World Soccer: Club Focus

Club Focus - Catania

Club Statistics
City (Population): Catania (302,884)
Founded: 1967
Honorary President: Ignazio Marcoccio
President: Antonimo Pulvirenti
Coach: Silvio Baldini
Club Address: Piazza Giovanni Verga, 16 95129 Catania
(Tel 0039-0957-530811/Fax 0957425724)
Website: www.calciocatania.net
Stadium: Angelo Massimino
Address: Piazza Spedini, 95125 Catania
Capacity: 21,000; Average Attendance 2006-07: 16,185
Pitch dimensions: 105m x 65m
Training Ground: Campo Sportivo di Massannunziata,
Mascalucia
Most capped Italian: Luigi Riva - 24
Transfer record paid: Gionatha Spinesi - £570,000 from Bari (2005)
Transfer record recieved: Roberto De Zerbi - £2 million to Napoli (2006)
Club nicknames: Rossazzurri (Red and light blues); Gli Elefanti (The Elephants);
Etne (Etneans) refering to Mount Etna
Team strip Home: Light Blue & Red striped jersey, light blue shorts and white socks.
Away: White jersey with red trimmings on left, white shorts with red trimmings and white socks.
Shirt sponsor: Energia Siciliana
Kit manufacturer: Legea

Serie A Records
P 916 W 270 D 333 L 313 F 987 A 1054 (*)
Debut season: 1954-55
Seasons: 10
Most appearances: Giuseppe Vavassori - 150
All-time top sorer: Adelmo Prenna - 29
Season's top scorer: Gionatha Spinesi - 17 (2006-07)
Most/Least points: 41 (2006-07) / 12 (1983-84)
Biggest home win: 5-0 v Udinese (1954-55)
Biggest home defeat: 1-5 v Juventus (1962-63) & Sampdoria (1963-64)
Biggest away win: 3-1 v Spal (1954-55)
Biggest away defeat: 0-7 v AS Roma (2006-07)
Most/Least wins: 15 (1960-61) / 1 (1983-84)
Most/Least defeats: 19 (1983-84) / 13 (1960-61/61-62/63-64)
Most/Least goals: 51 (2005-06) / 22 (1974-75)
Most/Least conceded: 68 (2006-07) / 35 (1983-84)

Catania Squad 2007-08
1 Albano Bizarri (G) DOB: 09.11.77
12 Vincenzo Ferrante (G) DOB: 19.08.86
28 Raffaele Ioime (G) DOB: 27.10.87
29 Gianluca Falsini (D) DOB: 02.10.75
5 Mauro Minelli (D) DOB: 02.04.81
32 Riccardo Nardini (D) DOB: 27.06.83
3 Rocco Sabato (D) DOB: 19.04.82
21 Cristian Silvestri (D) DOB: 21.01.75
4 Andrea Sottil (D) DOB: 04.01.74
6 Lorenzo Stovini (D) DOB: 24.11.76
23 Christian Terlizzi (D) DOB: 22.11.79
7 Juan Vargas (D) DOB: 05.10.83
17 David Baioco (M) DOB: 08.05.75
27 Marco Biagianti (M) DOB: 14.04.84
14 Mattia Biso (M) DOB: 06.05.77
9 Giuseppe Colucci (M) DOB: 24.08.80
8 Mark Edusei (M) DOB 02.09.80
20 Marcello Gazzola (M) DOB: 13.04.85
22 Ezequiel Llama (M) DOB: 26.06.86
25 Jorge Martínez (M) DOB: 05.04.83
2 Gennaro Sardo (M) DOB: 08.05.79
19 Giacomo Tedesco (M) DOB: 02.02.76
14 Rodney Babù (F) DOB: 23.12.80
10 Giuseppe Mascara (F) DOB: 22.08.79
15 Takayuki Morimoto (F) DOB: 07.05.88
24 Gionatha Spinesi (F) DOB: 09.03.78

