relativa tranquillit , nonostante il passo falso casalingo, della scorsa settimana, contro l'Atalanta (0 a 1, rete di Talamonti).

(highlights di Chievo-Inter 2-2)
CHIEVO (4-3-1-2) - Sorrentino; Frey, Morero, Yepes, Mantovani (dal 76' Sardo); Luciano, Rigoni (dall'83' Malagò), Marcolini; Bentivoglio (dal 72' Esposito); Pellissier, Bogdani. All.: Di Carlo. INTER (4-3-2-1) - Julio Cesar; Zanetti, Cordoba, Samuel, Maxwell; Muntari (dal 67' Burdisso), Cambiasso, Stankovic (dal 77' Jimenez); Figo, Balotelli; Crespo (dal 57' Cruz).

(Cagliari-Inter 2-1)
CAGLIARI (4-3-1-2) - Marchetti; Pisano, Canini, Lopez (81' Astori), Agostini; Fini (62' Lazzari), Conti, Parola (dal 54' Biondini); Cossu; Jeda, Acquafresca. All.: Allegri.
INTER (4-3-3) - Toldo; Santon, Burdisso, Materazzi, Chivu (75' Bolzoni); Zanetti, Cambiasso, Vieira; Jimenez (67' Mancini), Ibrahimovic, Cruz (60' Balotelli).

Maradona was asked by Ole about a possible callup for el Cuchu Cambiasso and Maradona said the following:

"I don't have him for my team. It's a matter of tastes. I don't have anything against the kid, on the contrary, I've known him since he was little, but no. Because of the position where Cambiasso plays, on the left side, it doesn't seduce me.

Stasera, allo stadio Adriatico di Pescara sar grande calcio. Infatti, Inter, Juve e Milan scenderanno in campo per la nona edizione del Trofeo Tim (la prima, nel 2001, andò al Milan che si è aggiudicato anche l'ultima manifestazione). Nonostante i tanti assenti (i giocatori appena rientrati dalle rispettive nazionali), e le frasi di facciata dei tre mister, sar un appuntamento come al solito di grande prestigio e nessuna delle tre big della Serie A di Calcio ha voglia sicuramente di sfigurare e, soprattutto, di uscire sconfitta dal campo.

Stasera torna la Serie A con la quinta giornata di campionato. Per questo turno infrasettimanale, il match di cartello, e soprattutto sfida che si annuncia affascinante, di grande richiamo (e speriamo ricca di gol) è quella tra l'Inter di Mourinho (squalificato e sostituito in panchina dal suo fidato secondo Beppe Baresi) e il Napoli di Donadoni.

(video gol e highlights di Rubin Kazan-Inter)
RUBIN KAZAN (4-4-2): Rhyzhikov; Salukvadze Sharonov Navas Ansaldi; Ryadantsev Noboa Semak Karadeniz; Domínguez (86' Kasaev) Bukharov (a disp. Revishvili Bystrov Blyaykin Popov Gorbanets Murawski). All. Kurban Berdyev.
INTER (4-3-3): Julio Cesar; Maicon Lucio Samuel Chivu; Zanetti Cambiasso Stankovic; Mancini (64' Quaresma) Eto'o Balotelli (a disp.

Francesco Totti caught up with Antonio Di Natale at the top of the top scorer's chart with 9 goals after his hat-trick vs. Bari at the Stadio Olimpico. That was Totti's first hat-trick in 7 years, the last coming against Brescia in 2002. Both Totti and Di Natale have each scored a hat-trick this season.

After the national side played out a 0-0 draw with the Netherlands followed by a 1-0 victory against Sweden through an early Chiellini goal, Serie A returned at the weekend with the big game found at the Olimpico in Turin between Juventus and Udinese. Juve and Milan would be hoping Inter dropped points against Bologna to maintain their title challenges.

23 i convocati, in casa Juve, per il big match di domani sera contro l'Inter. Ferrara recupera, dopo un paio di settimane di stop, il bomber franco-argentino David Trezeguet, e il forte centrale difensivo Chiellini (operato lunedi al naso). Assenti ancora, invece, Salihamidzic e Iaquinta, ancora fermi ai box.

After the national side played out a 0-0 draw with the Netherlands followed by a 1-0 victory against Sweden through an early Chiellini goal, Serie A returned at the weekend with the big game found at the Olimpico in Turin between Juventus and Udinese. Juve and Milan would be hoping Inter dropped points against Bologna to maintain their title challenges.

(highlights di Atalanta-Inter)
ATALANTA: Coppola, Garics, Bianco, Manfredini, Bellini (70' Madonna), De Ascentis, Ferreira Pinto (63' Tiribocchi), Padoin, Guarente (81' Caserta), Ceravolo, Acquafresca. (Consigli, Talamonti, Peluso, Caserta, Radovanovic). All.: Toma (Conte squalificato)
INTER: Julio Cesar, Maicon, Lucio, Cordoba, Chivu, Zanetti, Cambiasso, Balotelli (68' Stankovic), Sneijder, Eto'o, Milito (77' Motta).

(highlights di Inter-Lazio)
INTER (4-3-1-2): Julio Cesar; Maicon, Lucio, Cordoba, Muntari (26′ p. t. Vieira); J. Zanetti, Cambiasso, T. Motta; Stankovic; Eto'o (41′ s.t. Balotelli), Milito (44′ s.t. Materazzi). (Toldo, Krhin, Donati, Suazo). All. Mourinho.
LAZIO (3-4-2-1): Muslera; Siviglia, Stendardo, Radu; Lichsteiner, Baronio, Kolarov, Del Nero (35′ s.