Inter v Milan: Death by 30,000 Whistles
By: Martha | March 11th, 2007
While it wasn’t for the ages — and certainly no match for yesterday’s Clasico — you certainly couldn’t accuse the derby of not being exciting. Both teams played wide-open attacking ball and defended fairly dreadfully, so there were loads of chances, as well as the odd magical moment from each side.
Really, it was sort of a nervy game to start — Milan had a fair amount of possession early, but the final ball into the box was terrible no matter who was serving it, and I think they ended the half with only two shots on goal. (One of them Ronaldo’s fantastic low strike from long-range, which beat both Julio Cesar and his ego — a difficult task indeed, given the size of the latter.) For their part, Inter were dealing with a make-shift midfield and took a while to get settled. Crespo was mostly useless up front, and it took Ibra a long time to work himself into the game. Stankovic and Figo, too, were non-factors early, which goes a long way towards explaining Milan’s early prevalence in attack. As Milan settled down, though, the tide started to turn.
And, once the second half started, Inter were all over Milan. Cruz came on and scored with his first touch (and very nearly his second, an Ibra-worthy backheeled flick that, had it gone in, would have been shown even on American highlight shows — it was that audacious) and Ibra finally woke up, both of which spelled trouble for Milan. Plus, the Milan backline was just a mess, with both Bonera and the great Maldini having huge brain farts on a far-too-regular basis. That, combined with the total disappearance of Milan’s strike force (I saw Ronaldo literally once in the entire second half, and Gila only when he “fouled” Matrix) made an Inter victory if not a foregone conclusion, not exactly a surprise.
That said, this Milan side are worlds away from the dismal crew they were in the first half, and there’s a still a fairly reasonably chance for Champions League qualification next year. (If someone above them would just drop some points, that is.)
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Comments
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As much as I love Milan, I don’t think I have ever seen them play so awful! Almost everytime they got the ball they either shot it way long or passed it to an Inter player. Inter certainly weren’t impressive either but with defending like that, it’s no wonder Milan lost…however, I still love Bonera!
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United States
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This is totally irrelevant to your post or Serie A, but can you get me info on why Trezeguet was just sanctioned? Something about violent conduct, decided after the match?
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United States -
Ashley, that’s practically the first time I’ve seen your Bonera take a wrong step — and he certainly wasn’t alone in having a shocker, that’s for sure!
Laurie, here it is: Apparently he was caught on camera elbowing a Brescia player; based on video evidence they’ve suspended him three games. (Damn.) If I knew when it was, I’d go through the game and find it, but fast-forwarding through 90 minutes will be a needle-in-a-haystack venture, I’m afraid.
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United States -
Why do you think Julio Cesar has an ego??
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Canada -
It’s just the way he carries himself, waleed, both on the pitch and off it — seems always to be frightfully pleased with himself. Of course, I don’t know that man could be being very unfair to him. (But dammit, he seems smug!)
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United States -
was it just me, or did Ronaldo stop mid strike during the game? it looked like he just sort of, kick the ball away. Maybe because of those damn whistles? Because after he did that, inter proceeded to play, and Ronaldo looked furious when they showed a close up right after.
And, it looked like matrix hip checked a Milan player, for no reason, way off the ball… I don’t know if that was real or if i was seeing things…
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United States -
yes I saw Ronaldo stop mid strike as well…the announcer said it was because he thought he heard the refs whistle…so I guess the 30,000 whistles did pay off for the Inter fans, even if it was only one play in the game!
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