History
Calcio Catania is an Italian football club founded in 1908 and are based in Catania, Sicily. The club has spent much of its history in Serie B, gaining promotion to Italy's top league; Serie A five times. They currently compete in Serie A after climbing back up the football pyramid. The club has achieved moderate success in the top league, the highest position ever reached by the club is 8th in Serie A twice, both during the early 1960s. The furthest Catania have progressed in cup competitions is the final of the Coppa delle Alpi. The origins of football being played by representatives of the Province of Catania can be traced back to English cargo ships, thanks to the workers who brought the game to Sicily. Specifically the earliest Catania team can be traced to match which took place on 2 May 1901 at San Raineri di Messina against Messina, the team was named Royal Yacht Catania; an English ship with a local Catanian crew.

Earliest club photograph; as Pro Patria in 1908.The ship workers team was just a pastime however, Catania's first professional and most stable football club was founded on 19 June 1908, by Italian film director Gaetano Ventimiglia and Francesco Sturzo d'Aldobrando, who founded the club under the name A.S. Educazione Fisica Pro Patria. Early on they would always play against sailors visiting the port of Catania, particularly foreign ships. Though their first ever match was against Regina Margherita an Italian battleship, the game ended in a 1-1 draw and the Catania line-up that day consisted of; Vassallo, Gismondo, Bianchi, Messina, Slaiter, Caccamo, Stellario, Binning, Cocuzza, Ventimiglia and Pappalardo. Just two years later they changed the name to Unione Sportiva Catanese.

In the North of Italy, football was more organised and those clubs competed in the early Italian Football Championships, while Catania and other Southern clubs competed in competitions such as the Lipton, Sant' Agata and Agordad cups. U.S. Catanese surived the First World War and just after it played in the local Coppa Federale Siciliana. Seven seasons later in 1927 they were entered into the Campionato Catanese, which was won in the 1928-29 season. As they gained promotion the club were entered into the Second Division, and changed their name first to Società Sportiva Catania. They first competed in Serie B in the 1934-35 season where they finished 4th; that season Genoa won the Serie B title.

Catania played in the league for three seasons during this period, before being relegated. Down in Serie C, Catania were crowned champions in the 1938-39 season, finishing above Sicilian rivals Siracusa and Messina (who came in 2nd and 3rd respectively). Their return to Serie B was not a pleasant one, the club finished bottom of the league and won only three games that season. The club's name was briefly changed to Associazione Calcio Fascista Catania during the 1942-43 season in Serie C, which ended prematurely because of the 2nd World War.

Calcio Catania during 1946.After World War II ended, a local competition was organised, the Campionato Siciliano. US Catanese were back; at the end of that season a local team named Elefante Catania were merged into the club. The merged club kept the Catanese name and competed in Serie C during the 1945-46 season, but finished last. In the same league that season a team called Virtus Catania were also present and finished 8th.

At the end of the season, Catanese and Virtus merged together to form Club Calcio Catania, with the first president as Santi Manganaro-Passanisi (who had been president of Catanese). They were entered into Serie C where they spent three seasons, after an epic duel with Reggina for first place Catania prevailed with stars such as Goffi, Messora, Ardesi and Prevosti, gaining promotion to Serie B during 1948-49. The late 1950s through 1960s are considered the golden years for the Catanian club, as they managed to achieve promotion to Serie A on two separate occasions during this time. Their first promotion from Serie B came, when in the 1953-54 season Catania feat out Cagliari and Lombardy side Pro Patria to be crowned champions of the division. Their first season in Serie A, saw Catania achieve a respectable 12th place finish, but the club were forcibly relegated due to financial scandal (as were Udinese).

