Inter Finalize Transfer of Juan From Brazil's Internacional

Inter Milan finalized the transfer of Brazilian centreback Juan from Internacional today. The 20 year old Juan was a member of Brazil’s U-20 team that won the South American Youth Championship in 2011. Juan can play as both a centreback and a fullback. He has been compared to Inter legend Lucio because of his style of defending.

Player Profile: Roberto Carlos

"I always practise (free kicks), every day. I prefer to kick with the outside of my foot. There's no secret, it's much more (a question of) concentration."

--Roberto Carlos on the art of free kick taking

When Roberto Carlos burst onto the European football scene at Inter Milan from Palmeiras, coach Roy Hodgson played him as a left winger, otherwise known as an attacking left midfielder with the license to move forward and score goals like a striker. Carlos was assigned the left winger position because of his extreme pace and ability to backtrack as necessary. He disliked the winger position because he wanted to see more of the pitch ahead of him, and accordingly, Inter played him as a left midfielder. Even after Inter tagged Carlos as a left midfielder, the conversation between the player and coach continued about his optimal positioning on the pitch. Roberto Carlos resisted the left midfield position as well so Inter ultimately played him as a left fullback. The Brazilian wanted to race up and down the left flank and enjoy the freedom to shift from defense into attack as the game dictated. Carlos not only settled into the left fullback, but he went on to redefine it completely over the next ten years by becoming the best left fullback in the history of football. Also known for his powerful free kicks, swerving corner kicks and long range strikes on goal, Roberto Carlos enriched a decades long Brazilian tradition of samba flair from the dead ball that dates back to Rivelino, Eder, Zico, Branco, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho.

While Roberto Carlos is perhaps best known for his thunderous free kicks, he set new standards for athletic excellence in football more generally. With legs like tree trunks that he acquired from a childhood spent assisting his family haul farming and textile equipment in Cordeirpolis, Carlos is famous for his phenomenal speed and physical strength. From 1996 to 2007, Roberto Carlos played a whopping 584 games for Real Madrid, scoring 71 goals and even more assists. 370 out of the 584 games were Spanish league games in which he scored 47 goals from his left back position. As one of eight players to play in more than 100 champions league matches, Roberto Carlos joins a elite group of Champions League veterans featuring Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Paulo Maldini, Gary Neville, Raul Gonzalez and Ryan Giggs. A tireless worker with explosive pace, Carlos was feared by defenders and strikers alike given his capacity to sprint at speeds where he could cover 100 meters in less than 11 seconds. At the international level, Carlos was surprisingly left out of the 1994 World Cup squad in favor of Leonardo, but he dominated the left back position in 1998 and 2002, combining powerfully with Rivaldo on the left flank and complementing the brilliance of Cafu, the team's right fullback. Carlos earned 125 international caps for Brazil in a distinguished international career featuring a World Cup Winners Medal in 2002 and two Copa America titles for Brazil in 1997 and 1999.

After 11 years at Real Madrid, Roberto Carlos enjoyed a brief stint at Fenerbahce before returning to Corinthians in Brazil where he was voted the best left back in Brazil's Serie A. Carlos enjoyed success at Corinthians alongside his teammate Ronaldo, narrowly missing out on the 2010 Brazil Serie A title to Muricy Ramalho's Fluminense in the final games. Carlos also scored an amazing "Olympic Goal" from a corner kick while at Corinthians, the first ever in his career. He recently decided to leave Corinthians after a two year spell in the wake of fan harassment in February 2011 following the club's elimination from the Copa Libertadores. The 37 year old left back from Sao Paulo has decided to follow the money trail by accepting a lucrative offer at the Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala, the club owned by the Russian senator and metals and oils magnate Suleiman Kerimov.

Robinho, Pato and Ibrahimovic take AC Milan closer to the Scudetto

Robinho continues to make his mark on Italian football by scoring a crucial goal in the 58th minute against Catania to give AC Milan the lead minutes after Marc van Bommel received a red card. So far, Robinho has scored 7 goals in Serie A and has formed a crucial leg of a triumvirate Rossoneri attack featuring Alexandre Pato, who has scored 8 goals and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has 13. Much of Robinho's success should be attributed to the power of Ibrahimovic, who draws defenders in his wake in deep positions, thereby freeing up space for Robinho and Pato to demonstrate their speed and clinical finishing ability near the goal mouth. In the match against Catania, Robinho opportunistically dispatched a carom from an Ibrahimovic free kick. After a disappointing season against Manchester City last year and a mediocre World Cup in South Africa, Robinho is close to the best form of his career under coach Massimiliano Allegri.

Rivals Inter Milan came back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 against Palermo thanks to 2 goals by the recent acquisition Pazzini and a penalty from Samuel Eto in the 76th minute. AC Milan are now closing in on the Scudetto but Leonardo, coach of defending champions Inter Milan, retains hopes for the title for the Nerazurri as articulated in a recent interview. Looking ahead to the remainder of the season, the Brazilian stressed of Inter remaining consistent and noted how other teams will invariably drop points as the season progresses:

"Consistency is the most difficult thing in sports. You can lose a game but the important thing is to control the situation after a defeat. Our loss in Udine (against Udinese) is not crucial for the league title. Our aim was to start well after the winter break in order to be in the group of teams that will fight for the scudetto and we are among those sides. In the long run, all the other teams will also lose games.''

