APPIANO GENTILE – President Massimo Moratti was at the training ground this morning to watch Andrea Stramaccioni's Nerazzurri at work as they prepared for tomorrow's match against Genoa. The coach spoke about the president's visit during his press conference and it was clear from his words how pleased he was: "It was very nice to have the president there today. The Inter family is all united around the team and it's a good sign that he spent time with me, with the directors, with the team. He asked me how the players were and other things. He's very close to us."
That is what Moratti said to Stramaccioni today but the coach also spoke about what the president asked him to do when he handed him the reins of the first team: "Very simply, to beat Genoa. Not to win nine games, or eight games, but to beat Genoa... honestly I don't even know who we're playing next."
While he might say he doesn't know who the next opponents are, the targets are clear for a man who will take his place in the Inter dugout tomorrow as a winner with the Nerazzurri Primavera: "I'm not the winner, it's the Primavera boys who are winners. And football is strange because a penalty kick can label you as a winner or not, but I think my counterpart at Ajax did a great job. What I know with certainty is that I'll do more than I have inside me to prove that I deserve this chance and that I can help Inter."
Included in the squad for Inter v Genoa are the names of two Primavera players: forward Marko Livaja and goalkeeper Raffaele Di Gennaro. Stramaccioni was asked whether the choice to have four goalkeepers in the matchday squad had anything to do with Julio Cesar's fitness: "No, Julio had a little problem with his elbow but he's fine and he wants to play. Di Gennaro played a huge part in our NextGen Series win so I wanted to call him up. As for Livaja, the reason I've included him is that he can add to and complement an area where we're a bit short. Livaja rounds off our striking options: he's a wide forward who can play as a second striker, both on the right and on the left."