Calcio Catania during their second spell in Serie A, in the 1960s.Under the management of Carmelo Di Bella (who had played for the club in the late '30s) Catania gained promotion from Serie B in the 1959-60 season. The race for promotion in third spot went down to the last day of the season and was very tense. Catania had lost their final game 4-2 to Brescia and needed Parma to get a good result against Triestina for the Sicilian club to secure promotion. That is exactly what happened and Catania had thus gained promotion once more. Catania returned into Serie A for the 1960-61 season, to begin what would be a six-year stay in the league. Their return season was emphatic as the newly promoted club finished in 8th above top Italian clubs such as Lazio and Napoli. This season produced several notable wins; they beat Napoli and Bologna twice, Sampdoria 3-0 at home and most notably they beat AC Milan 4-3 in Sicily and then on the final day of the season they beat Internazionale 2-0, with goals from Castellazzi and Calvanese. This rubbed the salt into the wounds of Inter who lost the closely contested title that year to Juventus.

Four years later in 1965 they would also finish 8th in the league, this time above Roma and Sicilian rivals Messina. Many of the club's most notable stars played around this time, such as; midfielders Alvaro Biagini and the Brazilian Cinesinho, along with wingers Carlo Facchin and Giancarlo Danova in the side. Catania more than held their own amongst the giants of Italian football, with wins against Juventus (2-0), Fiorentina (2-0) and Lazio (1-0). After their relegation in 1966 Carmelo Di Bella left and Catania stayed in Serie B; clashing with Palermo in the Sicilian derby before the Palermitan club were promoted. Catania followed in 1970-71 with a third place finish; though their stay in Serie A this time was very brief and they were relegated back down after one season. Their most impressive results that season was 3-1 win against Lazio and a draw at home against AC Milan, Catania lacked goalscorers at the time as they only scored 18 goals all-together in 30 games.

Catania players Mastalli and Cantarutti during the 83 Serie B winning season.Worse was to come for the club, who in 1973-74 were relegated down to Serie C, but fortunetly for the club they were able to bounce straight back with a promotion into Serie B as champions. A similar situation happened in 1976-77, where they were relegated down to Serie C. This time however, they were not able to bounce right back; they finished 2nd and then 3rd before finally being crowned champions of what was now known as Serie C1 in 1979-80. After three short seasons, Catania were promoted in 3rd place behind AC Milan and Lazio, into Serie A. They played the 1983-84 season in Italy's top league, but it proved to be an especially dismal season, with only one win (which came against Pisa) and 12 points despite the presence of Claudio Ranieri and Brazilian imports Luvanor and Pedrinho.

The decline of Catania started most evidently after its last relegation to Serie B. The team was no longer able to reach the top division of Italian fooball, and instead continued to decline, being relegated for a while into Serie C1 for the latter part of the 1980s. The lowest point of the club's history, however, was reached in 1993, when the team was cancelled by the FIGC because of financial irregularities. However, after a long judicial battle, the magistrature declared the Italian Federation decision as invalid, and forced it to include the team back into the footballing fold. Catania was thus included in the Sicilian Eccellenza (the sixth level of Italian football), but in the meantime another Sicilian football team, Atletico Leonzio from Lentini (in the Province of Syracuse), had been relocated in the city and renamed Atletico Catania. Despite all of this, the "real" Catania was able to rise back to Serie C in a relatively small number of years, and even back to Serie B in 2002.

During 2003, Catania was at the centre of a controversy that led to the enlargement of Serie B from 20 to 24 teams, known as Caso Catania. The club claimed that Siena fielded an ineligible player in a 1-1 tie, a result which saw Catania relegated, whereas the two extra points from a victory would have kept them safe. They were awarded a 2-0 victory, before the result being reverted, and then re-awarded again. In August, the FIGC decided to let Catania, along with Genoa and Salernitana stay in Serie B, the newly-reborn Fiorentina were also added for the 2003-04 season. The ruling led to protests and boycotts by the other Serie B clubs that delayed the start of the season. The league went down to 22 teams for 2004-05, while at the same time Serie A expanded from 18 to 20 teams. During the start of that season, Antonino Pulvirenti, chairman of the flight company Windjet and owner of Acireale, a Sicilian Serie C1 team, bought the club. Catania's new ownership let the team enjoy a revival, and in 2005-06 Catania ended in second position, earning promotion to Serie A. The 2006-07 season saw Catania in Serie A for its first appearance in 22 years. In their first season back Catania began well, though they recorded a couple of heavy defeats, their home form saw them peak as high as 4th after 20 games.

