THE FINAL THIRD

This video is another amazing example of the bond Jose Mourinho has with his players. As he was packing up his things and leaving Milan for good he had to stop when he saw Materazzi standing alone near the team bus. Even after all of the time they had already spent together over the last 48 hours or so he was still shaken up about making the next move he felt he must. For me it says a lot, what do you think?

The Special One is at it again

Well he is at it again and this time he is definitely not holding any punches. Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho says the Champions League is bigger than the World Cup. I know it sounds a bit crazy but he does have a decent point.

Inter plays Bayern Munich in the final in Madrid on Saturday.
“This game is the most important in the world,” Mourinho said on Tuesday. “It is even bigger than the World Cup because the teams in it are at a higher level than national teams, who can’t buy the best players.

“If you hold it to be important, you have to transmit that to the players.”

Mourinho has led Inter to their first European Cup final since 1972, when they lost to Ajax. It is even longer since Inter last held the cup, in 1965.

After being eliminated in the first knockout round in the last two seasons, Inter ousted eventual English champion Chelsea, CSKA Moscow and defending European champion Barcelona to reach this year’s finale.

Following the second leg at Camp Nou, where Barcelona won 1-0, Inter was accused of playing overly negative football that lacked the flair of 2009 champion Barcelona. Mourinho vigorously defended his side.

“I think that this season I haven’t seen a match like the one between Inter and Barcelona at the San Siro,” Mourinho said. “I haven’t seen a team play the way we did.

“We attacked aggressively against the champion of Europe. We scored three goals against the champion of Europe.

“We won the tie in Barcelona, but everyone talks about Barcelona winning and says we parked the bus in front of the goal. We didn’t park the bus, we parked the airplane and we did it for two reasons. One, because we only had 10 men and two, because we beat them 3-1 at San Siro, not by parking the bus, or the boat or the airplane, but by smashing them at the San Siro.

“I haven’t seen anyone play the way we did against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea isn’t a small team, it is the champion of England and no one plays like that at Stamford Bridge. Only we have played two games of the level we did against Chelsea and against Barcelona.”

Inter and Munich will be missing important players. Inter is without midfielder Thiago Motta and Munich will line up without winger Franck Ribery, both of whom were sent off in the semifinals. “Motta’s absence is more important than that of Ribery for Munich,” Mourinho said. “He is a player who has played a Champions League final and would bring that experience with him. He gives our midfield balance and doesn’t give the ball away easily. It is a great shame that he isn’t playing and it only happened because a fellow player did not behave in the correct way.”

Both teams have concerns over flight plans to Spain, with the possibility that further volcanic ash from Iceland will cause havoc with flight schedules in the next few days.

Inter was due to fly to Madrid on Friday, but it may yet leave on Wednesday to avoid any possible ash disruption.

“The team has to travel tomorrow, but I would rather work here and travel the day before the match,” Mourinho said.

American defender Oguchi Onyewu has extended his AC Milan contract until 2013 which includes playing his final year for free and not receiving a single penny in compensation.

Here is the official statement from AC Milan:

MILAN – USA international Oguchi Onyewu, who is coming off a season of rehabilitation following a long injury which has forced him to stay off the pitch for the whole season, but is now ready to face the World Cup with his national team, made a very significant gesture from a human and professional point of view today. Assisted by his lawyer, Jean Louis Dupont, Onyewu asked for, and received, a one-year contract extension from Milan, from 30 June 2012 to 30 June 2013. During this extra year, Oguchi Onyewu, by his choice, much appreciated by the Rossoneri club, has asked not to receive any kind of salary. This is an exemplary gesture which deserves sincere congratulations.

This is quite a gesture from the player, he joined AC Milan last summer from Belgium’s Standard Liege but played in just one competitive match for the Rossoneri, appearing as a 60th-minute substitute against Zurich in the Champions League on Sept. 30. this is his way of showing that he is committed to the club and probably feels awful about not being able to compete for a place so shortly after they had brought him to Milan.

I have to say that this is an honorable gesture in a time when players, agents, and multi-national corporations have turned the game into something some of us are not so proud of sometimes.

Drama, drama, drama. This is always the case in the high profile world of football and even more so in the world of the galacticos. There has been a lot of talk about the fate of Manuel Pelligrini in the last few months considering a few high profile losses and the exit from Champions League football. Now they have been unable to claim the La Liga title and that just isn’t going to fly in Madrid. You always knew that he was going to be under pressure with all of the spending they did this summer, but even more than the spending was the unbearable sight of their arch rivals winning everything.

