Hello Interfriends,
Inter lose 2-1 against Tottenham at White Heart Lane in the second friendly of the season. Inter did well to compete with the English side who are much more advanced in training as the EPL opens August 19th. Taking into account the missing players like Adriano, Materazzi, Cambiasso, Cruz, Recoba, Burdisso, Figo and Grosso just to name a few many positives can be taken from the match. In fact a draw would have a fair result for the play displayed on the pitch.
Inter start the match with Toldo in goal and a 3 man defence made of young Daniele Marino in the center with Cordoba and Samuel beside him. Maicon and Cesar play wide in the midfied with J. Zanetti, Dacourt and Pizzaro in the center. Stankovic plays a little above them behind the lone striker Martins.
Tottenham play in a 4-3-1-2 with Robbie Keane playing behind Berbatov and Defoe. Davids adds quantity to the midfield but it Tainio from Finalnd who stood out as he distributed the play and moved forward when needed. The Spurs had a better opening spell and could have had a penalty as Marino fouled Berbatov at the 10th minute the but Ref decided it was not to be. It was Berbatov again who tested Toldo within the first 15 minutes but the keeper was up to the challenge.
Inter did settle after the flurry and Martins forces a save from reserve keeper Cerny who did well to put the shot out for a corner kick. The game did not have a mid-season flow but showed some good spells for both teams and it was a lucky goal the opened the scoring. Tainio broke from his holding role to take a shot on goal. Toldo had it covered but on its way took an unlucky deflection off of Marino to beat Toldo and make it 1-0.
Inter does not seem affected and continue to play there game and at the 44th minute equalize as Maicon makes a dashing run down the right side and blasts a shot that Cerny can only block leaving Martins wide open for the tap in to make it 1-1. Special mention to Maicon who looked very interesting in this game. Some of his runs and player beating skills looked very promising and added valued width and crosses.
Mancini makes some changes in the second bringing on Solari for Marino and Inter move back to a 4 man defence. It left Martins very isolated up front but without any other strikers on the bench it was a forced move. The game was enjoyable but did lack goal scoring chances for both sides. In the long run it was the prepeartion of Tottenham that made the difference as Inter ran out of steam in the final 15 minutes of the match.
At the 35th minute of the second half its Tainio again who was allowed to break from his holding role and move foward. No one picked up his run and from the edge of the area he put a great curling shot with his left foot to the far post to beat Toldo and seal the game at 2-1 for Tottenham Hotspur.
After the match Mancini was very pleased with the game saying "The difference in form was evident today. They are much further ahead in training and there conditioning showed especially in the second half. Iam pleased to see that our work is paying off and we played well in the first half. I saw many positive things today, especially with Maicon and his forward runs. He does need to work on the defensive side but he has the quality to play at these high levels."
Eddy
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