Their return season changed drastically on 2 February 2007, due to the 2007 Catania football violence incident. It happened during the Sicilian derby with Palermo, policeman Filippo Raciti was killed during football-related violence caused by Catania ultras outside the Massimino stadium. The event led FIGC commissioner Luca Pancalli to cancel all football-related events in the country for a period of time; including league and national team matches. Catania chairman and owner Antonino Pulvirenti announced his willingness to leave the football world, stating it was not possible to go on producing football in Catania.

After the Italian football league restarted, Catania continued on but dropped in form largely. In truth their slump in form had started just before the derby incident and all together they failed to win for twelve games in a row, before beating Udinese 1-0 in late April 2007, they eventually finished 13th.

2007-2008 Season
After finishing in a very respectable 13th place last season, i can't help feeling that Catania will suffer "second season syndrome" if there is any such thing. The city is famous for Mount Etna, and Catania's season will be quite a timid one, rather than any significant eruption occuring from the Rossazzurri. Gionatha Spinesi is the main man up-front but a repeat of the 17 goals he scored in 37 games last term, is unlikely to repeat itself. This club is certainly not a bad one, far from it but with a lack of goals apart Spinesi's throughout the team is a worry. Catania may very well grind out a lot of draws but will find difficulty in winning many games. This will ultimately lead to the club's relegation
Woody's prediction: 19th place for Catania and playing in Serie B in 2008-09

(*) = Serie A record up to and including 2 September 2007

Edited by stephen_woodside (11/09/2007 01:26)

Club Focus – Inter Milan

Club Statistics
City (Population): Milan (1,303,670)
Founded: 1908
President: Massimo Moratti
Coach: Roberto Mancini
Club Address: Via Durini, 24 20122 Milan
(Tel 0039-021-77151/Fax 781514)
Website: www.inter.it
Stadium: Giuseppe Meazza
Address: Via Piccolomini 5, 20151 Milan
Capacity: 83,679; Average Attendance 2006-07: 48,284
Pitch dimensions: 105m x 68m
Training Ground: Centro Sportivo Angelo Moratti,
La Pinetina, Appiano Gentile
Most capped Italian: Giacinto Facchetti - 94
Transfer record paid: Christian Vieri - £32 million from Lazio (1999)
Transfer record recieved: Luis Ronaldo - £28 million to Real Madrid (2002)
Club nicknames: Nerazzurri (the Black-blues); La Beneamata (the Cherished); Biscione (the Big Grass Snake)
Team strip Home: Black and blue striped jersey, white shorts and blue.black hoped socks
Away: White jersey with red cross, dark blue shorts and socks
Shirt sponsor: Pirelli
Kit manufacturer: Nike

Serie A Records
P 2470 W 1207 D 708 L 555 F 4133 A 2547 (*)
Debut season: 1929-30
Seasons: 75
Most appearances: Giuseppe Bergomi - 519
All-time top sorer: Giuseppe Meazza - 197
Season's top scorer: Antonio Valentin Angelillo – 33 (1958-59)
Most/Least points: 97 (2006-07) / 26 (1941-42)
Biggest home win: 9-0 v Casale (1933-34)
Biggest home defeat: 0-6 v AC Milan (2000-01)
Biggest away win: 6-0 v Udinese (1960-61) & Bologna (1988-89)
Biggest away defeat: 1-9 v Juventus (1960-61)
Most/Least wins: 30 (2006-07) / 7 (1941-42)
Most/Least defeats: 19 (1947-48) / 1 (2006-07)
Most/Least goals: 107 (1950-51) / 26 (1974-75)
Most/Least conceded: 60 (1947-48/49-50) / 17 (1986-87)

