Our Inter Milan Fan Site had the highlights of Inter President Massimo Moratti’s speech at a seminar today for sports journalists entitled “Il calcio e chi lo racconta” (“Football and those who report it”). In his remarks Moratti once again touched on Calciopoli and the impact it had on Inter.

“The fact that Inter started winning once Calciopoli was over just shows how much of a con the whole thing was for Italian football – it’s further proof of what was going on.” Massimo Moratti spoke once more about Calciopoli during his speech at a seminar for sports journalists entitled “Il calcio e chi lo racconta” (“Football and those who report it”) that is currently taking place at the Coverciano Centre, the headquarters of the Italian F.A.’s ‘Technical Sector’. It was frustrating when people said I was spending money without ever winning anything,” continued the Inter president. “Calciopoli really was obscene, besides being a con financially speaking.”

Calciopoli refers to the 2006 Italian football scandal which involved Italy‘s top teams including Juventus, Inter, AC Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio, and Reggina. The teams were accused of rigging games by selecting favourable referees.

AC Milan extended their lead to six points in Serie A despite a 4-4 home draw with Udinese, though SSC Napoli will be hoping to close in on the Rossoneri when they host Juventus later.

Fans at San Siro were treated to an eight-goal thriller as Milan came from behind three times to force a 4-4 draw. Pato cancelled out Antonio Di Natale’s 35th-minute opener on the stroke of half-time only for Alexis Sánchez (53) and Di Natale (66) to put the visitors 3-1 up, but the hosts rallied through a Medhi Benatia own goal (78) and a second Pato strike (82). Germán Denis (89) then grabbed what looked to be the winner with a minute remaining, yet the league leaders salvaged a point via Zlatan Ibrahimović in added time.

It proved a crucial draw as second-placed Lazio lost 2-1 at home against lowly Lecce to slip further adrift of the summit. Fourth-placed Roma also tasted defeat, losing 2-1 at nine-man Sampdoria after losing Júlio Sérgio to a 55th-minute red card, though their hosts finished with nine men following the late dismissals of centre-backs Daniele Gastaldello and Stefano Lucchini.

Inter came from behind to triumph 2-1 at Catania and lift themselves to seventh, while an even more dramatic comeback ended with Fiorentina turning a 2-0 deficit at home to Brescia into a 3-2 win.

Elsewhere, there were victories for Bologna and Cagliari at Bari and Parma respectively, while Palermo and Genoa were held to 0-0 draws at Chievo and Cesena.

photo credit: Jan S0L0

Nickname(s): The Dark Reds

All-Time Ranking: 35th

2007/2008 Finish: 16th

2008/2009 Position (as of 04/07): 20th

Coach: Nevio Orlandi

Key Players: Andrea Costa, Bernardo Corradi, Franco Brienza

History:

Reggina has traditionally been an unsuccessful Italian side and never even reached Serie A until 1999. After going back down to Serie B, they managed to fight their way back to the top flight only to become embroiled in the ugly 2006 match-fixing scandal. Despite the fact they were penalized several points, they managed to stay in Serie A.

But, Reggina appears poised to head back to Serie B once again since they are in last place (and four points below the 19th spot) and have an ugly -27 goal differential, the worst in the league. Due to their poor play (which is, in turn, due to the paltry funds they have available to spend on players), Reggina will likely be relegated at the end of this season.

American Sports Doppleganger:

Reggina has never been a force in Italian soccer and its current plight leads one to believe they never will be either. Thus, they remind me of the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA. Like Reggina, the Timberwolves simply lack the money to hold on to many of the players they develop, resulting in their utter inability to compete for titles.