PINZOLO – The Inter "Green" team beat the Inter "Orange"
team 3-0 at the Stadio Pineta in what was the Nerazzurri's first friendly of the new season.
Two 30-minute halves were played with recent signings Handanovic, Silvestre and Palacio making their first appearances in black and blue. But it was an old favourite who started the year with a bang, as Diego Milito netted twice in the first half to give Inter Green a 2-0 lead at half time. After the restart, an inch-perfect pass from the unstoppable Zanetti almost gave Milito the chance to complete his hat-trick but Ranocchia beat the striker to it and put the ball into his own net.
Watching the friendly from the sidelines were vice president Angelomario Moratti, Bedy Moratti and managing director Marco Fassone.
FIRST HALF – Livaja gave Silvestre an early taste of his ability when he burst past the Argentine in the 2nd minute, his angled effort finishing wide. Coutinho then played Milito in down the other end but Guglielmotti closed him down well and the Prince was unable to trouble Castellazzi. Inter Orange carved out their first decent chance in the 10th minute: Livaja played a dinked pass towards Longo but the striker – recently promoted to the first team – got his touch wrong and the ball flew high. A minute later the deadlock was broken, but it was Inter Green and Milito who managed it: Zanetti passed to Palacio, who played the ball in on a plate for Milito to tap home.
Soon afterwards Palacio again picked out Milito but the striker's low cross was met by no one. A foul by Guglielmotti on Mbaye around the quarter-hour mark gave the referee no option but to award a spot kick to the Greens: Milito sent Castellazzi the wrong way and made it 2-0. Coutinho almost added a third on 18 minutes after collecting a ball from Cambiasso but this time Castellazzi did well to push clear at full stretch. In the 20th minute Silvestre connected with a header but couldn't get it on target. As the first 30 minutes came to a close, it was again the Greens causing problems: a delightful ball from Coutinho found Zanetti and the skipper laid off for Guarin, but the Colombian could only blast his effort over.
SECOND HALF – Four minutes after the break, Zanetti sent over a
cross aiming for Milito's head, but Ranocchia got there first and
knocked the ball into his own net. Zanetti didn't stop there: even at 3-0 he kept clocking up the miles on the wing and pinging in ball
after ball. Likewise Milito's sights remained firmly trained on goal as he looked
for his third. Palacio also tried to get on the score sheet and fired in a left-footed
shot after 41 minutes of play only to be denied by Ranocchia, the defender
knocking out of play. From the following corner the ball fell to
Samuel, but the Argentine's effort was high. Belec showed safe hands in the 44th
minute as he kept out Palacio twice in quick succession. Inter's new
Argentine forward had another go after 48 minutes - Belec alert
to it once more - before Longo tried his luck with the same result: the Slovene keeper was in no mood for being beaten.
Inter Green 3-0 Inter Orange
Scorers:
Milito 11, 15 pen, Ranocchia 34 og.
FIRST-HALF TEAMS
Inter Green (4-2-3-1): 1 Handanovic;
2 Silvestre, 3 Mbaye, 4 Zanetti, 5 Ranocchia, 6 Chivu, 7 Coutinho, 8
Palacio, 9 Milito, 10 Guarin, 11 Cambiasso.
Inter Orange (4-4-2): 1 Castellazzi, 2 Guglielmotti,
3 Bianchetti, 4 Benassi, 5 Cannataro, 6 Del Piero, 7 Garritano, 8
Romanò, 9 Pazzini, 10 Livaja, 11 Longo.
SECOND-HALF
TEAMS
Inter Green: Bardi, Bianchetti,
Silvestre, Samuel, Nagatomo, Guarin, Cambiasso, Coutinho, Palacio,
Livaja, Longo.
Inter Orange: Belec,
Mbaye, Cannataro, Benassi, Guglielmotti, Romanò, Garritano,
Ogunseye, Del Piero, Terrani, Pedrabissi.
Referee: Mr. Davide Barozzi (Rovereto)
Assistant (1): Mr. Paolo Barbera (Rovereto)
Assistant (2): Mr. Andrea Angheben
Spectators: 3,000.