Inter Milan Squad 2007-08
12 Julio Cesar (G) DOB: 03.09.79
22 Paolo Orlandoni (G) DOB: 12.08.72
1 Francesco Toldo (G) DOB: 02.12.71
16 Nicolas Burdisso (D) DOB: 12.04.81
26 Cristian Chivu (D) DOB: 2610.80
2 Ivan Cordoba (D) DOB: 11.08.76
13 Douglas Maicon (D) DOB: 26.07.81
23 Marco Materazzi (D) DOB: 19.08.73
6 Maxwell (D) DOB: 27.08.81
24 Nelson Rivas (D) DOB: 25.03.83
25 Walter Samuel (D) DOB: 23.03.78
47 Francesco Bolzoni (M) DOB: 07.05.89
19 Esteban Cambiasso (M) DOB: 18.08.80
31 Aparecido Cesar (M) DOB: 24.10.74
15 Olivier Dacourt (M) DOB: 25.09.74
7 Luis Figo (M) DOB 04.11.72
57 Attila Filkor (M) DOB: 12.07.88
11 Luis Jimenez (M) DOB: 17.06.84
50 Ibrahim Maaroufi (M) DOB: 18.01.89
21 Santiago Solari (M) DOB: 07.10.76
5 Dejan Stankovic (M) DOB: 11.09.78
14 Patrick Vieira (M) DOB: 23.06.76
4 Javier Zanetti (M) DOB: 10.08.73
10 Leite Adriano (F) DOB: 17.02.82
58 Jonathan Biabiany (F) DOB: 28.04.88
18 Hernan Crespo (F) DOB: 05.07.75
9 Julio Cruz (F) DOB: 10.10.74
8 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (F) DOB: 03.10.81
20 Alvaro Recoba (F) DOB: 17.03.76
- Sebastian Ribas (F) DOB: 11.03.88
61 Goran Slavkovski (F) DOB: 08.04.89
29 David Suazo (F) DOB: 05.11.79

History
Football Club Internazionale Milano is an Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, which plays in Serie A. The club was founded March 9, 1908. In Italy it is commonly known as Inter or Internazionale, but it is often shortened to Inter Milan in English-speaking countries. Internazionale have been one of the most successful clubs in the history of Italian football, having won 15 Scudetti, 5 Coppa Italia, and 3 Italian Super Cups (as of April 22, 2007). Inter has also won 2 European Cups (Champions League), 3 UEFA Cups, and has been World Champions two times. Inter are the only team in Italy to have competed in the top tier throughout the club's history. The club wears blue and black stripes, which gives the origin of their Nerazzurri nickname. Inter enjoy one of the biggest fan bases in Italy, along with its two main rivals, AC Milan and Juventus.

According to The Football Money League published by consultants Deloitte, in season 2005-06 Inter were the 7th highest earning football club in the world with an estimated revenue of €206.6 million. Inter are member of the G-14 organisation of leading European football clubs. 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. In 1928, during the Fascist era, the club was forced to merge with the Milanese Unione Sportiva and was renamed Ambrosiana SS Milano two years later it was altered to AS Ambrosiana Milano. They wore white shirts around this time with a red cross emblazoned on it. This shirt design was inspired by the flag and coat of arms of the city of Milan (which is derived from the flag of the patron saint of Milan, St. Ambrose and dates back to the 4th century AD). 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.

