World Football Challenge – Inter Practice

my514.com had the exclusive pleasure of being Montreal’s only World Football Challenge representatives at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on July 26th.  Our trip on the field in both teams’ practice sessions & game gave us a close look at what exactly Serie A giants Inter Milan & AC Milan had in store this upcoming season.

Today I give an in depth look at Inter Milan’s practice session on Saturday, July 25th.

The practice started with simple passing and shooting drills and then progressed to a pickup calcetto game.  Under Mourinho’s reign, Inter has seen a more disciplined and tactical squad emerge.  The whole team practiced in unison and moved quickly and efficiently to cover their respective men, cut off passing angles and create chances for members of their side.  The players worked themselves vigorously but did not over-extend themselves as it was only a friendly.  It was really interesting to watch Inter’s new Milito-Motta duo in action, their solid chemistry transferred over from Genoa and I could see them feed each other the ball as if they were telepathic.  Once finished with their practice the players and coaching staff took time to autograph jerseys and balls of the hundreds of fans who came early to watch their favorite players in action.

Inter fans all over are reeling over the loss of Ibrahimovic to Barcelona this week so I wanted to get some answers on what the players and coach Jose Mourinho thought about their chances at not only winning the Scudetto this season but also the Champion’s League trophy.  I caught up with Mr. Mourinho on the sidelines of Gillette Stadium as he observed AC Milan practicing and asked him specifically what his thoughts were on the aforementioned question.  His response was: “We’re going to win without [Ibrahimovic], don’t you worry”.  Many of the players including Maicon, Quaresma and Julio Caesar echoed similar remarks but how would the likes of recently acquired Genoa stars Thiago Motta and Diego Milito add to Inter’s mix to give them the winning edge?  Mario Balotelli had a short practice and retired to the sidelines before any questions could be asked on his recent FIFA U-21 championship participation.

Check out our pictures and be sure to stay tuned as my514.com brings you in-depth access to World Football Challenge’s Derby Della Madonnina.

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Photos taken by Franco Reale, Samy Sood, Arturo Saltarelli and Rick Di Corpo.