Now Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini is set to be handed a €4 million walkaway payment and replaced by Inter Milan’s Jose Mourinho for next season, press reports in Spain claimed.

“Bye bye Pellegrini, ‘Mou’ is on his way,” said the headline in Spanish daily El Mundo, one of several claiming that the exit of Chilean Pellegrini from the Santiago Bernabeu after just one season in charge is only days away.
“Pellegrini is counting down the hours,” added El Pais.

After a record spending spree in the close-season, notably with the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United and Kaka from AC Milan, Real Madrid are set to finish the season trophyless.

Barcelona beat Real to the Spanish league title last weekend, while Ronaldo and company failed to get past the Champions League’s round of 16, in which arch-rivals and defending champions Barca lasted until the semifinals stage.

According to the reports, Real president Florentino Perez is set to sack the 56-year-old Pellegrini, who has a year left on his contract and plenty of support from the dressing room.

Ironically, Mourinho will get a chance to see Real Madrid’s facilities up close when he leads his Inter Milan side to the Champions League final against Bayern Munich on Saturday.

Despite declaring he is “unhappy” with life in Italy, Mourinho — who has two years left on his Inter contract — has recently played down speculation linking him to the Spanish giants.

“After (the final in) Madrid there will be time to be selfish for one, two or three days and to think about what will make me happiest from a professional point of view,” said the 47-year-old Portuguese coach last weekend.

“Right now I can tell you 100 per cent that it’s not true that I have one-and-a-half feet at Real. Quite the contrary, I’m very far from becoming the Real coach.”

Inter president Massimo Moratti said on Monday that he was unsure of Mourinho’s intentions after the final, and for the Spanish press that is synonymous with his arrival at Real.

According to both AS and El Mundo, talks between Mourinho’s and Real’s representatives have already been held, resulting in a verbal agreement.

Reports also said Pellegrini would be handed a €4 million “walkaway” payment, while Real would have to pay Inter €8 million to end Mourinho’s contract at Inter.

Whatever goes down is going to end up being quite an expensive proposition.

FC Internazionale and Nike presented the new away kit for the 2010/11 season during the 18th Scudetto celebrations at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Siena. 

I have to say that it is really bad. It looks like an awful, over the top shirt that tourist buy on Melrose here in Los Angeles.

Nike’s designers have taken inspiration from the white away shirt with the black and blue band used in the 1964/65 season. The V-necked shirt also features the club’s historic serpent logo.

The Inter logo is on the right of the chest, with the Nike swoosh (blue) on the left and the Pirelli logo (black) in the middle.
The shorts are white with a blue band on both sides. The socks are white with a black and blue border.

Inter’s new kits are designed for increased performance with lower environmental impact. Each shirt is made from one hundred percent recycled polyester, obtained from eight plastic bottles.

The advanced Nike Dri-Fit material makes the shirts 13% lighter, drawing perspiration away from the body.

“Nike and Inter celebrate together another extraordinary success today: the 18th Scudetto,” said Andrea Rossi, general manager of Nike Italy. “We are particularly pleased to present the new away shirt of the Italian champions at the end of an exceptional season that we hope can become unforgettable.”

The new shirts will available for purchase at all Nike Stores, authorised retailers and www.nikefootball.com, starting Monday 17 May.

Animals are often used to represent football clubs in Italy, the grass snake, called Il biscione or Serpente representing Inter. The snake is an important symbol for the city of Milan, appearing often in Milanese heraldry as a coiled viper with a man in its jaws. The symbol is famous for its presence on the coat of arms of the House of Sforza (who ruled over Italy from Milan during the Renaissance period), the city of Milan, the historical Duchy of Milan (a 400 year state of the Holy Roman Empire), and Insubria (a historical regional area which the city of Milan falls within).

We’re good to our TF3 readers aren’t we? As if getting you an invite to Nike’s opening party at the Montalban Theater in Hollywood wasn’t enough, we’ve now gone ahead and got you guys an invite to PLAY at the rooftop futsal court, see the new Nike soccer ad and exclusive scenes footage on their 40 foot theater screen, check out the new Elite Series boots worn by Ribery, Sneijder, customize your own Inter Milan product AND… wait for it… you can meet The Final Thirds buddy, Fox Football Fone In’s Temryss Lane!