Following the war, Inter won its sixth championship in 1953 and the seventh in 1954. Following these titles, Inter was to enter the best years of its history, affectionately known as the era of La Grande Inter (The Great Inter). During this magnificent period, with Helenio Herrera as head coach, the club won 3 league championships in 1963, 1965 and 1966. The most famous moments during this decade also include Inter's 2 back-to-back European Cup wins. In 1964, Inter won the first of those tournaments, playing against the famous Spanish club Real Madrid. The next season, playing in their home stadium, the San Siro, they defeated two-time former champion, Benfica. Following the golden era of the 1960s, Inter managed to win their eleventh league title in 1971 and their twelfth in 1980. Inter were defeated for the second time in five years in the final of the European Cup, going down 0-2 to Johan Cruijff's Ajax Amsterdam in 1972. During the 1970s and the 1980s, Inter also added two to its Coppa Italia tally, in 1977-78 and 1981-82. Led by the German trio of Andreas Brehme, Jürgen Klinsmann and Lothar Matthäus, Inter captured the 1989 Serie A championship and the Italian Supercup to open the following season.

The 1990s was a period of disappointment. Whilst their great rivals AC Milan and Juventus were achieving success both domestically and in Europe, Inter were left behind, with some mediocre positions in the standings, their worst coming in 1994 when they finished just 1 point from relegation. Inter's fortunes started to improve in the 1990s. Inter achieved some European success with 3 UEFA Cup victories in 1991, 1994 and 1998. With Massimo Moratti's takeover from Ernesto Pellegrini in 1995 Inter were promised more success with many high profile signings like Ronaldo, Christian Vieri and Hernan Crespo, with Inter twice breaking the world's record transfer fee in this period.[citation needed] However the 1990s remained a decade of disappointment and is the only decade in Inter's history in which they did not win a single Italian Serie A Championship. They were only 45 minutes away from capturing the Scudetto on May 5, 2002 when they needed to maintain a one goal advantage over Lazio at Rome's Olimpico stadium when Inter collapsed and let in three second-half Lazio goals that enabled Juventus to pip their bitter rivals to the championship. The 2003 Champions League was met with more disappointment. Being tied 1-1 with AC Milan, only for AC Milan to advance on the away goals rule.

On June 15, 2005, Inter won the Coppa Italia, defeating AS Roma in the two-legged final 3-0 on aggregate (1-0 win in Milan and 2-0 win in Rome) and followed that up on 20 August 2005, by winning the Supercoppa Italiana after an extra-time 1-0 victory against original 04-05 Serie A champions Juventus (before being stripped of this title). This Super Cup win was Inter's first since 1989, coincidentally the same year since Inter last won the Scudetto before 2006. On 11 May 2006, Inter retained their Coppa Italia trophy by once again, defeating AS Roma with a 4-1 aggregate victory (A 1-1 scoreline in Rome and a 3-1 win at the Giuseppe Meazza, San Siro). Inter were awarded the 2005-06 Serie A championship as they were the highest placed side in the season's final league table after points were stripped from Juventus and AC Milan - both sides involved in the match fixing scandal that year. On 14 July 2006, The Italian Federal Appeal Commission found Serie A clubs Juventus, Lazio, Fiorentina, Reggina and AC Milan guilty of match-fixing and charged the 5 clubs with their respective punishments, (although all charges were later reduced in some capacity). So with the confirmed relegation of Juventus to Serie B (for the first ever time in their history) and the 8-point deduction for city rivals AC Milan, Inter became favorites to retain their Serie A title for the upcoming 2006-07 Serie A season.

