Jose Mourinho Believes That Inter Are Mistreated

Inter coach Jose Mourinho was furious regarding the fine given to Mario Balotelli following the events of Wednesday's match against Chievo Verona, suggesting his side are mistreated.

The youngster was given a €7,000 fine after he aimed ironic applause at the Bentegodi crowd on Wednesday as a response to the insulting chants directed at him throughout the Serie A encounter.

"I do not understand why he was penalised," Mourinho was quoted as saying during a press conference by Il Corriere dello Sport.

"A player who felt a negative atmosphere during the game where he played well and took a yellow card is not naive. He left the field and applauded for three seconds. I don't think a fine is justified and it does not help his growth."

'The Special One' also pointed out other instances where he felt the Nerazzurri have been hard done by this season.

"With us many of these things have happened, like the disqualification of Maicon before the match with Juventus so it does not surprise me," he said.

"There is also a chapter regarding supporters - no sanction to Chievo for the insults against Balotelli, but Inter are punished for the racist insults towards Luciano."

The former Chelsea tactician is hopeful that racism can be eliminated from football.

"The name Inter has an important meaning in history. It has meant international, foreign, diversity and been open for many years, with many players of African origin," he said.

"I hope that from now on, no African player has to hear what Mario heard from us or any other team."

I'll Fight For My Place

Materazzi has been out of action for Inter since August and Samuel was quoted as saying after yesterday's win over CSKA Moscow that once he returns, he will gladly step aside.

However the Argentine hardman has categorically denied that he said such a thing and has set the record straight.

"This is what was written but I didn't actually say this," Samuel pointed out.

"I said that Marco is important for us and he will be an extra man for the team, but I'm not giving up my place to anyone. I'll work hard to keep it, then we will see."

Samuel scored the winner in the 2-1 victory in Russia last night and revealed his delight at the rare event.

"I had never scored a goal in the Champions League before," said the 29-year-old.

"I wanted celebrate it in a certain way but in the end I didn't do it, it all came naturally. I had spoken with the Argentine lads and had agreed on what to do but I was so happy, it didn't happen."

Chivu: I Am Happy Here

The Romanian stopper was involved in an on-off transfer saga throughout pre-season but eventually completed his move to the Nerazzurri.

The 27-year-old was at Roma for four years following his move from Ajax in 2003 but decided to leave in order to win high-profile trophies with Inter.

“Leaving Roma wasn’t easy, but I had to think about my career and my life,” Chivu explained.

“I’m still settling in at Inter. I think it will be easy because they are another Italian club who I have played against for years.

“I know the language, the way of life and the players. But representing the Nerazzurri is a new challenge as your objectives are always to win the Scudetto and the Champions League.

“Inter have such tradition and trophies in the cabinet and I need to improve here as a player.”

Chivu is widely regarded as one of the finest defenders in Europe, and former Giallorossi team-mate Francesco Totti recently labelled the star as the “best centre-back in the world.”

I'll Wait My Turn

Inter striker Adriano may be faced with the prospect of being left out of his team's Champions League squad, but the troubled Brazilian star seems to be far from worried by the prospect...


Inter striker Adriano told the Gazzetta dello Sport of his reaction to the news that he could be left out of Roberto Mancini's squad for the Champions League.

His response? "OK. That's fine, I'll wait in the background."

The forward, who allegedly refused loan deals away from the San Siro this summer, has drifted to the margins of coach Mancini's plans, but is not unduly worried by the prospect of no European football until the end of the group stages at least.

He told the Gazzetta, "Mancini hasn't yet said to me, 'I'll leave you out for sure.' He explained that it was just a hypothesis that he was considering.

"It was a thought of his. So I answered, 'You do what you have to do. If I'm able to play in the Champions League, I will play. Otherwise, I'll play the other games when possible' ... I'm focusing just on training."

Adriano is considered fifth choice for the striking role at Inter and may be left out of the European squad both to save space and to make him more attractive to potential buyers in January.

Inter Milan (Ita)

Location: Milan, Italy
Year Founded: 1908
Nickname: Nerazzurri
Stadium: San Siro
Capacity: 85847
Italian League Championship/Serie A:
Winners (15): 1909–10, 1919–20, 1929–30, 1937–38, 1939–40, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1970–71, 1979–80, 1988–89, 2005–06, 2006–07
Italian Cup/Coppa Italia :
Winners (5): 1938–39, 1977–78, 1981–82, 2004–05, 2005–06
Italian Super Cup/Super Coppa di Lega:
Winners (3): 1988–89, 2005–06, 2006–07
UEFA Champions League:
Winners (2): 1964, 1965 
UEFA Cups:
Winners (3): 1990–91, 1993–94, 1997–98
Intercontinental Cup:
Winners (2): 1964, 1965


Squad Information:

Staff:
Roberto Mancini 

Goalkeepers:
Julio Cesar
Paolo Orlandoni
Francesco Toldo

Defenders:
Maicon
Javier Zanetti
Cristian Chivu
Francesco Coco
Nicolas Burdisso
Ivan Cordoba
Marco Materazzi
Walter Samuel
Luca Ceccarelli

Midfielders:
Patrick Vieira
Esteban Cambiasso
Olivier Dacourt
Luis Jimenez
Dejan Stankovic
Andres Guglielminpietro
Nicola Napolitano
Sixto Peralta
Mario Rebecchi
Carl Valeri
brahim Maroufi
Luis Figo
César Aparecido
Santiago Solari

Forwards:
Riccardo Meggiorini
Alvaro Recoba
Adriano
Jonathan Begora
Lampros Choutos
Hernan Crespo
Julio Cruz
Isah Eliakwu
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
David Suazo


                                  Team History

                The club was founded on March 9, 1908 as Internazionale FBC Milano, following a "schism" from the Milan Cricket and Football Club. A group of Italians and Swiss (Giorgio Muggiani, a painter who also designed the club's logo, Bossard, Lana, Bertoloni, De Olma, Enrico Hintermann, Arturo Hintermann, Carlo Hintermann, Pietro Dell'Oro, Ugo and Hans Rietmann, Voelkel, Maner, Wipf, and Carlo Ardussi) were unhappy about the domination of Italians in the AC Milan team, and broke away from them, leading to the creation of Internazionale. From the beginning, the club was open to foreign players and thus lived up to her founding name.
               The club won its very first Scudetto (championship) in 1910 and its second in 1920. The captain and coach of the first Scudetto was Virgilio Fossati, who was killed in World War I. During 1928, Inter merged with a team called U.S. Milanese Milano and was renamed Ambrosiana SS Milano,[1] two years later it was altered to AS Ambrosiana Milano. They wore swhite shirts around this time with a red cross emblazoned on it. By 1933 the name was changed again, this time to AS Ambrosiana Inter Milano.
            Their first Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) was won in 1938-39, led by the great legend Giuseppe Meazza, for whom the San Siro stadium is officially named, and a fifth league championship followed in 1940, despite an injury to Meazza. After the end of World War II, the club re-emmerged under a name close to their original one; Internazionale FC Milano, they have kept this ever since.

Robero Mancini becomes the third coach in Inter history to win back-to-back league titles after Alfredo Foni (1952/53 and 1953/54) and Helenio Herrera (1964/65 and 1965/66).