Since taking over as coach of Inter Milan, Leonardo can claim 5 victories and 1 loss in what constitutes a dramatic turnaround for a championship team that lost its faith in coach Rafael Benitez in the first half of the season.

Eto and Milito combine to give Inter a 3-2 win over Cesena and move into 4th place in Serie A

Samuel Eto and Diego Milito continued to demonstrate their ability to collaborate effectively as strike partners as Inter edged Cesena 3-2 at the San Siro to move up to 4th place in Serie A, six points behind AC Milan with a game in hand. Eto and Milito combined neatly with a one two for the first goal, with Eto racing up the left flank and taking the resulting pass from Milito before cutting right across the face of goal and then firing the ball home in the 14th minute. Minutes later, Eto found Goran Pandev, who in turn unselfishly passed across the face of goal to Milito, who slotted the ball into the back of the net. Cesena pulled back two goals from Bogdani and Emanuele Giaccherini, before Chivu restored Inter's lead just before halftime by heading in Maicon's cross from the right flank. Leonardo now has a 100% record in charge of Inter with 5 consecutive victories as the battle for the Scudetto becomes more complex given Ronaldinho's departure from AC Milan. Meanwhile, Inter's Samuel Eto continues to make a compelling case as the best striker in the world.

Inter crush Bologna 4-1 as Leonardo's renaissance continues

Inter Milan cruised to their fourth successive victory with a 4-1 win over Bologna on Saturday as the club's revival under Brazilian coach Leonardo continues in dramatic fashion. Since taking over the helm from Rafa Benitez in late December, Leonardo can claim responsibility for the four victories that now leave Inter eight points behind AC Milan, with a game in hand. "We know what we are doing now and how we want to play,'' Leonardo said to Sky Italia in an interview. He later elaborated: "This is the Inter we saw for such a long time. It's a team with clear ideas and a clear vision of its football."

Inter beat Bologna thanks to goals by Dejan Stankovic, Diego Milito and a brace by Samuel Eto. The first goal witnessed Samuel Eto steaming up the left flank and picking out the open Dejan Stankovic, who calmly slotted the ball home. In the 30th minute, Milito latched onto a long through ball from midfield, turned and dispatched it into the back of the net with his left foot to make it 2-0. For the third goal, Eto again raced up the left flank and leveraged a one-two combination with Diego Milito that enabled him to fire into the bottom right corner of the net from his right foot. Finally, Eto scored Inter’s fourth goal from a free kick in the 72 minute when he curled the ball over the Bologna wall into the far right left corner of the net.

Speaking of the victory against Bologna, Leonardo remarked: "This was an important victory against a Bologna side in good form. It is wonderful to see Samuel Eto'o and Diego Milito seek each other out on the field. Harmony in a team is essential." Cameroon striker Samuel Eto has now scored 23 goals in 26 games this season for Inter Milan.

Leonardo notches win for Inter in debut match as coach; AC Milan hold off Cagliari

New Inter Milan coach Leonardo Nascimento de Araujo got off to a flying start with a 3-1 win for Inter over Napoli today, while league leaders AC Milan consolidated their place at the top of the Serie A table with a 1-0 win over Cagliari. Brazilian midfielder Thiago Motta opened the scoring for Inter in the third minute after some fine one touch passing between Goran Pandev, Dejan Stankovic and Motta, who finally volleyed the ball into the bottom right corner of the net, 18 yards from goal. Michele Pazienza equalized for Napoli with a header off a corner kick in the 25th minute, but Esteban Cambiasso put Inter back in front by heading home a Maicon cross in the 37th minute. Motta sealed Leonardo's first victory as coach with yet another header goal for the match, this time from an Inter corner in the 55th minute. Inter secured their victory without suspended striker Samuel Eto and the injured Wesley Sneijder and Julio Cesar. Leaders AC Milan now have 39 points from 18 games, whereas Inter occupy 6th place with 26 points from 16 games.

Leonardo appointed coach of Inter Milan

Former Brazilian international, World Cup champion and AC Milan manager Leonardo has been hired as coach of Inter Milan, just one day after the termination of Rafael Benitez's contract. Benitez's termination marked the end of a 6 month stint after the Spaniard took over from Jose Mourinho, who secured a historic treble with the club by winning Serie A, the Champions League and Coppa Italia in the 2009-2010 season. Defending champions Inter are currently in seventh place in Italy's Serie A, with 23 points from 15 games, while arch-rivals AC Milan sit atop the league with 36 points from 17 games. Leonardo's previous coaching experience is limited to the 2009-2010 season with AC Milan, as a result of which his team finished third in Serie A. The Brazilian is known for creating stylish, attack oriented teams that play with a 4-3-3 formation where possible. Like his compatriots Luiz Felipe Scolari and Zico, Leonardo's coaching philosophy is fundamentally Brazilian with its emphasis on one touch passing, dribbling through defenders and taking the attack to the opposing team. The Brazilian left AC Milan as coach after failing to get along with club President Silvio Berlusconi. Leonardo's appointment as coach of Inter Milan stuns the football world given his long standing history as player, scout, technical director and coach of the club's foremost rival, AC Milan. His appointment runs from December 29, 2010 until June 2012.

For an article on Leonardo and World Cup 1994, see:
Bringing Back the Beautiful Game: Flashback: Tears of Regret and Friendship: Bebeto and Leonardo in World Cup 1994