During the season, Inter went on a record-breaking run of 17 consecutive victories in Serie A, starting on September 25 2006 with a 4-1 home victory over Livorno, and ending on February 28, 2007, after a 1-1 draw at home to Udinese. The 5-2 away win at Catania on February 25 2007 broke the original record of 15 matches held by both Bayern Munich & Real Madrid from the "Big 5" (the top flight leagues in England, Italy, Spain, France & Germany). The run lasted for almost 5 months and holds among the best in European league football, with just Benfica (29 wins), Celtic (25 wins) and PSV Eindhoven (22 wins) bettering the run. Inter's form dipped a little as they scored 0-0 and 2-2 draws against relegation-battlers Reggina and slumping Palermo (respectively), the latter game featuring a second-half comeback after Palermo went up 2-0 at halftime. They could not keep their invincible form near the end of the season as well, as they lost their first game of the domestic season to Roma in the San Siro 3-1 thanks to two late Roma goals. Inter had enjoyed an unbeaten Serie A run for just under a year. On April 22, 2007 Inter were crowned Serie A champions for the 2nd consecutive season after defeating Siena 2-1 at Stadio Artemio Franchi. Italian World Cup winning defender Marco Materazzi scored both goals in the 18th and 60th minute, with the latter being a penalty. This is the first time Inter have won the Scudetto, on merit alone, since 1989. In addition, within hours after clinching their 2nd consecutive league title, the club confirmed head coach Roberto Mancini had signed a 4-year extension to his current contract, with an option to extend it for a further 12 months, which, if extended, would expire at the end of the 2011-12 campaign. Inter president Massimo Moratti claimed that this contractual agreement was made "some time ago".

Inter has never been relegated from the Italian top flight in their entire history, which dates back all the way to 1908; a fact Nerazzurri fans hold in high regard. By comparison, AC Milan has been relegated twice despite winning two more scudetti. As of 2007, following Juventus' relegation to Serie B for the 2006-07 season following the "Calciopoli" scandal Inter remain the only Italian club that holds this honour, and its century in the top flight (counting the upcoming season) is one of the longest unbroken runs of any club in the world. The current president and owner of Inter is Massimo Moratti. His father, Angelo Moratti, was the president of Inter during the club's golden era of the 1960s. Massimo, trying to emulate his father's great success, has spent an enormous amount of money in his time at the club to sign some of the world's best players in past and present generations, in an effort to win the scudetto for the first time since 1989. Due to Inter's failure to win major silverware during his premiership, there was frequent criticism of Moratti by Interista.

Inter has several principal rivalries, most obviously arch-rivals AC Milan. The rivalry is especially heated due to the fact that Inter broke off from AC Milan. Inter was seen as the club of the bourgeoisie (nicknamed bauscia, a Milanese term meaning "braggart"), whereas AC Milan was the working-class' team (nicknamed casciavit, meaning in the Milanese dialect "screwdrivers", with both reference to the workers that using these instruments, and to "awkwards") and was, and still is, mostly supported by migrants from Southern Italy. During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Inter was the more successful club, being World Champions twice in the sixties. However in recent times Silvio Berlusconi's Milan has been the more dominant team. This rivalry has been compounded by AC Milan acquiring a few Inter players in recent years with mixed results. Milan paid Inter a relatively cheap price for players such as Clarence Seedorf and Andrea Pirlo, whom it managed to turn into world-class performers. However, in the summer of 2005 Milan snatched from Inter then world-class Italian international Christian Vieri, who had failed to find success at Inter. This season, Inter have claimed the bragging rights, winning both competitive fixtures between the two; 4-3 and 2-1. Another Inter rival, Juventus, were the only other club to have never been relegated, which changed with the match-fixing scandal of 2006 as Juve were relegated to Serie B. Matches with Juventus are generally referred to by the Italian press as Derby d'Italia (The great Italian derby) because of the fact that, before 2006, this was the only fixture that appeared in every Serie A season.

2007-2008 Season
Who can stop Inter this season in Serie A?, good question. After racking up a record total of 97 points last season and have further strengthened the squad this summer, it would be a major surprise to me, if anyone can get close to them. The arrival of Cristian Chivu and the prolific David Suazo, the Nerazzurri look ever stronger this term. Another Scudetto looks highly likely for a team that has everything and have great strength in depth.
Woody's prediction: Quite simply, Inter Milan will retain the title in some style

(*) = Serie A record up to and including 2 September 2007

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Nil Satis Nisi Optimum