This is all happening NEXT SATURDAY MAY 22nd, 11am at The Montalban, 1615 Vine Street, Hollywood, CA.

RSVP by emailing RSVPNike@nike.com. Oh yes, there’s also complimentary food, drinks AND a chance to win Nike prizes!

The Final Third’s Mat Davis and Jetski will also be in attendance! Come out, it’ll be a fun few hours!

Making even the 30-man provisional roster for the World Cup is a serious accomplishment. For some countries like Brazil, Argentina and Italy you could almost field two very competitive sides. La Marca has come up with a list of the best that did not make the squad for their respective countries. It is filled with top class players that compete at the highest level in the world on a weekly basis. Check it out.

Porteros: Alves (Almería), Palop (Sevilla), Munúa (Málaga), Renan (Xerez), Robinson (Blackburn).

Defensas: Marcelo (Real Madrid -está incluido en una lista de reservas ante posibles lesiones, pero si no hay novedades no estará en Sudáfrica), Zanetti (Inter de Milán), Wayne Bridge (Manchester City, por sus problemas con Terry), Gaby Milito (Barcelona), Emanuelson (Ajax, Holanda), Tremoulinas (Burdeos, Francia) y Filipe Luis (Deportivo).

Centrocampistas: Cambiasso (Inter de Milán), Gago (Real Madrid), Vieira (Francia), Diego (Juventus), Ronaldinho (Brasil), Reyes (Atlético de Madrid), Guti (Real Madrid), Cassano (Sampdoria), Totti (Roma) Nasri (Arsenal), Hargreaves (Man Utd), Banega (Valencia), Cebolla Rodríguez (Oporto), Joao Moutinho (Sporting Lisboa) y Quaresma (Inter).

Delanteros: Benzema (Real Madrid), Pato (Milán), Van Nistelrooy (Hamburgo), Bobby Zamora (Fulham), Luca Toni (Roma), Amauri (Juventus), Fabrizio Miccoli (Palermo), Adriano (Flamengo), Neymar (Santos).

There was no place for Ronaldinho or Adriano in Brazil coach Dunga’s 23-man squad for the World Cup, which was announced on Tuesday.

I know you all probably saw this coming considering the last couple of season that both of these players have had. Mentally we have seen both of them literally take a vacation from the game.

Both players have fallen out of favour during Dunga’s reign and were not expected to be selected for the June 11-July 11 tournament in South Africa.

The 30-year-old Ronaldinho, part of the 2002 World Cup-winning team, made his last appearance for Brazil in April 2009 while Dunga had expressed concern over Adriano’s fitness.

“We did all we could to get him (Adriano) to full fitness, but in the end we had to make a decision,” said Dunga.

Ronaldinho’s AC Milan team-mate Alexandre Pato was also overlooked, with Wolfsburg striker Grafite taking the fourth forward berth alongside Robinho, Luis Fabiano and Nilmar.

“The players who I have called up enjoy my complete confidence,” said Dunga, who is seeking to emulate Franz Beckenbauer and Mario Zagallo in winning the World Cup both as a player and a coach.

“Unfortunately I was only able to select 23 players.

“I judged them on their commitment, attitude, and the ability of the players to assume responsibility and at the same time inject passion into their performances.”

Brazil, five-time World Cup winners, have been drawn in Group G alongside Ivory Coast, Portugal and North Korea.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter/ITA), Doni (Roma/ITA), Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham/ENG).

Defenders: Luisao (Benfica/POR), Lucio (Inter/ITA), Juan (Roma/ITA), Thiago Silva (AC Milan/ITA), Daniel Alves (Barcelona/ESP), Maicon (Inter/ITA), Michel Bastos (Lyon/FRA), Gilberto (Cruzeiro).

Midfielders: Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos/GRE), Josue (Wolfsburg/GER), Elano (Galatasaray/TUR), Kaka (Real Madrid/ESP), Ramires (Benfica/POR), Felipe Melo (Juventus/ITA), Julio Baptista (Roma/ITA), Kleberson (Flamengo).

Forwards: Luis Fabiano (Sevilla/ESP), Nilmar (Villarreal/ESP), Grafite (Wolfsburg/GER), Robinho (Santos)